Court Opinion

ID: 9744174
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:55:20.725962+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:47.192833
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE STOUDER, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I join with my colleagues in affirming the conviction of the defendant for rape. However, I believe this case should have been remanded to the trial court for reconsideration of the sentence to be imposed. The disputed evidence of the unrelated offense of rape should not have been introduced or considered by the trial court with relation to the sentence to be imposed. My colleagues seem somewhat ambivalent about the propriety of the court receiving evidence of an unrelated offense. They suggest that the presentation of the evidence was proper but in any event the trial court would and should have disregarded any improper evidence and, finally, that the court did not consider such evidence because it was not specifically mentioned in connection with the sentence which was imposed. These latter arguments suggest that my colleagues do not believe that the evidence should have been received but, in effect, hold the admission of such improper evidence to be harmless error. It should be recalled the defendant was never even charged with the unrelated rape offense, and indeed the evidence itself suggests that a conviction thereof would have been doubtful. Where such evidence has been presented it is difficult to avoid the conclusion the defendant was being punished not only for the present offense but for another offense of which he was never charged and never convicted. This evidence was deliberately and intentionally introduced into the case by the prosecution as support for the imposition of an enhanced sentence. To say the trial court ignored the evidence or gave it no effect on the sentence is contrary to the purpose for which the evidence was introduced and disregards the prejudicial effect of such evidence. I would therefore remand this case for reconsideration of the sentence in the absence of improper and prejudicial evidence.