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Chase v. State5/3/2000
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
[No. 4213 - May 3, 2000]
Appeal from the Superior Court, Fourth Judicial District, Bethel, Christopher R. Cooke, and Elaine M. Andrews, Judges.
In 1981, Clinton Chase was convicted of murder in the second degree. Superior Court Judge Christopher R. Cooke sentenced Chase to 25 years with 10 years suspended. Chase was released from prison in May of 1988. In 1992, Chase was convicted for driving while intoxicated. The Parole Board found that Chase had violated his parole by committing the driving while intoxicated offense, and also by consuming alcohol in violation of his parole. The Parole Board issued a letter of warning and ordered Chase to reside at a community residential center for three months and to undergo alcohol rehabilitation. Chase absconded from supervision. The Parole Board again did not revoke Chase's parole, but gave him a letter of warning and required him to continue in the community residential center. In August of 1996, Chase tested positive for cocaine use. Chase began an out-patient drug treatment program in August 1996, but he continued submitting positive cocaine urinalysis tests and skipping appointments and was ultimately arrested and remanded to jail. In February of 1997, the court released Chase to Genesis House for residential substance abuse treatment. Chase completed the program and was successfully discharged in April of 1997. The court released Chase on his own recognizance and required him to participate in a drug testing program. Chase missed his appointment with his probation officer. At a bail hearing, the court instructed Chase to submit urine specimens when directed to do so by his probation officer. At the end of April of 1997, Chase submitted specimens which tested positive for cocaine. The court set a bail hearing for May 5, 1997, but Chase failed to appear and the court issued a bench warrant.
On July 25, 1997, Judge Andrews found that Chase was in violation of his probation and ordered him to serve two years of his previously suspended sentence. Chase was released on probation and parole on February 26, 1998. Chase was placed in a drug testing program. Chase began testing positive for cocaine almost immediately. He also did not appear for drug testing on several occasions. The state filed petitions to revoke parole and probation and warrants were issued for Chase's arrest. He was not arrested until December of 1998. The Parole Board revoked Chase's parole in full.
Chase appeared before Superior Court Judge Elaine M. Andrews on June 2, 1999. Judge Andrews found that Chase had violated his probation by not keeping his probation officer informed of his whereabouts and by testing positive for cocaine. In spite of the probation officer's recommendation that she impose the entire eight years of suspended time which remained on Chase's sentence, Judge Andrews imposed only four years. Chase appeals, arguing that this sentence was excessive. We affirm.
When a court sentences a defendant for violating his conditions of probation, the court is to consider "the seriousness of the original offense, the nature of the defendant's conduct while on probation, and the seriousness of the violations that led to the revocation." Murder in the second degree is an unclassified felony punishable by a maximum sentence of 99 years in prison. In Page v. State, we stated that the benchmark sentencing range for a typical offense was between 20 to 30 years of imprisonment. Chase's original sentence of 15 years of imprisonment was clearly a favorable sentence for Chase's offense given this benchmark range. At the probation revocation hearing, Judge Andrews noted that Chase had accumulated a po
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