Opinion ID: 2680004
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Comparable Sentences

Text: [¶34] With this inference of gross disproportionality between the offenses and the sentence, we turn to compare Stanislaw’s sentence to the sentences imposed for similar or more severe crimes within our jurisdiction. See Ward, 2011 ME 74, ¶ 20 n.5, 21 A.3d 1033 (setting forth the two-part test for disproportionality analysis). In this analysis, we recognize that comparisons among cases are difficult due to the multitude of factors that are taken into account, including the crimes as committed, the defendant’s prior record, whether the sentence was imposed after a trial or after a plea, and the age and other characteristics of the victims. Given the differences among cases, there will almost never be a precedent involving identical sentencing facts, and therefore exact comparisons are not possible. In order to create as precise a comparison as possible, however, we will review the sentence in light of the sentences imposed in four groups of cases: (a) the comparable sentences presented by the State to the sentencing court in this case, (b) cases involving comparable unsuspended prison terms, (c) cases of gross sexual assault, and (d) cases of unlawful sexual contact. (a) Comparable Sentences Presented by the State to the Sentencing Court [¶35] First, we consider the four “comparable” cases the State provided at the original sentencing. See Stanislaw I, 2011 ME 67, ¶ 11 n.8, 21 A.3d 91. These 22 cases all involved sex crimes with multiple consecutive sentences. In each case, a conviction was obtained after trial, while here, Stanislaw waived his jury trial right and pleaded guilty. The comparable cases also all involved defendants with no prior convictions for similar offenses, while here, Stanislaw had a 1982 conviction for a similar offense. Nonetheless, these are the cases the State believed would assist the sentencing court in reaching an appropriate sentence and the sentencing court is free to consider these differences when determining what weight to give the comparable sentences presented to it by the State and the defendant. [¶36] The first case presented by the State involved four victims of unstated age and included crimes ranging from Class A to Class D. Id. For those acts, after trial, the defendant received three consecutive sentences. Id. The first sentence was fifteen years, with all but eight years suspended, and ten years’ probation. Id. The second sentence was eight years, all suspended, with six years’ probation, and the third sentence was fifteen years, all suspended, with ten years’ probation. Id. Overall, that defendant was sentenced to thirty-eight years, with all but eight years suspended, and twenty-six years’ probation. Id. [¶37] The second case involved one victim who was age nine and included one Class B unlawful sexual contact conviction and seven Class C unlawful sexual contact convictions. Id. For those acts, after trial, the defendant received consecutive sentences on all counts. Id. The Class B conviction resulted in a 23 sentence of eight years, with all but four years suspended, and four years’ probation. Id. The seven Class C convictions each resulted in sentences of two and a half years, all suspended, with one year probation. Id. Overall, the defendant was sentenced to twenty-five and a half years, with all but four years suspended, and eleven years’ probation. [¶38] The third case involved two victims of unstated age and included one Class B unlawful sexual contact conviction and two Class D assault convictions. Id. For those acts, after trial, the defendant received three consecutive sentences. Id. For the Class B conviction he received seven years, with all but three years suspended, and twelve years of probation. Id. For each of the two Class D convictions he received eleven months, all suspended, and one year of probation. Id. In total, the defendant was sentenced to eight years and ten months, with all but three years suspended, and fourteen years’ probation. [¶39] The fourth case involved one victim who was age five and included one Class B conviction for unlawful sexual contact. Id. For that act, after trial, the defendant received a sentence of seven years, with all but three years suspended, and eight years’ probation. Id. [¶40] The State argues to us that these four sentences are comparable to Stanislaw’s sentence when the overall sentences, including the suspended portions of the sentences, are taken into account. That is not a reasonable comparison to 24 make; a prison