Opinion ID: 2062104
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Harsher Sentence at Retrial

Text: The trial court sentenced defendant on all counts to a total of 42-60 years. Defendant had received a combined sentence of 41-50 years in his first trial. Defendant claims that the harsher sentence following his appeal of the first conviction violates his Vermont constitutional right to due process. In another of his appeals, we rejected this claim under the federal constitution. State v. Percy, 156 Vt. 468, 481-82, 595 A.2d 248, 255 (1990). Defendant raises the Vermont constitutional issue for the first time on appeal, and it is therefore not preserved. State v. Gleason, 154 Vt. 205, 210-11, 576 A.2d 1246, 1249 (1990). Defendant also contends that the sentencing court made remarks that revealed an intent to penalize him for having appealed his conviction, thereby establishing evidence of vindictiveness. Before sentencing, the trial court said: [The victim] and her family have experienced trauma, and that trauma ... continues to this date. It's been a full decade, during which [they] have had to live day-to-day with this situation. The delay, of course, is not your fault. You exercised the rights which are available to you, no one in any way wishes to deny you those.... Later, the court explained that the victim does continue to suffer the effects of the defendant's crimes to this day.... This ongoing anguish is separate from any distress resulting from the defendant's exercise of his appellate rights. On this record, defendant's claim of vindictive sentencing is not established. The court's remarks dispel any hint of it. State v. Meyers, 153 Vt. 219, 225, 569 A.2d 1081, 1085 (1989) (we will accept at face value the court's reasons for imposing the sentence); State v. Rathburn, 140 Vt. 382, 388, 442 A.2d 452, 455 (1981) (court's express statement that it did not rely upon improper factor was controlling); In re Morrill, 129 Vt. 460, 464, 282 A.2d 811, 814 (1971) (we presume trial court did not rely upon factors it recognized as improper).