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State v. Rhea9/10/2001
Assigned on Briefs July 25, 2001
The Defendant pled guilty to two counts of introduction of drugs into a penal institution. Her plea agreement required her to serve two concurrent six-year sentences for the offenses, but left the manner of service to the discretion of the trial court. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve her sentences in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant appeals this decision, arguing that the trial court erred by not ordering an alternative sentence. Because we conclude that the record in this case supports the denial of alternative sentencing, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed
Robert W. Wedemeyer, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Thomas T. Woodall and James Curwood Witt, Jr., JJ., joined.
OPINION
On September 5, 2000, the Defendant, Sharon Rhea, pled guilty to two counts of introduction of drugs into a penal institution. Pursuant to her plea agreement, the Defendant agreed to two six-year sentences to be served concurrent to one another but consecutive to the sentence she was serving at the time of the offenses in this case. The plea agreement left the manner of service of the sentence to the discretion of the trial court. Following a sentencing hearing conducted on October 16, 2000, the trial court ordered that the sentences imposed for the charges in this case be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred by denying her alternative sentencing. Having reviewed the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
At her sentencing hearing, the Defendant testified that she was thirty-six years old. She stated that she was married and had three children, ages twenty-one, seventeen and eight years old. She stated that her mother was raising her youngest child. The Defendant testified that she was manic depressive, that she had Hepatitis C, and that she was a recovering alcoholic. She also testified that she was prone to anxiety and panic attacks.
The Defendant testified that at the time of the offenses in this case, she was serving a sentence for armed robbery. She reported that after initially serving two and a half years, she was placed on parole in 1990. However, after being on parole for approximately ten years, she was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI). Based upon her parole violation, she was again incarcerated in March 2000. She stated that her sentence for armed robbery was to expire in 2002.
With regard to the offenses in this case, the Defendant candidly admitted that she possessed both Klonopin and Valium while incarcerated. She explained that she had been prescribed these medications while on parole and had been taking them for approximately three years when she became incarcerated. She stated that the medications were prescribed for manic depressive and suicidal tendencies. In addition, the Defendant informed the court that while she was on parole, she was also taking sleeping medication, Trazodone, and Zoloft, an anxiety medication. She stated that she had been taking these medications since approximately 1990.
The Defendant stated that when she became incarcerated, she was allowed to continue to take her prescription medication for only a couple of weeks before the doctor at the prison where she was incarcerated told her that she no longer needed the medications and took her off of them. The Defendant maintained that this caused her to have "a lot of panic and anxiety attacks" and to become "real nervous and anxious." She st
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