Opinion ID: 1788509
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the court erred and abused its discretion by imposing its sentence on the defendant.

Text: ¶ 18. Before sentencing, Latiker asked the trial court to take into consideration the pre-sentencing report which stated that Latiker had no history of drug or alcohol offenses and was a disabled veteran honorably discharged from the United States Army after service in Vietnam. The trial judge then responded: It's not within the report, but within the Court's information, was that this Defendant, the other night, appeared to be in some physical distress, which was such it required the facility here in town to cause him to be transferred to the emergency room at the local hospital, at which time he appeared to be in considerable distress. The attending emergency room doctor transferred him to the University Medical Center, and the report of the medical center was that there was no medical neurological problem. There was no treatment required. He required no medication, and the opinion of the doctor was he was faking. The local information regarding his condition at the time he was in the emergency room at the Lackey Memorial Hospital, that he was under the influence of a controlled substance, cocaine and marijuana. So, you argue that he is a first time offender. You argue that he is a veteran, that he was honorably discharged, all of this as matters of mitigation to the sentence. Yet, I find that in this report he states that he has never been a real drug user or big drinker, was not under the influence when the crime occurred, but he was apparently under the influence at the time of his trial. So, I have very little sympathy with a situation such as that. I am taking into consideration the Defendant's age. The maximum sentence for this crime is thirty years and a million dollar fine. It will be the sentence of this Court, Percy Latiker, that you serve twelve years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. ¶ 19. Latiker argues that the sentence imposed by the trial court was plain error and an abuse of this Court's discretion because the trial court was wrong to conclude that he had been under the influence of drugs and was faking his illness. However, Latiker did not raise this issue at the sentencing hearing or in his Motion for a New Trial. Therefore, his fourth assertion of error is procedurally barred. Ferrell v. State, 810 So.2d 607, 611 (Miss.2002). Further, Latiker fails to cite to any authority for his fourth assertion of error. A party's failure to provide authority for its claims on appeal relieves this Court from having to consider the issue. Williams v. State, 708 So.2d 1358, 1361 (Miss.1998). ¶ 20. Notwithstanding the procedural bar, there is no merit to Latiker's argument. A trial judge is largely unlimited as to the kind or source of information used during sentencing. Evans v. State, 547 So.2d 38, 41 (Miss.1989). Furthermore, a trial court is not limited, when determining a sentence, to a consideration of evidence presented in the record at trial. Ferrell, 810 So.2d at 612; Jackson v. State, 551 So.2d 132, 148-49 (Miss.1989). The maximum punishment the trial court could have imposed on Latiker was 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Miss.Code Ann. § 41-29-139(b)(1). Despite the trial court's disbelief of the presentencing report, Latiker was sentenced to less than half the time in prison allowed by the statute, and no fine was imposed. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when sentencing Latiker.