State v. Goins ( 1998 )


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  •          IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
    AT KNOXVILLE            FILED
    APRIL, 1998 SESSION
    September 10, 1998
    Cecil Crowson, Jr.
    Appellate C ourt Clerk
    STATE OF TENNESSEE,             )    No. 03C01-9704-CR-00154
    )
    Appellee,                 )
    )    Washington County
    vs.                             )
    )    Honorable Arden L. Hill, Judge
    D’SHANNON H. GOINS,             )
    )    (Sentencing)
    Appellant.                )
    FOR THE APPELLANT:                   FOR THE APPELLEE:
    DEBORAH HUSKINS                      JOHN KNOX WALKUP
    Assistant Public Defender            Attorney General & Reporter
    First Judicial District
    P.O. Box 996                         ELIZABETH B. MARNEY
    Johnson City, TN 37605               Assistant Attorney General
    Criminal Justice Division
    425 Fifth Ave. North
    Second Floor, Cordell Hull Building
    Nashville, TN 37243-0493
    DAVID E. CROCKETT
    District Attorney General
    Rt. 19, Box 99
    Johnson City, TN 37601
    KENT GARLAND
    Assistant District Attorney General
    P.O. Box 38
    Jonesborough, TN 37659
    OPINION FILED: ____________________
    AFFIRMED IN PART,
    REVERSED IN PART
    AND REMANDED
    CURWOOD WITT
    JUDGE
    OPINION
    The defendant, D’Shannon H. Goins, was convicted in a jury trial in
    the Washington County Criminal Court of simple assault, a Class A misdemeanor.
    The trial court sentenced him to serve eleven months and twenty-nine days with all
    but the first sixty days of the sentence to be served on probation. The jury
    assessed a fine of $2,500, and the trial court ordered the defendant to pay one
    hundred dollars per month toward the court costs and as restitution to the victim.
    In addition, the defendant must spend ten days performing community service. In
    this direct appeal, the defendant does not challenge the validity of his convictions.
    He contends that the trial court should have suspended his entire sentence and that
    two of the probationary conditions imposed by the trial court are unreasonable and
    unrelated to the purposes of sentencing.
    We affirm the defendant’s sentence as imposed by the trial court.
    However, we find that the two conditions of probation are not authorized by statute
    nor reasonably related to the purpose of the sentence; therefore, we remand this
    case so that the trial judge may reconsider the conditions of probation as a whole.
    In addition, we find that the judgment form does not accurately reflect the entire
    sentence imposed by the trial court. The trial court’s order of restitution is not
    clearly stated in the transcript, and the judgment order makes no mention of
    restitution. Upon remand the trial court shall enter a corrected judgment that is
    consistent with the sentence imposed at the sentencing hearing as corrected in
    accordance with this opinion.
    The charges in this case arose out of an incident that occurred in a
    Johnson City establishment known as Gatsby’s. According to the testimony at trial,
    the victim and several other college students were sitting at two tables. The
    defendant, the victim and most of the others involved in this incident were students
    at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. A couple of weeks earlier
    some of these young men had had a disagreement with Keith Duncan over the
    2
    shuffle board game. Duncan felt that they had continued to harass him. On the
    night in question, the defendant, who had just been introduced to Duncan by a
    mutual friend, approached one table and told the young men at that table to leave
    Duncan alone. When they denied knowing Duncan, the defendant brought Duncan
    to the table. When they continued to deny any knowledge of Duncan or any
    harassment, the defendant became abusive and threatening. He struck Ashly
    Dewberry at least twice in the jaw. Dewberry suffered a broken jaw and a severed
    nerve. The injury required surgery, and the victim has two plates in his jaw and a
    scar on the side of his neck. In addition, one of the victim’s front teeth struck
    something when he fell and required a root canal. The grand jury indicted the
    defendant for aggravated assault. After a two-day jury trial, the jury acquitted him
    of that charge and found him guilty of misdemeanor assault.
