Court Opinion

ID: 9738103
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:42:46.461737+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:03.693630
License: Public Domain

Shepherd, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). I agree that the convictions should be affirmed.
I do not agree that the sentence is within the guidelines and I would remand for resentencing. If the guidelines sentence range suggests a sentence of 180 months to life, that would not be permitted. See People v Boswell, 95 Mich App 405, 410-411; 291 NW2d 57 (1980). The guidelines rangé must therefore mean that the minimum guideline sentence should be either fifteen years to a maximum term of years greater than fifteen years or, in the alternative, a straight life sentence. Under a life sentence, defendant would be eligible for parole in ten years. MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4).
I would remand for resentencing at which the trial judge should state reasons for exceeding the guidelines. It is my view that any other interpretation of the guidelines would mean that any sentence is within the guidelines, i.e., there is no guideline range for this offense. The guidelines scheme presumes that a sentence falls within the statutory maximum but suggests sentence ranges based on the application of the guidelines factors to each case on an individual basis. Under the interpretation of the guidelines advanced by my colleagues, the guidelines factors would never be applied in this case no matter how long the sentence might be. I do not wish to imply that the sentence is not appropriate. I simply conclude that the sentence is not within the guidelines.