Opinion ID: 1918397
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: whether the sentence imposed by the court constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

Text: ¶ 16. Chevalier contends that the sentence of thirty years imprisonment imposed by the trial court constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. He cites Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 103 S.Ct. 3001, 77 L.Ed.2d 637 (1983) to support his proposition that a sentence must be proportionate to the crime for which the defendant has been convicted. Chevalier maintains that a thirty-year sentence is not proportionate to the crime of putting one's estranged spouse in a vehicle and asporting her throughout the countryside against her will. ¶ 17. It is well settled that the trial court has complete discretion to sentence a defendant as long as the trial court is within the statutory guidelines. Berdin v. State, 648 So.2d 73, 80 (Miss.1994). Indeed, error in sentencing cannot be found if the sentence imposed by the trial court is within the statutory limits. Johnson v. State, 461 So.2d 1288, 1292 (Miss.1984); Sanders v. State, 678 So.2d 663, 669 (Miss.1996). Here, Chevalier was sentenced under § 97-3-53, which mandates that if the trial judge determines the penalty, then the penalty should range from one year to thirty years in the state penitentiary. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-53 (1994). The judge sentenced Chevalier to thirty years with ten of those years suspended. This penalty, while lengthy, was authorized by the statute, and thus, the trial judge did not abuse his authority.