    In this appeal, the defendant raises two sentencing issues. When an
    accused challenges the length, range, or manner of service of a sentence, it is the
    duty of this court to conduct a de novo review with a presumption that the
    determinations made by the trial court are correct.             Tenn. Code Ann. §
    40-35-401(d)(1997). 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 (Tenn. 1991). In
    conducting our review, we must consider all the evidence, the presentence report,
    the sentencing principles, the enhancing and mitigating factors, counsels’
    arguments, the appellant’s statements, the nature and character of the offense, and
    the appellant’s potential for rehabilitation. Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-35-103(5), -
    210(b) (1997); State v. 
    Ashby, 823 S.W.2d at 169
    . The defendant has the burden
    of demonstrating that the sentence is improper. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-210
    Sentencing Comm’n Comments. If the record fails to demonstrate the appropriate
    consideration by the trial court, appellate review of the sentence is purely de novo.
    State v. 
    Ashby, 823 S.W.2d at 169
    . However, if our review reflects that the trial
    court properly considered all relevant factors and the record adequately supports
    3
    its findings of fact, this court must affirm the sentence even if we would have
    preferred a different result. State v. Fletcher, 
    805 S.W.2d 785
    , 789 (Tenn. Crim.
    App. 1991).
    A misdemeanant, unlike the felon, is not entitled to the presumption
    of a minimum sentence. State v. Randall C. Conner, No. 03C01-9401-CR-00024,
    slip op. at 6 (Tenn. Crim. App., Knoxville, Aug. 12, 1994); State v. Bernell B.
    Lawson, No. 63, slip op. at 7 (Tenn. Crim. App., Knoxville, May 23, 1991).
    Misdemeanor sentencing is controlled by Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-
    35-302. The statue requires the court to impose a “specific number of months,
    days or hours . . . consistent with the purposes and principles of the [Criminal
    Sentencing Reform Act of 1989],” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-302(b) (1997), and to
    determine a percentage of the sentence which the misdemeanant must serve
    before becoming eligible for work release, furlough, trusty status, or other “related
    rehabilitation programs.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-302(d) (1997). In determining
    the percentage, the court must consider enhancement and mitigating factors as well
    as the legislative purposes and principles related to sentencing. Tenn. Code Ann.
    § 40-35-302(d); State v. Palmer, 
    902 S.W.2d 391
    , 393-94 (Tenn.1995); State v.
    Gilboy, 
    857 S.W.2d 884
    , 888-889 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1993).
    The misdemeanor sentencing statute authorizes the court to place a
    defendant on probation immediately or after service of a portion of the sentence.
    Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-402(e) (1997). The trial court maintains jurisdiction over
    a defendant placed in jail and may reduce or modify the sentence or place the
    defendant on probationary supervision. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-314(c) (1997).
    The statute is designed to provide a trial court with continuing jurisdiction in
    misdemeanor cases and a wide latitude of flexibility. State v. Dwight Johnson, No.
    03C01-9209-CR-00320, slip op. at 7 (Tenn. Crim. App., Knoxville, May, 18, 1993),
    perm. to app. denied (Tenn. 1994).
    4
    In this case, the trial court sentenced the defendant to eleven months
    and twenty-nine days and set the required percentage of service at sixty percent.
    The defendant contends that the trial court erred in ordering him to serve sixty days
    of his sentence in jail. We disagree.
    In this case, the trial court considered all of the relevant facts and
    circumstances and the applicable sentencing considerations. A presentence report
    was prepared, and the court held a separate sentencing hearing at which the
    defendant was the only witness. The trial judge found that the defendant had a
    history of previous criminal behavior, that the victim’s personal injuries were
    particularly great, and that the crime was committed under circumstances under
    which the potential for bodily injury to a victim was great. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-
    114 (1), (6), (16) (1997).
