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Hutchison v. State12/13/2000
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
[No. 4323 - December 13, 2000]
Appeal from the Superior Court, Second Judicial District, Barrow, Michael I. Jeffery, Judge.
Grant T. Hutchison appeals the composite sentence he received in three different criminal cases. In case number 2BA-98-774 Cr, Hutchison was convicted of felony breath-test refusal , felony failure to stop at the direction of a police officer , and driving while his license was revoked . In case number 2BA-98-646 Cr, Hutchison was convicted of felony driving while intoxicated and driving while his license was revoked. And in case number 2BA-99-015 Cr, Hutchison was convicted of violating the conditions of his release (failing to appear when ordered) in case number 98-646.
For these offenses, Superior Court Judge Michael I. Jeffery sentenced Hutchison to a composite sentence of 6 years, 4 months' imprisonment with 3 years suspended - 3 years, 4 months to serve. In this appeal, Hutchison contends that this sentence is excessive. Specifically, Hutchison claims that a sentence of 1½ years to serve, with additional time suspended, would have been sufficient to protect the public and would have allowed for Hutchison's rehabilitation.
Hutchison was 32 years old at the time of sentencing. His criminal history stretches back to 1985. Including the present six offenses, Hutchison has been convicted of some thirty crimes, most of them alcohol-related. As stated in the pre-sentence report, Hutchison has "a serious substance abuse [problem]".
When he sentenced Hutchison, Judge Jeffery remarked that Hutchison had "a very serious record". The judge noted that Hutchison "ha been in front of the court countless times for driving while intoxicated driving while license suspended" - and that, despite these many convictions, Hutchison "still continues to do it, and continues to endanger this community". Based on Hutchison's lengthy record, Judge Jeffery found that Hutchison was a worst offender. Even so, Judge Jeffery concluded that Hutchison should not receive 5 years to serve (the maximum term for his most serious offense). Instead, as explained above, Judge Jeffery imposed a composite term of 3 years, 4 months to serve.
In this appeal, Hutchison contends that Judge Jeffery should have given him a lesser sentence - or, at least, a lesser amount of time to serve - because Hutchison has never received intensive treatment for his alcoholism, and thus his potential for rehabilitation remains untested. Hutchison argues that, because he may have a good potential for rehabilitation, Judge Jeffery should have given more weight to this possibility when fashioning the sentence.
Alaska law gives a sentencing judge considerable discretion in weighing and giving priority to the various sentencing goals listed in AS 12.55.005. From our review of the record in Hutchison's case, we reject Hutchison's contention that Judge Jeffery abused that discretion.
Hutchison's sentencing hearing began with a substantive discussion of Hutchison's prospects for successful rehabilitative treatment. The defense attorney told Judge Jeffery:
Defense Attorney: The court may recall that both the State and the court wanted to have Mr. Hutchison evaluated for alcohol and drug abuse. ... I went over and visited with Ms. Mack at her office, and essentially they are not prepared to provide any guidance to the court about what an appropriate treatment regimen would be, or [to assess] Mr. Hutchison's prospective chances of success in any particular treatment regimen until they get the results of the neuropsychiatric examination. ...
If Mr. Hutchison was trans
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