Court Opinion

ID: 9845293
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:18:29.737473+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:59.921889
License: Public Domain

McQUADE, Chief Justice
(dissenting).
The problem of whether or not probation should be granted under facts such as we have here is always difficult for a district judge as well as for the appellate court. Compounding this problem is the questionable procedure of sentencing first offenders for possessing marijuana for their own use. In seeking some direction or at least a temporary solution, the reasoning of a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision is highly persuasive:
“We granted certification in this case primarily to establish guidelines for the sentencing of first offenders who were found guilty of possessing marijuana for their own use. We cannot escape the unhappy fact that our youth have been involved with marijuana in disturbing numbers. That this is so does not palliate the wrong. Nor should we be thought to encourage or condone such conduct. The statute should and will be enforced. But it remains the policy of the law to reform the youthful offender. * * * Prison in a case like this will probably be more detrimental to both the offender and society than some other discipline. Even a sentence to a reformatory as suggested by the Appellate Division may be more punitive than is required. We think that generally a suspended sentence with an appropriate term of probation is sufficient penalty for a person who is convicted for the first time of possessing marijuana for his own use.” State v. Ward, 57 N.J. 75, 270 A.2d 1.
The reasoning of the New Jersey Supreme Court is analogous to a statement by the Idaho Supreme Court regarding the purpose of our probationary statute:
“The purpose of the [probationary] statute is the reformation and rehabilitation of a defendant, particularly a first offender, and to give him an opportunity to reform and take his proper place in society.” State v. O’Dell, 71 Idaho 64 at p. 69, 225 P.2d 1020 at p. 1022 (1950).
O’Dell and the subsequent Idaho cases that have followed or cited it would seem to require us to consider the best interests of the defendant as well as the best interests of society.
The trial court has the power to parole, commute, suspend, withhold or grant probation in its discretion under I.C. § 19— 2601 when the court deems such action necessary or expedient. An abuse of such discretion is a question of law reviewable on appeal. State v. Mitchell, 77 Idaho 115, 289 P.2d 315 (1955). The elements a district court must consider in passing upon an application for probation are listed in State v. Mitchell, supra, at 118, 289 P.2d 315. The district court, in denying Kauffman’s application for probation, seems to have given most weight to requirement number three — likelihood of defendant abiding by terms of probation. Initially in his interview with the probation officer, Kauffman indicated that he did not think he could live under probationary supervision, would rather go to jail and “get it over with.” However, defendant’s subsequent statements and actions indicate the circumstances and emotional state defendant was in at the time these statements were made and that defendant had since had a change of heart. The very existence of this appeal and the application for probation indicate defendant seriously desires, and inferentially would abide, by the terms of a probation. In any event, a probation *25application involving a first offender is almost always given benefit of doubt.
This case raises serious questions concerning the current status of the system for the administration of criminal justice in Idaho. It is a frequent practice of a trial judge to use the probation report or presentence report as the basis for determining the sentence to be imposed. In fact, I.C. § 20-220 requires the trial judge to consider such a report. However, the statute only requires the investigator to “inquire into the circumstances of the offense, criminal record, social history and present condition of the defendant.” But the statute, and the individual report in this case, does not go far enough. If a presentence report is truly to be an aid to the court, then it must do more than merely aid the judge in determining what sentence should be imposed. The current approach is predominantly negative and does not serve the total and best interests of the individual involved or society. A proper presentence report should contain positive constructive and concrete suggestions on how the individual may best be rehabilitated so that he may at least function adequately in society after the state penal and “correction” systems -are through with him. That is, along with a more constructive approach to presentence investigations and reports, a follow-up procedure should also be recommended.
The weight and finality of an adverse or negative presentence report with no affirmative suggestions by the investigator is well exemplified in this case of Randall Kauffman. Once Kauffman had made the adverse statements to the probation investigator a few weeks before his trial, his fate was determined. As is required by case law, the court allowed Kauffman a chance to refute or rebut his previous statements made in the nresentence investigation. But even though Kauffman twice explained the circumstances under which the prior statements were made and that he had had some time to think about his conduct in the past and concluded that he had been wrong, the trial court nevertheless ignored the defendant’s current statements and relied upon the negative presentence report.
As was stated in State v. Gish, 89 Idaho 334, at 341, 404 P.2d 595 (1965):
“The application for probation under the provisions of I.C. § 19-2601 is not in the form of an application for mitigation of punishment, * * * but is an application for the exercise of the law’s humane provisions to allow a person an opportunity to become rehabilitated under proper control and supervision.”
Kauffman will require rehabilitation after his penitentiary experience. This same probation officer may be called upon to take on a much larger task when the defendant is returned to society by the way of parole. The curious dilemma is to resolve, under these circumstances, the future of Kauffman and his place in this society.
Under the facts of this case, I conclude that a sentence to the state penitentiary, no matter how short, would obviously not enhance the defendant’s reformation and rehabilitation. Nor am I able to comprehend how society would be benefited by the existing sentence.