Opinion ID: 853754
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Other Constitutional Provisions Deal with Excessive Punishment

Text: The conclusion that double jeopardy under Article I, § 14 is not implicated by multiple punishments in the same trial is fortified by the fact that, unlike the federal constitution, the Indiana Constitution includes other provisions that restrict the ability of a prosecutor or a court to pile on by finding multiple statutory violations in a single action. First, Article I, § 16 imposes a requirement that penalties be proportioned to the nature of the offense. Although courts defer substantially to legislative judgment in setting the penalties for defined crimes, the legislature is not free from restraint under this provision. See, e.g., Conner v. State, 626 N.E.2d 803 (Ind.1993). Second, the appellate courts of this state are authorized under Article VII, §§ 4 and 6 to review and revise sentences, and on occasion do so based on a judgment that the punishment is excessive in relation to the crime or the nature of the offense and the character of the offender. See Ind. Appellate Rule 17(B). [21]