Court Opinion

ID: 9860826
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 23:33:29.616802+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:26:44.803495
License: Public Domain

Robert W. Hansen, J.
(concurring). The writer concurs in affirmance, but would go further than the majority opinion by returning to trial courts in this state the right to impose sentences within statutory limits. The holding in State v. Tuttle (1963), 21 Wis. 2d 147, 124 N. W. 2d 9, and all cases which have affirmed that *808holding, should he reversed and repudiated. It is true that, as the majority opinion points out, this court, except in Tuttle, has not substituted its judgment for that of the sentencing judge in any subsequent case. However, the assertion of the right so to do continues, and, as the dissenting opinion here demonstrates, the temptation to do so remains. It should be removed.
The adage — “You can’t tell a book by its cover,” — fits well the sentencing phase of a criminal trial. In fact, if the book is the transcript of courtroom proceedings, you cannot find what you need to know in the cold type of the printed record. This court has acknowledged that “. . . the standards guiding the imposition of criminal sentences and for testing the propriety of a sentence are not universally agreed upon.” Jung v. State (1966), 32 Wis. 2d 541, 548, 145 N. W. 2d 684. It would be well to add the acknowledgment that the opportunity to observe the defendant, his attitude, his demeanor and his behavior, is an essential element in determining whether incarceration is indicated, and for how long a period. Other factors, in the record and presentence report, do enter into the evaluation of the total situation as to sentencing alternatives. But, at best, a reviewing court, relying upon a record or the briefs of contending parties, has no opportunity to observe the person who committed the crime, and so a vital ingredient is missing for the complex and difficult process of determining the appropriate disposition of the case.
If it is contended that disparity in sentencing results would be lessened by appellate court review of sentences imposed, it should be noted that the reviewing court presumably possesses no right to increase sentences, only to reduce them. Beyond reach is a sentence that might well be considered excessively lenient and consequently disparate, compared to sentences imposed in similar situations by other courts. One need not support any of the various proposals for legislative action to promote greater uniformity in sentencing procedures to point out that all *809of them limit the reviewing agency created to eliminating disparate results, and authorize adjusting sentences up or down to further this goal. Certainly full and continuing information on all sentences imposed in all cases would have to be available to such sentence review agency as establishing a basis for comparisons. It is probable that the broadened parole and conditional release programs in this state serve the purpose of equalizing penalties imposed. In any event, the discussion and decision in this area belong to the legislative branch of our government, not the judicial.
The writer joins the majority in not walking through the door left ajar by Tuttle, but would close and lock that door, leaving the sentencing of the defendant within statutory limits to the trial judge who has the record and the defendant before him. There is no basis for believing that greater wisdom in determining an appropriate disposition could or would be shown by an appellate court that never saw the defendant.