Court Opinion

ID: 9624270
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:56:31.127559+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:42.214911
License: Public Domain

GORDON, Justice
(specially concurring):
Appellant’s contention that his sentence is cruel and unusual punishment must be rejected, but for reasons other than those advanced by the majority opinion. The opinion states: “Appellant’s sentence is within statutory limits, and since the statute has not been declared unconstitutional, his sentence cannot be deemed cruel and unusual punishment,” citing out of context State v. O’Neill, 117 Ariz. 343, 572 P.2d 1181 (1977). This Court in O’Neill, supra, so held after first explaining that it had, in previous decisions, upheld the constitutionality of the statute under scrutiny. The Court today, however, neither cites prior decisions upholding the constitutionality of the instant statute, nor does it now find the statute constitutional.
In order to challenge a penalty as cruel and unusual, this Court, adhering to the weight of authority on the subject, has indicated that the statute imposing the sentence, rather than the specific sentence itself, must be shown to be unconstitutional:
“[W]here the statute fixing punishment for an offense is not unconstitutional, a sentence within the limits prescribed by such statute will not be regarded as cruel and unusual.” (Emphasis added.) State v. Castaño, 89 Ariz. 231, 233, 360 P.2d 479, 480 (1961).
See also State v. Guthrie, 111 Ariz. 471, 532 P.2d 862 (1975); State v. Quintana, 92 Ariz. 308, 376 P.2d 773 (1962).
A constitutional challenge to the statute itself would require the assertion that ten to fifteen years imprisonment is too severe for the crime of robbery committed by any person, under any circumstances. Appellant merely argues that such a term is excessive as it applies to him because of his specific circumstances. This argument is properly the subject of a request for a reduction in sentence pursuant to A.R.S. § 13 — 4037(B), formerly A.R.S. § 13-1717(B), which the majority considered later in its opinion. Thus, because appellant’s sentence is within the statutory limits, and he does not challenge the constitutionality of the statute, his sentence cannot be deemed cruel and unusual punishment.