term is simply not the equivalent of a suspended prison term and probation. Logic recognizes this, and both the third step of the Hewey analysis and our jurisprudence reflect this. 17-A M.R.S. § 1252-C(3) (determining what portion of the sentence should be suspended); see State v. Reese, 2010 ME 30, ¶ 32, 991 A.2d 806 (holding that the sentencing court appropriately considered relevant factors when determining whether any portion of the sentence should be suspended). The cases chosen by the State to assist the sentencing court all involved conduct that is either as serious or more serious than the acts committed by Stanislaw and resulted in sentences ranging from three to eight years of unsuspended incarceration. In contrast, Stanislaw’s sentence results in twenty-seven years of unsuspended incarceration, a period three to nine times longer than the unsuspended sentence imposed in any of the cases chosen by the State as comparables. Using this method of comparison, Stanislaw’s sentence appears grossly disproportionate. (b) Cases Involving Comparable Unsuspended Prison Terms [¶41] The second comparison focuses on cases involving prison terms comparable to Stanislaw’s unsuspended term of twenty-seven years. In State v. Archer, 2011 ME 80, ¶¶ 1, 3, 4, 6, 25 A.3d 103, the defendant was convicted of attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault for stabbing his ex-girlfriend with the stated intent of killing her. He was sentenced to eighteen years of 25 imprisonment, with all but thirteen years suspended, for the attempted murder conviction, and thirteen years of imprisonment for the elevated aggravated assault to be served concurrently, along with four years of probation. Id. ¶ 16. [¶42] In Reese, 2010 ME 30, ¶¶ 1, 3, 25, 991 A.2d 806, the defendant was convicted of elevated aggravated assault for shooting toward the victim nine times, striking her with two bullets that inflicted life-threatening injuries, and abandoning her where she collapsed on the side of a road at night. We held that the sentence of a term of imprisonment of twenty-nine years, with no portion suspended, was not excessive. Id. ¶¶ 1, 35. [¶43] In State v. Keene, 2007 ME 84, ¶¶ 2, 7, 927 A.2d 398, we upheld a sentence of thirty years’ imprisonment for a conviction of manslaughter and kidnapping. The defendant shoved the victim’s head into a brick wall in an alley, and then placed her in his truck and intentionally drove in such a manner that she fell out of the truck and onto the road. Id. ¶¶ 4 & n.4, 5. The victim died a few days later due to a head injury. Id. ¶ 5. The trial court ordered the two consecutive sentences based on the defendant’s probationary status and the seriousness of the crimes: a twenty-year sentence for manslaughter and a sixteen-year sentence, with all but ten years suspended, for the kidnapping. Id. ¶ 7. The defendant’s total unsuspended sentence was thirty years. 26 [¶44] In State v. Dumas, 2010 ME 57, ¶ 11, 997 A.2d 760, the defendant was sentenced to a thirty-year period of imprisonment for a murder conviction following a jury trial. The defendant ingested an “8 ball” of cocaine and, while “out of [his] mind,” shot a friend five times, killing the friend. Id. ¶ 8. [¶45] These cases involve crimes that are more violent than Stanislaw’s actions; in all four cases the victim either lost or nearly lost his or her life. Despite this distinction, these defendants were sentenced at most to spend only three years in prison longer than was Stanislaw. This comparison also suggests the disproportionate nature of Stanislaw’s sentence. (c) Cases of Gross Sexual Assault [¶46] The third comparison focuses on cases involving the more serious crime of gross sexual assault, pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. § 253 (2012).7 Stanislaw’s unsuspended prison term is longer, sometimes significantly so, than those imposed in many gross sexual assault cases. For example, in State v. Soucy, 2006 ME 8, ¶¶ 1, 3 n.3, 890 A.2d 719, the defendant was convicted of two counts of gross sexual assault (Class A) and three counts of unlawful sexual contact (Class B), and he had a prior conviction of one count of gross sexual misconduct (Class A) and three counts of unlawful sexual contact (Class C). He was sentenced to thirty-five 7 All convictions for gross sexual assault, unlike those for unlawful sexual contact, require proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant has committed a sexual act against the victim. See footnote two of this opinion for the definition of “sexual act” in 17-A M.R.S. § 251(1)(C). 