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Workman v. State6/21/2000
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
[No. 4230 - June 21, 2000]
Appeal from the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Palmer, Eric Smith, Judge.
Before: Coats, Chief Judge, and Mannheimer and Stewart, Judges.-
Aaron J. Workman pleaded no contest to three class C felonies and a class A misdemeanor from two separate cases. He also admitted that he violated his probation in a third case for which he was on probation for another class C felony. Workman appeared before Superior Court Judge Eric Smith for sentencing and disposition on these five crimes. Judge Smith imposed a composite term of 4 years and 1 month to serve. Workman claims that this term is excessive. Because we conclude that Workman's term to serve is not clearly mistaken, we affirm.
Workman was 22 years old when he appeared before Judge Smith on these three cases. Workman was on probation on a 1995 Anchorage case where he was convicted on one count of second-degree burglary. In that case, on December 15, 1995, Workman smashed in the windows of a liquor store on Muldoon Road in Anchorage and stole cans of beer. Workman was driving his car near the location of the burglary when the police stopped him. His blood alcohol level was .194. He was sentenced for driving while intoxicated on January 12, 1996. Shortly after, on January 24, 1996, Superior Court Judge Karen L. Hunt imposed a 2-year suspended imposition of sentence on the burglary.
Workman was sentenced for his next crime, another DWI, on January 15, 1997. On November 17, 1997, he was sentenced for driving on a revoked license. A probation revocation followed in January 1998. Superior Court Judge Milton M. Souter revoked Workman's probation on the second-degree burglary charge because he violated terms of his probation. Judge Souter suspended imposition of sentence for 2 years and 6 months. Workman was next sentenced on April 13, 1998, for a domestic violence assault and for malicious destruction of property.
Workman's second felony case arose out of an incident in August 1998. Workman was pursued by Wasilla police because he was driving an off-road motorcycle on the road without a headlight in the late evening. Workman eluded police for awhile but was finally contacted and arrested. Ultimately, he entered a no contest plea to a single count of felony driving while intoxicated, a class C felony. As a second-felony offender, Workman faced a presumptive two-year term.
Workman was on release from the August offense when, late at night on January 20, 1999, he stole a vehicle from in front of a bar in Wasilla. Troopers saw the vehicle and tried to stop Workman but a chase of several miles ensued. Workman drove at speeds up to 100 mph and turned his lights off during the chase. He was caught after he drove the stolen vehicle into a ditch. He fought with the troopers when they arrested him. Workman kicked one trooper in the knee. Workman was intoxicated and refused a breath test. For this misconduct, Workman eventually pleaded no contest to one count of felony driving while intoxicated, one count of first-degree failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer, and one count of fourth-degree assault. Workman was not yet convicted for the August 1998 felony DWI when he committed these offenses, so he faced a presumptive two-year term for the felony DWI and for the first-degree failure to stop. Workman did not allege that any mitigating factors applied at sentencing. The State did not allege that any aggravating factors applied to the August 1998 charge, but the State did file notice of the following aggravating factors: AS 12.55.155(c)(6) (Workman's conduct created a risk of imminent physical injury to
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