Opinion ID: 1738471
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Refusing to grant deferred or suspended sentence.

Text: Responding to defendant's application for deferred or suspended sentence, the court said: [W]hen this defendant was allowed to plead guilty to the aggravated misdemeanor of Manslaughter, the clemency that could be extended at this level was exhausted. Now, it is true there can be suspended or deferred sentences, and they are used for first offenders and they are used for people of this age, and this Court has used them where there is an offense against property, such as we've had breaking and entering, robbery cases which have resulted in deferred or suspended sentences. In this case, the offense is not against property, but a life has been lost because of the commission of an unlawful act. This statement by the trial court leaves little doubt that he considered a deferred or suspended sentence to be inappropriate in a case where a life has been taken. The issue here is whether such position is permissible. The defendant has a two-pronged attack: He argues alternatively that the disposition (1) constitutes legislation or (2) constitutes a failure to exercise the discretion vested in the trial court by the sentencing provisions of the Code. The State contends, on the other hand, that the court did exercise its discretion and that the quoted statement merely shows that the court considered the seriousness of the crime, as provided in section 907.5, Code Supp.1977, when determining whether or not to grant a request for a sentencing alternative. The defendant's legislation argument is premised on the fact that suspended and deferred sentences are available for all offenses except those in certain categories not applicable here. He contends that trial court refused to consider such sentencing alternatives and that this had the effect of establishing a higher minimum punishment than that provided by the statute. This legal theory has support in two Iowa cases, State v. Jackson, 204 N.W.2d 915 (Iowa 1973) and State v. Boston, 233 Iowa 1249, 11 N.W.2d 407 (1943). In Jackson, the judges of a judicial district established a minimum sentence for conviction of OMVUI which was above the minimum set by the legislature. The court held that changing the minimum punishment constitutes legislating, which is beyond the power of the courts. 204 N.W.2d at 917. During the course of its opinion, it emphasized the broad discretion with which the court is vested in sentencing. It then said that [t]he court is not permitted to arbitrarily establish a fixed policy to govern every case, as that is the exact antithesis of discretion. Id. at 916. In Boston, the court found an abuse of discretion in the [trial] court's refusal to consider defendant's application [for parole] because `in all his experience on the bench he had never allowed a parole.' (Emphasis omitted.) 233 Iowa at 1257, 11 N.W.2d at 411. Section 907.5 sets out the considerations in determining whether or not to grant the deferred or suspended sentence requested. It provides that: Before deferring judgment or suspending sentence, the court first shall determine which option, if available, will provide maximum opportunity for the rehabilitation of the defendant and protection of the community from further offenses by the defendant and others. In making this determination the court shall consider the age of the defendant; the defendant's prior record of convictions and prior record of deferments of judgment if any; the defendant's employment circumstances; the defendant's family circumstances; the nature of the offense committed; and such other factors as are appropriate. The court shall file a specific written statement of its reasons for and the facts supporting its decision to defer judgment or to suspend sentence, and its decision on the length of probation. Thus it is clear that the nature of the offense is one factor to be considered. However, Jackson and Boston established that the punishment must fit the particular person and circumstances under consideration; each decision must be made on an individual basis, and no single factor, including the nature of the offense, will be solely determinative. In State v. Robbins, 257 N.W.2d 63, 70 (Iowa 1977), we said that: The duty of a sentencing judge in every case is to consider available options, to give due consideration to all circumstances in the particular case, and to exercise that option which will best accomplish justice both for society and for the individual defendant. Chapter 789A [now chapter 907] sets out guidelines to assist in this task. When taken out of context, the statement of the trial court regarding his hesitancy to grant the request for alternative disposition might indicate that it failed to exercise its discretion, and that it imposed the sentence of imprisonment without due regard to other considerations. A review of the record, however, reveals that the court had before it several sources of information and that it considered other relevant factors, such as the presentence report, lack of positive response by the defendant as a juvenile offender, rehabilitative effects of incarceration as opposed to other alternatives, and protection of the community, as well as the nature of the offense. Such proceedings neither amounted to judicial legislation nor to a refusal to exercise trial court discretion. We find that there was no error on the part of the trial court in this respect. Discussion of the matter of exercise of discretion is not necessary for disposition of this case, because we reverse and remand for resentencing under the following issue. However, discussion of the matter will be of some assistance in future proceedings in this case, and hopefully of some benefit to sentencing courts in others.