27 years, with all but twenty years suspended, for over one hundred instances of sexual touching and at least five acts of rape. Id. ¶¶ 4, 10. Other examples are State v. Gould, 2012 ME 60, 43 A.3d 952, in which the defendant was sentenced to twelve years of unsuspended imprisonment for two counts of gross sexual assault; State v. Dion, 2007 ME 87, 928 A.2d 746, in which the defendant was sentenced to five years and one day of unsuspended imprisonment for gross sexual assault against a three-year-old victim; State v. Lewis, 1998 ME 83, 711 A.2d 119, in which the defendant, who had a prior violent record, was sentenced to nine years of unsuspended imprisonment for thirty to forty instances of sexual abuse against an elementary school student; and State v. Prewara, 687 A.2d 951 (Me. 1996), in which we upheld the defendant’s sentence of fifteen years of unsuspended imprisonment for sexually assaulting a six-month old causing bruising, bleeding, and substantial tearing of her vagina. Stanislaw’s unsuspended sentence for convictions of unlawful sexual contact was longer than many, but not all, unsuspended sentences imposed in gross sexual assault cases. This inconsistency suggests a lack of proportionality. (d) Cases Involving Unlawful Sexual Contact [¶47] The fourth area of comparison consists of a review of cases involving unlawful sexual contact, which is the crime at issue here. As with the cases the State presented, we recognize that these cases are not directly comparable because 28 Stanislaw had multiple victims and his actions took place over an extended timeframe. Nonetheless, these cases do provide some information about sentences imposed on other defendants whose actions fall within the definition of unlawful sexual contact, Stanislaw’s most serious crimes. Examples include State v. Severy, 2010 ME 126, 8 A.3d 715, in which the defendant was sentenced to six years of unsuspended imprisonment for repeatedly allowing and encouraging a seven or eight-year-old girl to rub his penis; State v. Lavoie, 2010 ME 76, 1 A.3d 408, in which the defendant was sentenced to five years of unsuspended imprisonment for reaching down the pants of a nine-year-old girl; State v. Graham, 2010 ME 60, 998 A.2d 339, in which the defendant was sentenced to three and a half years of unsuspended imprisonment for exposing himself to and touching the genitals of a nine-year-old girl; and State v. Moores, 2006 ME 139, 910 A.2d 373, in which the defendant was sentenced to three and a half years of unsuspended imprisonment for twice touching the genitals of a thirteen-year-old girl. We note that Stanislaw’s term of imprisonment is roughly four and a half to eight times longer than the terms of imprisonment for these defendants. (e) Conclusion Regarding Comparisons [¶48] The disparity in sentences revealed by all four categories of comparison leads us to conclude that, although Stanislaw’s total sentence is within the parameters of the sentencing statutes, the unsuspended portion of the period of 29 imprisonment is grossly disproportionate to the crimes he committed when compared to the sentences imposed for the same or similar crimes, and some more serious crimes. As we noted in Stanislaw I, Stanislaw pleaded guilty to several serious crimes. 2011 ME 67, ¶ 12, 21 A.3d 91. His abuse of the trust placed in him was deplorable and may result in significant lasting emotional injury to the victims. Without minimizing the harm suffered by the victims due to Stanislaw’s inexcusable and deviant acts, his offenses must also be assessed by what they did not involve. Stanislaw was convicted of crimes involving contact between hands and genitals, hugging while nude, and kissing. His crimes were appalling, but they did not involve the use of physical force or a weapon, threats of violence, or any other factors that warrant an ultimate sentence imposing an unsuspended twenty-seven-year term of imprisonment. 