Opinion ID: 2188701
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The 40-Year Sentence

Text: In his sentence appeal defendant makes two contentions; first, that he should not have been sentenced in the upper range of Class A offenses, and a fortiori not for the maximum of 40 years, and, second, that the sentencing justice failed to give proper consideration to the goal of rehabilitation. We reject both contentions. The legislature in its 1988 amendment of 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252(2)(A) (Supp. 1991) doubling the maximum sentence for Class A crimes ma[de] available two discrete ranges of sentences for [those] crimes. State v. Lewis, 590 A.2d 149, 151 (Me.1991). Only for the most heinous and violent crimes committed against a person should the [sentencing] court in its discretion consider imposing a basic sentence within the expanded range of twenty to forty years. Id. The nature of the crime committed by defendant Kehling in setting an apartment house afire in the early morning hours was sufficiently heinous and violent to justify the imposition of a basic sentence at the top of the upper range recognized by Lewis. Out of a feeling of anger and revenge, Kehling willfully set a multiple residential structure on fire just before three o'clock in the early morning when the ten other occupants of the building, including an elderly woman and a young child, would be sleeping and least likely to escape. Having started the fire, he left the building without doing anything to raise an alarm, taking with him his prized football betting cards but leaving his fellow tenants to their fate. Within minutes, the fire was raging. It was only by happy chance that two men driving by the apartment building noticed smoke from the fire and bravely entered the building, going through dense smoke at great personal danger to rouse and evacuate the tenants. Two Biddeford firefighters with considerable risk to their own lives also searched the blazing structure for additional persons. The apartment house was a complete loss and the tenants lost all their belongings. The subsequent death of one elderly victim was believed by some to have been hastened by the disruption and loss caused her by the fire. The sentencing court found that defendant set the fire to express his anger against his wife by destroying her apartment and belongings, and that he had no concern whatsoever for the fact that he put ten or more innocent people at mortal risk. The court also noted that, but for the heroism of the good Samaritans who rescued the ten apartment residents, the charge on which defendant was convicted could have been murder. On these facts we cannot find any misapplication of principle in the imposition of the basic sentence of 40 years, the maximum allowed by statute, for the nighttime apartment house arson of which defendant was convicted. Nor do we find any abuse of discretion in the sentencing court's conclusion that nothing in the record justified a mitigation of that basic sentence. Specifically, we find unpersuasive the only argument defendant makes in regard to mitigation, namely, that the court did not give proper weight to the sentencing goal of rehabilitation. The court concluded that in defendant's circumstances rehabilitation was not a mitigating factor. Although defendant made statements to the court that he wanted to get treatment and become a part of society, he had made identical statements at his sentencings for prior violent crimes. Those crimes included two felony assaults, one of which involved a series of prior violent encounters with strangers whom defendant without provocation stopped on the street and attacked. Thus the court quite properly concluded that defendant's expressed interest in rehabilitation was less than sincere. The court's unfavorable assessment of defendant's prospects for rehabilitation was confirmed by Dr. Bruce Kerr who, in his presentence psychological evaluation of defendant, concluded that defendant's expressed remorse was not real, that defendant had convinced himself that he had not committed any crime, and that he was extremely angry at the people he perceived had aided in his conviction. The psychological evaluation concluded that the prognosis for Kehling's rehabilitation was very bleak because of his severe antisocial personality disorder. The degree of mitigation called for by the circumstances of the offender is, in the first instance, for the sentencing court to decide, see State v. Hallowell, 577 A.2d 778, 781 (Me.1990), and we accord great deference to the court's decision in that regard. See State v. Weir, 600 A.2d 1105 (Me.1991). On the sentencing record before the court, it committed no abuse of discretion in rejecting Kehling's chances of rehabilitation as a factor mitigating the basic sentence. Trial courts in imposing sentence should, in order to make possible effective appellate review, first determine the appropriate basic sentence by considering the particular nature and seriousness of the offense, and then apply whatever mitigation and enhancement of the basic sentence all other pertinent sentencing factors justify. See State v. Lewis, 590 A.2d at 150. In addition to the rehabilitation of convicted persons, the prevention of further crime through the restraint of convicted persons when required in the interest of public safety is a statutorily stated goal of sentencing. 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1151(1) (1983). Furthermore, in reviewing the propriety of a sentence, one factor we consider is the protection of the public interest. 15 M.R.S.A. § 2155(1) (Supp.1991). The necessity of protecting the public through incapacitation is a significant aggravating factor that could enhance Kehling's basic sentence and offset any mitigating factors. Kehling's history of blind anger and repeated violence and his disregard of the safety of others, coupled with his expressed intent to get back at those involved in his conviction, demonstrates the propriety of the sentencing court's consideration of the interest of the public safety. In sum, we find no reversible error in the maximum 40-year sentence imposed upon Kehling for setting a nighttime apartment house fire. The entry is: Judgment affirmed. All concurring.