Court Opinion

ID: 9674059
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:22:34.279067+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:25.437151
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION ON STATE’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
DOUGLAS, Judge.
The majority still holds that five years of probation is more punishment than three years in the penitentiary. The majority is correct in that five years are more than three years. But this is like saying that five pennies are worth more than three dollars. Five blows in a spanking would be more punishment than three blows provided they are uniformly applied. Which would be greater: five soft blows applied with a folded newspaper by a compassionate mother or three hard blows applied with a razor strap by an enraged father? Measured at the time punishment is assessed, five years of probation would not be more punishment than three years’ confinement.
When probation was revoked and the sentence was executed, appellant’s time of confinement was increased because he had committed several other offenses. North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656, relied upon by the majority, has been misapplied by the majority because there was new conduct that could be considered. Such was not the case in North Carolina v. Pearce. There was no vindictiveness by the trial judge when he assessed or revoked probation.
No error has been shown. The State’s motion for rehearing should be granted and the judgment affirmed.
ROBERTS, J., joins in this dissent.