Opinion ID: 2611456
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: Infamous crime against nature sentence.

Text: Bush was sentenced to fifty-five years with twenty-five years fixed for the conviction for an infamous crime against nature pursuant to I.C. § 18-6605. That section provides that [e]very person who is guilty of the infamous crime against nature ... is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than five years. I.C. § 18-6605. Bush argues that his sentence for this crime is illegal because, since I.C. § 18-6605 provides no sentencing limits, the sentencing court has unfettered discretion in violation of the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Idaho Constitutions. This argument is without merit. In In re Miller, 23 Idaho 403, 129 P. 1075 (1913), this Court first addressed the maximum sentence for the infamous crime against nature. In that case, the defendant argued that because the statute (then codified as Section 6810, Rev.Stats. of 1887) did not set forth a maximum sentence, the maximum should be five years pursuant to Section 6312, Rev.Stats. (now I.C. § 18-112), which provided for a five-year maximum sentence for felonies, except where a different punishment was provided. The Court disagreed, holding that the legislature could not have intended the minimum and maximum sentences to be the same. Thus, the Court held that the maximum sentence for an infamous crime against nature conviction is left to the discretion of the sentencing court, except that the death penalty may not be imposed. Id. at 408, 129 P. at 1076. The issue arose again in State v. Carringer, 95 Idaho 929, 523 P.2d 532 (1974), in which this Court interpreted In re Miller, supra , as holding that I.C. § 18-6605 provides for both a maximum and a minimum sentence and that the maximum sentence is established by the discretion of the trial court. 95 Idaho at 931, 523 P.2d at 534. The Court in Carringer also specifically stated that it declined to overrule Miller. See also State v. Brashier, 127 Idaho 730, 737, 905 P.2d 1039, 1046 (Ct.App.1995) ([T]he maximum sentence for the infamous crime against nature is left to the discretion of the trial court, and may extend to life imprisonment.) Based upon the foregoing, we conclude that the district court, in its discretion, could have sentenced Bush to anything less than death, including life imprisonment. Therefore, we hold that the sentence of fifty-five years, with twenty-five years fixed, is not illegal.