3. Conclusion Regarding Excessiveness of the Overall Sentence [¶49] In sum, for the reasons articulated by the sentencing court, it is appropriate for a portion of Stanislaw’s term to be served consecutively to another term. See Keene, 2007 ME 84, ¶ 26, 927 A.2d 398 (noting that “a defendant does not have a constitutional right to serve concurrent sentences for multiple violent offenses”). However, the court failed to consider whether the resulting overall unsuspended portion of Stanislaw’s sentence should be subject to any additional suspension in order to ensure that the overall sentence was proportionate. As a 30 result, and as shown by the comparative analysis we have undertaken, the unsuspended portion of Stanislaw’s overall sentence is disproportionate and must be vacated. In short, to avoid an overall sentence in this case that will result in “manifest and unwarranted inequalities among the sentences of comparable offenders,” 15 M.R.S. § 2154(3), and fails “[t]o eliminate inequalities in sentences that are unrelated to legitimate criminological goals,” 17-A M.R.S. § 1151(5), the court must sentence Stanislaw to an unsuspended term of imprisonment that is shorter than sentences imposed on defendants who have raped, kidnapped, or killed their victims. [¶50] By imposing a sentence that included twenty-seven unsuspended years of incarceration, the court exceeded its discretion and therefore erred. The underlying consecutive sentences themselves do not create a proportionality problem. The proportionality problem exists with the unsuspended twenty-seven years of the overall sentence because it is far out of line with sentences of other defendants convicted of unlawful sexual contact. Because this is an unusual case in that we have now twice vacated the sentences imposed, and the need for finality is particularly acute because the case involves young victims, we provide additional guidance for the sentencing on remand, cautioning that it is based on the existing sentencing record and not on the record that may be developed following our remand. The data presently available to us suggests that an unsuspended 31 sentence of one-third to one-half of the current unsuspended sentence would comply with our constitutional and statutory proportionality requirements. Such a sentence protects the public from Stanislaw, deters crime through the suspended sentence and accompanying probation, and yet does not diminish the gravity of Stanislaw’s offenses. Accordingly, we vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. See 15 M.R.S. § 2156(1-A) (2012). D. Reassignment [¶51] We deny Stanislaw’s request that we include an order that on remand a different Justice be assigned to undertake resentencing. Although we have now vacated two sentencing decisions in this case, we discern no basis on which to order a reassignment to a different Justice. The entry is: Sentence vacated and remanded to the Superior Court for resentencing consistent with the opinion herein. SAUFLEY, C.J., with whom MEAD and GORMAN, JJ., join, concurring in part and dissenting in part. [¶52] With the greatest respect for the difficulty facing appellate courts and trial courts in determining appropriate sentences in child sex offense cases, I 32 cannot agree with the Court’s conclusion that a proportionality analysis would result in a sentence that is reduced by one-half to two-thirds, because neither we nor the trial court have enough information to make such a determination. [¶53] I concur in the Court’s conclusion that the sentence must be vacated and the case remanded for further consideration, and I concur in the Court’s analysis regarding the trial court’s responsibility to assure that consecutive sentences are accompanied by a final review for proportionality. I also concur in the Court’s analysis regarding the unusual structure of the sentence, which, I note, leaves Stanislaw with only four years of probation and only a single year of incarceration anchoring that probation period, despite the evident need for a longer period of close supervision to protect children. [¶54] I must, however, respectfully dissent from the Court’s opinion in two respects. First and foremost, no resentence of this admitted sex offender should occur without a thorough and searching review of his history. Nor should a contested sentence in the range of this sentence ever be undertaken in any case without such a review of the defendant’s history. Second, because it is affirmatively not the role of the Law Court to set sentences, the Court’s discussion of an appropriate range for the sentence in this case should not be read to impose a specific upper limit on the sentence that the trial court may impose on remand. The authority to sentence a defendant is reserved entirely to the trial court. 33 Therefore, I caution that the Court’s suggestion today of the range for the sentence that should be imposed on remand, if read as a mandate, would exceed this Court’s authority and prerogative. [¶55] Moreover, the suggestion of an appropriate range, even in a precatory fashion in the context of a proportionality discussion, should not be made on the record before us because the record lacks necessary information regarding Stanislaw’s background.