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Benton v. State10/24/2001
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
No. 4475
MANNHEIMER, Judge, concurring.
Mark S. Benton claims the superior court imposed an excessive sentence when it revoked his probation and imposed the balance of his suspended imprisonment. Because we conclude that Benton's sentence was not clearly mistaken, we affirm.
Superior Court Judge Larry D. Card revoked Benton's probation in a 1994 second-degree assault case. Judge Card originally imposed a 4-year sentence with 3 and ½ years suspended. Benton had kicked his wife in the face fracturing her facial bones and dislocating her jaw. Two years before this 1994 felony assault, Benton had been convicted of misdemeanor assault where his wife was also the victim. The 1994 case was not the first time he had been convicted of a felony; shortly after turning eighteen, Benton had committed a burglary, but that conviction was set aside.
Benton's probation had been revoked twice before the present petition was filed. In 1995, the State filed the first petition to revoke Benton's probation. Benton was charged with and found to have committed three probation violations: changing his residence without notifying his probation officer and twice possessing or using marijuana and cocaine. The superior court imposed 90 days' imprisonment and completion of a substance abuse program. In 1999, the State filed the second petition to revoke Benton's probation, and Benton was found to have committed three probation violations: entering a Kodiak bar and twice consuming alcohol. The superior court continued his probation and imposed 40 hours of community work service and a $250 fine.
The petition to revoke probation at issue here charged Benton with six violations: consumption of cocaine, consumption of alcohol, failure to complete a mental health evaluation, failure to contact his probation officer, assaults on several people, and damaging a trooper's patrol car. The assaults and the damage to the patrol car also formed the basis of several new criminal charges.
On June 25, 2000, Erica Meadow and Robert Ryan reported that they came upon Benton's truck in a ditch and interrupted Benton's assault on his wife. Benton managed to get the truck out of the ditch and drove away. Meadow and Ryan offered to drive Benton's wife to the hospital along with another couple that had been with the Bentons. About a mile down the road, Benton, driving in reverse, nearly rammed into Meadow, Ryan, and the others, but Ryan drove into the ditch and avoided the collision. Benton chased them, and Ryan thought that Benton was going to run them off the road and kill them. Another person, John Gilbert, reported he had been driving on the same road with four of his children and had been chased by Benton. Benton had followed Gilbert and struck Gilbert's vehicle in the rear with his own vehicle. Gilbert thought that he and his children were going to be injured by Benton.
The Troopers received several 911 calls about Benton, responded to the area, and contacted Benton. He appeared to be intoxicated and failed sobriety tests. The Troopers arrested him for driving while intoxicated. After the Troopers placed Benton in a patrol car, he became agitated and kicked out a window.
The grand jury indicted Benton on eleven counts of third-degree assault and one count of second-degree criminal mischief. The parties reached a plea agreement covering Benton's misconduct. Benton agreed to plead no contest to five charges: one count of third-degree assault for causing eleven victims to fear imminent serious physical injury, one count of second-degree criminal mischief for damaging an Alaska State Trooper patrol car, one co
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