Court Opinion

ID: 9522865
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:33:03.041026+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:04:08.288848
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE ROMITI, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree with the majority that Mosby’s conviction should be affirmed but disagree that this is an appropriate case for reduction of sentence. Certain principles concerning sentences have been so unequivocally stated and so often repeated that they can no longer trigger any serious dispute: Ordinarily a sentence appealed from is presumed proper (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38,. par. 1005 — 5—4.1), and while, appellate courts have the power to reduce the sentence (87 Ill. 2d R. 615(b)(4)), that power should be exercised with considerable caution. (People v. Taylor (1965), 33 Ill. 2d 417, 211 N.E.2d 673.) Sentencing is a matter of discretion and absent an abuse of that discretion the sentence of the trial court may not be altered on appeal. (People v. Perruquet (1977), 68 Ill. 2d 149, 268 N.E.2d 882.) The trial judge is normally in a better position to determine the punishment to be imposed than a court of review. People v. Butler (1976), 64 Ill. 2d 485, 356 N.E.2d 330; People v. Perruquet (1977), 68 Ill. 2d 149, 154. A sentence is not excessive simply because it is disparate. In imposing sentence a court is not limited to considering solely the backgrounds of the defendants. The court may consider, among other factors, the degree and character of the participation of each defendant. People v. Sangster (1981), 95 Ill. App. 3d 357, 420 N.E.2d 181. I believe that in reducing Mosby’s sentence the majority has failed to follow or apply any of the foregoing principles. A review of the record reveals that the sentence was within statutory limits and that the trial court had an ample basis and reason for sentencing Mosby to a 10-year term: It was Addie Mosby who met the victim on the street and persuaded her to accompany Mosby to buy marijuana; it was Mosby who made the purchase and who drove the victim to a building which she said she owned; it was Mosby who told the victim to remove her clothes; it was Mosby who repeatedly beat the victim with a whip and with an electric cord; it was Mosby who tied the victim’s hands and feet and was the prime mover in shaving the victim’s head and who ordered the victim to perform the “various deviate sexual acts” involved. This evidence starkly establishes the differing degrees of participation by defendant Mosby as compared to Tate and in my opinion clearly and strongly supports the trial court’s decision to impose the different and disparate sentence. Since the sentence finds support in the record we should not reduce that sentence simply because we might have imposed some lesser sentence had we been the trial judge. People v. Perruquet (1977), 68 Ill. 2d 149, 156. I would not interfere with the judge’s decision and would affirm Mosby’s sentence as well as her conviction.