Opinion ID: 2679929
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Basic Period of Incarceration

Text: [¶18] The basic period of incarceration is determined “by considering the particular nature and seriousness of the offense as committed by the offender.” 17-A M.R.S. 1252-C(1) (2013). The sentencing court examines “the crime, the defendant's conduct in committing it, and [looks] at other sentences for similar offenses.” Waterman, 2010 ME 45, ¶ 43, 995 A.2d 243. “When a court imposes a basic sentence at or near the maximum, it does not misapply [sentencing] principle[s] if it finds the defendant’s conduct most serious as compared to other means of committing the crime within that same range.” Id. ¶ 44. If a court imposes a life sentence, as opposed to a term of years, it can use the list of aggravating factors we adopted in State v. Shortsleeves, 580 A.2d 145, 149-50 (Me. 1990), as a guide to distinguish between the two types of sentences. Waterman, 2010 ME 45, ¶ 44, 955 A.2d 243. The Shortsleeves list, however, is “neither exhaustive nor all-inclusive.” Waterman, 2010 ME 45, ¶ 44, 955 A.2d-243. [¶19] In arriving at the maximum sentence, the sentencing court compared the facts of this case to a number of prior cases where sentencing courts have imposed a basic period of incarceration of life in prison. The cases the court found 10 most helpful were State v. Cookson, 2003 ME 136, ¶ 44, 837 A.2d 101 (holding that the extreme cruelty, planning, and execution of the murders constituted unusually serious conduct), Waterman, 2010 ME 45, ¶ 46, 995 A.2d 243 (holding that placing children close to a scene of violence or murder can raise a defendant’s homicidal conduct to “most serious”), and State v. Holland, 2012 ME 2, ¶ 40, 34 A.2d 1130 (holding that the defendant’s selective execution of his victims could be considered to be among the most serious ways in which the crime might be committed). In the context of these cases, the court found the murders of Mills and Sandora to be among the most serious ways the crime might be committed and sentenced Hayden to a basic period of incarceration of life on each count. The court also identified three of the Shortsleeves factors that it found were present: premeditation-in-fact, multiple victims, and extreme cruelty with regard to one of the victims. This thorough analysis and determination was not a misapplication of sentencing principles. See Waterman, 2010 ME 45, ¶¶ 42-47, 995 A.2d 243.