State v. RichardsonState v. Richardson
The defendant, Willie James Richardson, was originally indicted for first degree murder for the killing of Haywood Alexander, Jr., of Shreveport. The defendant, pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 21 years at hard labor, which is the maximum penalty under
On July 22, 1979, the 34-year-old victim was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest. The victim had been wrestling with the defendant prior to the shooting. Richardson made a statement to the police in
The defendant‘s statement was given voluntarily after a Miranda warning. A crime lab report showed that the victim‘s blood contained .18 percent alcohol. According to the defendant, the victim was not carrying any type of a weapon and this fact was known to the defendant at the time of the shooting. Eyewitness accounts of the shooting corroborate the defendant‘s statement.
The defendant claims that he was acting in self-defense when he shot the victim. He argues that the circumstances show that the victim was the aggressor, and therefore, do not warrant the sentence imposed. He also contends that the trial court relied too heavily upon the defendant‘s record of non-violent criminal activity and gave little or no consideration to the mitigating facts surrounding the commission of this offense. We find these arguments to be without merit.
The defendant was arrested and indicted by a grand jury for first degree murder. Before his case could come to trial, the defendant escaped from jail. He remained at large for approximately two and one-half years prior to giving himself up on February 23, 1982. The defendant returned to court on March 2, 1982.
A review of the record shows that the trial court adequately complied with
Principally, the court focused on the serious harm involved in this case; that is, the victim‘s death which resulted from the defendant‘s act of violence without sufficient provocation. The court found that there were no substantial grounds tending to excuse or justify the defendant‘s conduct which resulted in the needless and senseless death of another person. The trial court also noted that the defendant‘s incarceration would not cause excessive hardship to himself or his family.
It is well settled that the sentencing judge is given wide discretion in imposing a sentence within the statutory limits and that such a sentence should not be set aside as excessive in the absence of a manifest abuse of discretion by the sentencing judge. State v. Square, 433 So.2d 104 (La.1983); State v. Hammonds, 434 So.2d 452 (La.App. 2d Cir.1983); State v. Brooks, 431 So.2d 865 (La.App. 2d Cir.1983).
As a general rule, maximum sentences are appropriate only in cases involving the most serious violation of the offense and the worst type of offender. State v. Telsee, 425 So.2d 1251 (La.1983); State v. Lanclos, 419 So.2d 475 (La.1982); State v. Jones, 398 So.2d 1049 (La.1981). However, in cases where the defendant has pled guilty to an offense which does not adequately describe his conduct, the general rule does not apply and the trial court has great discretion in imposing the maximum sentence possible for the pled offense.
In the instant case, the defendant benefited considerably from a plea bargain in which his exposure to punishment was reduced from a potential term of life imprisonment for second degree murder to the maximum 21-year penalty for manslaughter. The offense was committed on July 22, 1979, after the June 29, 1979 effective date of Act 74 of 1979 amending
For these reasons, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the maximum penalty in this instance, and, accordingly, we affirm the sentence imposed.
Affirmed.