 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Hoskins4/29/1999
The defendant, Johnell Hoskins, pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape and was sentenced to two years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for each count, with his sentences to run concurrently. The defendant appeals, arguing that these sentences are excessive and that the trial court erred in denying his request for alternative sentencing. We AFFIRM the judgment of the trial court.
BACKGROUND
On October 18, 1996, the defendant, who was forty-one years of age, took his two victims, ages fifteen and sixteen, to the Dixon Motel and engaged them in group sex. The older victim lived with her mother in the defendant's home at the time of the offense. The younger victim was spending the night with the defendant's daughter. By all accounts, including the defendant's own testimony, the defendant was a close friend and a father figure to both girls. To illustrate, the state introduced a letter from the defendant to the younger victim in which he told her he loved her like his own daughter and that she should feel like his home was her own.
At the defendant's sentencing hearing, the younger victim testified that the defendant gave her Valium and alcohol prior to taking the girls to the Motel . Although, by the nature of the charges, consent was not an issue, the testifying victim also indicated that she felt coerced to have sex with the defendant. In addition, she contradicted the defendant's assertion that this was an isolated incident. She testified, rather, that the defendant had inappropriately touched both girls on previous occasions and had continued to sexually molest the girl who lived in his home on several occasions after the instant offenses. Finally, she testified that she has been extremely depressed, even suicidal, since the incident.
The defendant testified that his wife had committed suicide in February 1996. In September 1996, his daughter had been involved in a serious automobile accident and his best friend's husband had died. According to the defendant, these events had caused him to suffer severe depression, such that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and taking Prozac and other medications at the time of his offenses. Several defense witnesses also confirmed that the defendant had become severely depressed after his wife's death and continued to suffer from depression at the time of his offenses.
Finally, as relevant here, the state introduced the defendant's history of criminal behavior, which included a twenty-year old conviction for driving under the influence , an expunged conviction for receiving and concealing, a worthless check charge, and an harassment charge.
Based on the above testimony, the trial court found applicable one enhancement factor-that " he defendant has a previous history of criminal convictions or criminal behavior in addition to those necessary to establish the appropriate range." Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-114(1). Finding no mitigating factors, the trial court sentenced the defendant to the range I maximum of two years confinement on each count, with the sentences to be served concurrently.
The defendant now challenges these sentences.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
When an accused challenges the length or manner of service of a sentence, it is the duty of this Court to conduct a de novo review on the record "with a presumption that the determinations made by the court from which the appeal is taken are correct." Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-401(d). This presumption "is conditioned upon the affirmative showing in the record that the trial court considered the sentencing principles and all relevant facts and circumstances." State v. Ashby, 823 S.W.2d 166, 169
Page 1 2 3 4 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|