State v. BellState v. Bell
This matter comes before this Court on one (1) assignment of error: “The trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence in violation of
Defendant, James Bell, was charged by grand jury indictment with the March 10, 1979 aggravated rape of his nine-year-old niece, a violation of
The defendant, at the time a twenty-nine year old married father of two daughters, had sexual relations with his nine year old niece. He is of marginal intelligence and, sometime after his arrest, was found to be incapable of assisting in his own defense and was committed to Feliciana Forensic Facility. After a year of treatment and regular administration of the drug, Thorazine, he was certified competent and returned for trial. At this point, a plea bargain arrangement was made whereby Bell would be permitted to plead guilty to the lesser crime of attempted aggravated rape and would be guaranteed a sentence not to exceed ten years at hard labor. The trial judge concurred in this arrangement and the plea was entered. The judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation performed and, after reading the report, he pronounced sentence, stating his reasons therefor in detail. There is no need to recapitulate here all that the judge said, except to state that his remarks represent a studied and conscientious compliance with
It has been held by this court that where a specific sentence has been agreed to as a consequence of a plea bargain, that sentence cannot be appealed as excessive and there is no need for the trial judge to give reasons for the sentence as required by
Judge Clark also found several aggravating circumstances present in this case. Without indicating exactly what information in the PSI he was relying on, the judge stated that “it is clearly indicated to this Court that (the defendant) is a sexual deviate“. The court further noted that the victim of the crime was a nine-year-old child, and that, in fact, the evidence indicated a completed act of aggravated rape had taken place.
As a general rule, a sentence is excessive “if it is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime, or if it is nothing more than the purposeless and needless imposition of pain and suffering.” State v. Bonanno, 384 So.2d 355, 357 (La. 1980). In the present case, defendant‘s admitted intercourse with a nine-year-old girl subjected him to a probable conviction of aggravated rape and an attendant sentencing exposure of life imprisonment,
The sentence is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
DENNIS, J., concurs with reasons.
DENNIS, Justice, concurring.
I respectfully concur.
This case illustrates that State v. Curry, 400 So.2d 614 (La.1981) tends to confuse, rather than assist, sentence review and should be overruled. Does the majority read Curry to require that a plea bargain by a defendant of marginal intelligence, entered during his temporary Thorazine induced mental competency, bars this court from reviewing his sentence for constitutional excessiveness? Or, did the majority review the excessiveness of the sentence and find that the record as a whole justifies the punishment, mainly because the defendant received a ten year hard labor, but parolable, sentence after being allowed to plead guilty to attempted aggravated rape although the evidence indicates the rape was completed upon the nine year old victim? I believe the sentence should be affirmed on the latter basis only. Moreover, if this court were to treat a plea bargain as merely one circumstance to be considered in reviewing a sentence rather than a basis for a per se rule cutting off review entirely, it would promote more clarity and fairness in our penalty reviews.