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State v. Gibney3/28/2003
ctors were sufficient for sentence enhancements). Here, the trial court made a significant error in determining the number of victims that could be taken into account in the sentencing decision: while the correct reading of 13 V.S.A. § 2303(d)(6) dictates that there was but one victim in this case, the trial court found at least six - "the deceased's widow . . . , his children . . . , and other family members such as his mother and siblings." The court did not specify the weight given to this factor as compared to the other factors, but it is reasonable to conclude that viewing the crime as having six victims, some of them children, had a significant impact on the court's decision to increase the minimum sentence by fifteen years. While other valid aggravating factors considered by the trial court may have provided an "independent basis for the sentencing decision," Bacon, 169 Vt. at 273, 733 A.2d at 54, we cannot reach that conclusion given the court's erroneous interpretation of the "multiple victims" provision of 13 V.S.A. § 2303(d)(6). We thus conclude that a remand is necessary to allow the trial court to reconsider the sentence imposed with a correct interpretation of that provision.
Defendant's conviction is affirmed. The trial court's determination of defendant's sentence is reversed, and the matter is remanded to the trial court for resentencing.
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