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Thomas v. Maryland12/6/1993
dant's 15-year term for assault was illegal under Simms in light of the 10-year maximum for the accompanying charge of robbery); Turner v. State, 45 Md. App. 168, 411 A.2d 1094, cert. denied, 288 Md. 745 (1980) (12-year assault sentence legal even though the maximum for robbery was 10 years because the defendant was not charged with robbery). See also Sutton v. State, 886 F.2d 708 (4th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1036, 110 S.Ct. 1493, 108 L.Ed.2d 628 (1990) (limitation established by Simms not applicable
where greater offense not charged). Were we to apply the Simms rule anytime a greater offense might have been charged, we would in effect create a binding hierarchy of offenses and sentences, a task that is truly a legislative one. We will, however, refer again to the philosophy of Simms when considering the defendant's claims that the sentences are impermissibly disproportionate.
III.
A.
We turn to the defendant's contention that the sentences imposed for the two convictions of battery offend constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, directed at action by the courts, contains similar language. It provides:
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishment inflicted, by the Courts of Law.
Article 16 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, directed toward legislative action, provides:
That sanguinary Laws ought to be avoided as far as it is consistent with the safety of the State; and no Law to inflict cruel and unusual pains and penalties ought to be made in any case, or at any time, hereafter.
The defendant argues that each sentence here challenged is grossly disproportionate when measured against the offense and relevant surrounding circumstances, and is therefore invalid under either the federal or state constitution. Alternatively, he suggests that if the Court does not agree that the sentences violate the Eighth Amendment to the federal constitution this Court should take a more expansive view of the protections afforded by the state constitution. He grounds his
argument for enhanced priority under the state constitution first on policy grounds, and second on the fact that Article 25 of the Declaration of Rights protects against cruel or unusual punishment, whereas the Eighth Amendment protects only against cruel and unusual punishment.
In Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 284, 103 S.Ct. 3001, 3006, 77 L.Ed.2d 637 (1983), the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment "prohibits not only barbaric punishments, but also sentences that are disproportionate to the crime committed." Quoting from Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349, 367, 30 S.Ct. 544, 549, 54 L.Ed. 793 (1910), the Court noted that "it is a precept of justice that punishment for crime should be graduated and proportioned to offense . . . ." Solem, supra, 463 U.S. at 287, 103 S.Ct. at 3008. The Court further stated that:
court's proportionality analysis under the Eighth Amendment should be guided by objective criteria, including (i) the gravity of the offense and the harshness of the penalty; (ii) the sentences imposed on other criminals in the same jurisdiction; and (iii) the sentences imposed for commission of t
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