Court Opinion

ID: 7822344
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 17:59:06.925093+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:46.166572
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, dissenting. I do not understand by what process or under what authority the majority upgrades the jury verdict from a class B misdemeanor to a class D felony. The jury was provided with three forms for their verdict. The three forms related to aggravated robbery, rape, and sexual misconduct. The jury acquitted appellant on the charge of rape but found him guilty of aggravated robbery and sexual misconduct. It was not the appellant who submitted the wrong form to the jury. The jury had no right to sentence him for a crime for which he was not convicted. The sentence is of no importance in this case because the appellant was sentenced to life on the aggravated robbery conviction. However, the precedent established is of great potential harm. I think we should reduce the second penalty to the one appropriate for the crime for which he was convicted.