Opinion ID: 2222288
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Death Penalty as Disparate From Accomplice's Sentence

Text: Defendant contends that the trial judge abused his discretion in sentencing defendant to death in light of the fact that defendant's accomplice, Earl Tillberry, received only a fifty-five-year prison sentence for his role in the murder. We have previously addressed and rejected arguments similar to this in Brewer v. State (1981), 275 Ind. 338, 373-74, 417 N.E.2d 889, 909 (defendant's death sentence not excessive or irrational when compared with accomplice's sixty-year prison sentence); Young v. State (1985), Ind., 482 N.E.2d 246 (twenty-year prison sentence appropriate despite co-defendant's ten-year sentence); Gajdos v. State (1984), Ind., 462 N.E.2d 1017 (trial judge did not abuse discretion by sentencing co-defendant to lesser term than defendant); Morgan v. State (1981), 275 Ind. 666, 419 N.E.2d 964 (defendants' sentences held not excessive or irrational despite relatively light sentences of accomplices). See also Green v. State (1983), Ind., 451 N.E.2d 41; Richey v. State (1981), Ind., 426 N.E.2d 389; U.S. v. Donner, (7th Cir.1975), 528 F.2d 276. In deciding the issue in Morgan, supra, Justice Prentice stated: In similar situations, we have passed upon the sentences meted out to principals and accessories. It may be gleaned from those decisions that when one defendant proceeds to trial and his accomplice pleads guilty, the sentences need not be identical. This is by reason of the special nature of a guilty plea and because such a plea does not result in a judicial determination on the merits. See Tessely v. State, (1978) 267 Ind. 445, 370 N.E.2d 907; Combs v. State, (1973) 260 Ind. 294, 295 N.E.2d 366. In short, there is no requirement of consistency. 419 N.E.2d at 969. Likewise, in the instant case, Tillberry received a fifty-five-year sentence pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement. Tillberry's sentence did not preclude the imposition of the death penalty on the defendant. Moreover, the evidence reveals that disparate sentences were logically warranted by the circumstances in this case. Tillberry was fourteen years old at the time of the murder, whereas defendant was eighteen. Defendant instigated the robbery plan and prompted Tillberry to inflict the first stab wound. Defendant administered the vast majority of wounds when he stabbed and bludgeoned the victim with various weapons, including knives and a meat cleaver. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's determination that defendant's conduct and culpability warranted a more severe penalty than that imposed upon his accomplice.