Opinion ID: 1119108
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Authority to impose the sentence

Text: Appellant's principal argument centers around his complaint that his sentence exceeded the authority granted to the district court and was unconstitutional. At the outset, we note that appellant's sentence has, since the filing of his appeal, been reduced to time served and probation. However, as the original sentence may be reimposed in the event he should violate the terms of that probation, we will, in the interests of judicial economy, address his claims. Appellant makes several arguments concerning the alleged impropriety of his sentence. First, he claims that seven consecutive one-year terms in the county jail exceed the legislatively authorized maximum for misdemeanor offenses. Appellant maintains that the maximum possible sentence, despite pleading guilty to seven separate counts, was one year in the county jail. We find appellant's claim to be meritless. W.S. 6-6-103(a) provides: A person commits a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or both, if he telephones another anonymously or under a false or fictitious name and uses obscene, lewd or profane language or suggests a lewd or lascivious act with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend. Appellant pled guilty to seven distinct counts. Each incident was a crime in and of itself, and each carried a penalty of up to one year in the county jail. Contrary to appellant's suggestions, there is nothing which prohibits a court from imposing consecutive penalties for misdemeanor convictions. The sentencing judge has discretion to determine whether sentences shall be served consecutively or concurrently. Loper v. Shillinger, 772 P.2d 552, 553 (Wyo.1989). We have also said that [s]eparate penalties will ordinarily be exacted upon convictions for distinct offenses. Kennedy v. State, 595 P.2d 577, 577 (Wyo.1979); see also Pearson v. State, 866 P.2d 1297, 1299 (Wyo.1994). In this case, appellant pled guilty to seven distinct offenses and was given a term of incarceration within the legislatively authorized limit for each offense. The district court chose to impose consecutive terms, as was within its discretion, a sentence not beyond the authority granted in W.S. 6-6-103. Appellant next claims that the district court, which heard the case because at that time there was no county court in the jurisdiction, exceeded the authority that a county court would have had in a misdemeanor case. Appellant attempts to demonstrate that a county court cannot pronounce a sentence for a term greater than one year in the county jail and, consequently, the sentence imposed here exceeded that authority. Again, we find little merit in appellant's argument. County courts have been granted jurisdiction over all criminal cases involving misdemeanors. W.S. 5-5-133 (1992). There is nothing which prohibits a county court from imposing consecutive sentences for multiple misdemeanor convictions. The authority to impose consecutive or concurrent sentences for offenses charged in separate informations or in separate counts of the same information is grounded in the common law. 24 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1522 (1989). The power to pronounce consecutive or cumulative sentences exists for both felonies and misdemeanors. 21 Am. Jur.2d Criminal Law § 552 (1981). The legislature has not abrogated that authority in Wyoming; and, accordingly, a county court has the authority to impose the sentence given in this case.