Opinion ID: 1158063
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: In light of the Wolfe sentencing objectives, the sentence is reasonable under the facts of the case.

Text: Appellant relies heavily upon a case where the Idaho Court of Appeals held that a sentence of confinement longer than is necessary to achieve the goals of sentencing is unreasonable. State v. Toohill, 103 Idaho 565, 568, 650 P.2d 707, 780 (Ct.App. 1982). The above passage was quoted in this Court's Broadhead opinion, 120 Idaho at 145, 814 P.2d at 404, but it was not specifically adopted. More appropriate is the holding which we did adopt from Toohill: that in order to establish that the sentence imposed is unreasonable the defendant must show in light of the governing criteria that the sentence is excessive under any reasonable view of the facts. Toohill, 103 Idaho at 568, 650 P.2d at 780. Appellant focuses his argument on the rehabilitation goal of sentencing. He contends that a life sentence without possibility of parole is longer than is necessary because he is amenable to rehabilitation. While the appellant points to the evidence in the record that he is capable of being rehabilitated (at least after he confronts the truth about the crime and accepts responsibility for it), his possibility of rehabilitation, standing alone, is not enough to meet his burden of showing unreasonableness under the facts of his case. Rehabilitation is not the controlling consideration in the administration of criminal justice.... The primary consideration is ... the good order and protection of society. All other factors are, and must be, subservient to that end. Important as are the humanitarian considerations affecting the accused ... and the importance to society of rehabilitation itself, such considerations cannot be allowed to control or defeat punishment, where other factors are ignored or subordinated to the detriment of society. State v. Moore, 78 Idaho 359, 363, 304 P.2d 1101, 1103 (1956); see also State v. Kern, 119 Idaho 295, 297, 805 P.2d 501, 503 (Ct. App.1991).