    The record supports the trial court’s use of factors 1 and 6. The
    defendant’s record includes a juvenile assault conviction and an aggravated assault
    charge that, according to the defendant, was dropped when the victim realized that
    the defendant was only sixteen years old. As an adult, he has been convicted of
    disorderly conduct and failure to appear. The evidence in the record does not
    preponderate against the trial court’s conclusion that the defendant has a history of
    previous criminal behavior. The record also indicates that the victim suffered a
    broken jaw, a nerve injury, and damage to a tooth. His medical expenses exceeded
    eleven thousand dollars. He has two plates in his jaw and a scar on his neck.
    Unlike aggravated assault, simple assault does not require that the jury find “serious
    bodily injury.” See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-101(a)(1), -102(a)(1)(A) (1997).
    Therefore, enhancement factor 6 may be applied in cases of misdemeanor assault
    where a preponderance of the evidence indicates that the injuries were particularly
    great. See State v. Jones, 
    883 S.W.2d 597
    , 603 (Tenn. 1994) (serious bodily injury
    is synonymous with particularly great injury). The trial court did not err in finding that
    the victim’s injuries resulting from this assault were particularly great.
    5
    The trial court did, however, err in considering enhancement factor 16.
    Bodily injury is an element of the offense for which the defendant was convicted.
    Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-101(a)(1) (1997). An enhancement factor may not be an
    essential element of the offense. 
    Jones, 883 S.W.2d at 603
    ; Tenn. Code Ann. §
    40-35-114 (1997). Every assault as defined in section 39-13-101(a)(1) occurs in
    circumstances where the potential for bodily injury to a victim is great. State v,
    Glenn David Jones, No. 03C01-9302-CR-00057, slip op. at 17 (Tenn. Crim. App.,
    Knoxville, Nov. 22, 1994), perm. app. denied (Tenn. 1995).
    The trial court found that mitigating factors (1), (2), and (3) exist but
    held that the enhancement factors outweighed the mitigating factors. 1 We agree
    that factors (2) and (3) apply and that these enhancement factors outweighed the
    mitigating factors. Even though we have eliminated one enhancement factor, the
    two applicable factors have sufficient weight to justify a maximum sentence with a
    service percentage of at least 60% and the imposition of 10 days of community
    service.
    Next we consider whether the trial court erred in sentencing the
    defendant to a sentence involving split confinement rather than full probation. Trial
    courts may, at their discretion, require a defendant receiving probation to serve a
    portion of the sentence in continuous confinement coupled with probation for a
    period of time up to and including the statutory maximum time for the class of the
    conviction offense. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-306(a) (1997). On these facts, we
    cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion. The defendant has previously
    been convicted of assault, and although he has several times expressed his
    remorse for the victim’s injuries, he apparently does not recognize that his actions
    were irresponsible and immature as well as illegal.       He must learn that he is a
    1
    The three mitigating factors to which the trial court referred are: (1)
    the defendant’s criminal conduct neither caused nor threatened serious bodily
    injury; (2) the defendant acted under strong provocation; (3) substantial grounds
    exist tending to excuse or justify the defendant’s criminal conduct, though failing
    to establish a defense. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-113 (1), (2), (3) (1997).
    6
    young man and a father and not a school boy at recess. His previous brushes with
    the law, for which he received probation, have not conveyed the message
    effectively.   The trial court did not err in ordering a lengthy period of “shock
    incarceration” in this case.
    In this last issue, we must determine whether the trial court erred in
    imposing conditions of probation that require the defendant to stay out of places that
    sell alcohol, including grocery stores, and that prohibit him from living with any
    woman to whom he is not married. The resolution of this issue is controlled by
    State v. Burdin, 
    924 S.W.2d 82
    (Tenn. 1996). Based on our supreme court’s
    decision in Burdin, we find that the special conditions imposed by the trial court are
    improper as they are not authorized either expressly or implicitly by the Criminal
    Sentencing Reform Act of 1989. See 1989 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 591 § 6.
    Under the Act, a trial court has wide latitude in formulating specific
    sentences, including the imposition of conditions of probation. 
