Opinion ID: 852415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims of Abuse of Discretion in Cardwell's Sentencing

Text: At the sentencing hearing, Cardwell presented evidence of four mitigating circumstances: the sentence given to Gentry, the hardship a sentence would have on his dependents, his poor eyesight, and his remorse. The trial court found two aggravators, Cardwell's three prior misdemeanor convictions and S.G.'s young age, and explicitly found no relevant mitigating circumstances. The trial court noted that the evidence supported consecutive sentences, but declined to impose the maximum possible forty-year sentence, finding that Cardwell's offense was not the worst possible because he had no prior child abuse convictions, was not on probation, and S.G. suffered no permanent damage. Cardwell argues that the trial court abused its discretion by not considering evidence of mitigating circumstances. Cardwell is correct that a trial court's failure to find mitigating circumstances clearly supported by the record and advanced for consideration is an abuse of discretion and a proper basis for appellate review. Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482, 490-91 (Ind.2007). However, none of the circumstances presented by Cardwell are clearly mitigating. No authority requires co-participants to receive proportional sentences. Lopez v. State, 527 N.E.2d 1119, 1133 (Ind.1988). As to the hardship on his dependents, Cardwell presented evidence that he has five daughters, ages 18, 17, 16, 15, and 2, and that Gentry was eight months pregnant with his child at the time of sentencing. However, testimony of his oldest two daughters suggested that he was not involved with his teenage children. Neither of the two had seen him in the previous year, and they had lived with their grandmother for many years. The trial court may also have properly concluded that the younger children would suffer essentially the same hardship from any significant period of incarceration. See Battles v. State, 688 N.E.2d 1230, 1237 (Ind.1997) (finding that hardship to five-year-old dependent was not significantly different between forty- and sixty-year sentences). The trial court noted its skepticism about Cardwell's vision problems at the sentencing hearing. Finally, despite Cardwell's frank and self-condemning admission to Detective Thompson on the day of the incident, the trial court was free to question whether Cardwell was genuinely remorseful. See Pickens v. State, 767 N.E.2d 530, 534-35 (Ind.2002) (noting that determination of remorse is similar to a determination of credibility). Cardwell has not established that the trial court abused its discretion.