Court Opinion

ID: 9857019
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 07:11:59.120068+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:51.203297
License: Public Domain

DONALDSON, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
Several of the “best-settled rules” of appellate review, recited by the majority, are completely ignored. As the majority correctly notes, sentencing is a matter left to the discretion of the trial judge. And it is well established that a sentence within the limits prescribed by statute ordinarily will not be considered an abuse of that discretion. State v. Seifart, 100 Idaho 321, 597 P.2d 44 (1979); State v. Ward, 98 Idaho 571, 569 P.2d 916 (1977); State v. Lawrence, 97 Idaho 775, 554 P.2d 953 (1976).
The defendants in this appeal were adjudged guilty of crimes which our legislature has made punishable by incarceration for as long as 82 years. The sentences imposed would require incarceration for a total of 28 years, in the absence of earlier parole. In view of the fact the time to be served was just over one-third that available under the statutes, the observation of the majority that “[t]he sentences imposed by the trial judge were . . . within maximum limits” is indeed an understatement. A sentence which is roughly a third the length of that available under the statutes should not be overturned as an abuse of discretion.
I cannot agree with the majority that this case presents circumstances which compel tampering with the results of the trial court’s studied discretion. To the contrary, the presentence reports show circumstances which weigh heavily in favor of the lengthy incarceration imposed by the trial court. Leland Dunnagan’s prior criminal record includes six felony offenses and that of Allen Dunnagan includes eight. The presentence investigator’s report stated that, “During the time of the interview, [Allen] Dunnagan . seemed quite proud of his background and criminal history and spoke openly about it.”
*127It is true, as the majority points out, that one of the objects of our system of criminal justice is rehabilitation.1 State v. Ogata, 95 Idaho 309, 508 P.2d 141 (1973); State v. Moore, 78 Idaho 359, 304 P.2d 1101 (1957). However, as the presentence investigator pointed out, both defendants had been given prior opportunities for rehabilitation, all of which had failed. It seems particularly inappropriate to modify a sentence on the basis of a hope which the past contradicts. I would affirm the sentence imposed.
SHEPARD, J., concurs.

. The other three are protection of society; deterrence of the individual and the public generally; and punishment or retribution for wrongdoing. State v. Moore, supra. “The primary consideration is, and presumptively always will be, the good order and protection of society. All other factors are, and must be, subservient to that end.” 78 Idaho at 363, 304 P.2d at 1103.