Defendant, Andrew Edwards, was charged by bill of information with aggravated burglary in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:60. He entered a plea of guilty and, after a hearing, was sentenced to ten (10) years at hard labor with credit for time served. Defendant has now appealed, alleging as his sole assignment of error that the sentence imposed on him is excessive.
On December 1, 1980, defendant burglarized the Baton Rouge home of Lori Henslee, taking among other items, silver coins, silverware and a .22 caliber revolver. The latter item is the basis of the aggravated burglary charge against defendant, in that no one was present in the house at the time of the burglary. When someone was heard returning to the house, defendant and his aeeomplice(s) fled. Defendant was arrested approximately two months later at the scene of another burglary. Defendant was seventeen years old at the time he committed the burglary giving rise to the instant conviction.
Even though defendant entered a plea of guilty, a review of his sentence for excessiveness is appropriate in the instant case. State v. Sims,
A majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court has held that La. Const, of 1974, art. I, § 20 authorizes appellate review of individual criminal sentences to ex-cessiveness. State v. Sepulvado,
The sentencing criteria in LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 894.1 provide the appropriate criteria by which to measure whether a sentence within statutory limits is nevertheless excessive, either by reason of its length or because it specifies confinement rather than less onerous sentencing alternatives.
Sepulvado,
The general type of factors which should be considered by a trial judge before the imposition of a sentence on a particular offender include his personal history, his prior criminal history, the seriousness of the crime, the circumstances of the offense, the likelihood that defendant will commit another crime, and his potential for rehabilitation. State v. Trahan,
In imposing sentence upon defendant, the trial judge expressed a belief that there was a risk that he would commit other crimes if not incarcerated. The trial judge felt that the circumstances which led defendant to commit this offense, including the fact that he is a tenth grade dropout with a poor work history, might lead him to commit other crimes. He also indicated that defendant’s attitude caused him to believe that he might commit other crimes. In further support of this conclusion, the trial judge noted that even though defendant was picked up for theft several times as a juvenile, warned and counseled, he nevertheless persisted in his same course of criminal conduct. In this respect, it is significant that in addition to the instant offense which occurred in December, 1980, defendant was also arrested for another burglary which occurred shortly thereafter in January of 1981. Accordingly, the trial judge felt that defendant was in need of a custodial atmosphere to alter his conduct. Moreover, he felt that a lesser sentence would deprecate the seriousness of defendant’s crime.
In accordance with LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 894.-1, the trial judge also considered those circumstances mitigating in defendant’s be
We find that there has been adequate compliance with LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 894.1. Further defendant’s sentence is well within the lower range of sentences which could have been imposed (not less than 1 nor more than 30 years) and we find that it is not excessive. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit and we affirm the trial court’s sentence.
AFFIRMED.