    Burdin, 924 S.W.2d at 85
    . Although the Act encourages trial judges to be innovative in devising
    appropriate sentences, the resulting sentence must conform to the principles of
    sentencing and be responsive to both the interests of society and the interests of
    the defendant. 
    Id. Tennessee Code Annotated
    section 40-35-303(d) authorizes the
    trial court to impose conditions of probation that our supreme court has described
    as “closely related to conventional societal duties - family support, productive
    employment, community service, personal health, vocational training, avoidance of
    dangerous instruments, cooperation with supervising agencies, and restitution.”
    
    Burdin, 924 S.W.2d at 85
    . Subsection (d)(9) allows the imposition of “any other
    conditions [that are] reasonably related to the purpose of the offender’s sentence
    and not unduly restrictive of the offender’s liberty, or incompatible with the
    offender’s freedom of conscience, or otherwise prohibited by this chapter.” Tenn.
    Code Ann. § 40-35-303(d)(9) (1997). Although stated in general terms, subsection
    9 offers no dramatic departure from traditional principles of rehabilitation. Burdin,
    
    7 924 S.W.2d at 85
    . The primary goal of probation, both under our sentencing
    statutes and the appellate decisions of the courts of this state, is rehabilitation. 
    Id. at 86 (citations
    to other cases omitted). Although the Act encourages innovative
    techniques of probation to promote rehabilitation and to prevent recidivism, section
    40-35-303(d)(9) should not be read as “granting unfettered authority” to impose
    conditions and punishments which extend beyond the scope of traditional notions
    of rehabilitation. 
    Burdin, 924 S.W.2d at 86
    .
    In this case, the trial judge ordered the defendant to stay out of any
    establishment that sold alcoholic beverages including grocery stores2 and forbade
    him to live with any woman to whom he was not married. Although a prohibition
    against entering establishments such as bars and night clubs that sell alcoholic
    beverages may be within the bounds of traditional notions of probation in
    appropriate cases, forbidding one to enter a grocery store that sells alcoholic
    beverages is needlessly broad. Tennessee law permits the sale of beer in grocery
    stores. Many grocery stores sell beer. Grocery stores also sell the necessities of
    life. The defendant is a father, and forbidding him to enter a grocery store will have
    an adverse affect on his ability to provide for his child as well as himself. Such a
    condition is counterproductive to the purposes of probation which stress the
    importance of conventional societal duties such as family support.         See 
    Burdin, 924 S.W.2d at 85
    . In an appropriate case, a trial court may well order an offender
    to abstain from the use of alcohol and to refrain from entering certain kinds of
    establishments, but a condition of probation should not prevent the offender from
    purchasing for himself and his family the necessities of life.
    The second special condition, that the defendant not reside with a
    woman to whom he is not married, is also drawn too broadly. 3 Moreover, it is not
    2
    The trial court made an exception for the defendant’s place of
    employment, the Steak & Ale, where alcoholic beverages are served.
    3
    Apparently the trial judge believed that the defendant did not live
    with the mother of his child but lived instead with another woman. Although the
    record is not entirely clear, the defendant’s testimony indicates that he and the
    8
    reasonably related to the purposes of the sentence.       In essence, the trial court
    ordered the defendant not to live in the house with his own child unless he married
    the child’s mother. Although it may be appropriate under some circumstances to
    refuse to allow a defendant to live with his family, see e.g., State v. McSweeney,
    123 Ore. App. 460, 
    860 P.2d 305
    (Ore. App. 1993) (prohibiting drug offender from
    living with family is reasonable), no such circumstances exist in this case. In
    addition, the broad language used by the trial court forbids the defendant to live in
    the same house with a female relative such as a sister, a grandmother, or even his
    mother. We fail to see any relationship between the condition and the defendant’s
    need to exercise more control over his aggressive tendencies.
    Since neither of the two special conditions is authorized by statute, we
    must remand this case to the trial court for the imposition of conditions of probation
    that are consistent with the Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989.4 See 
    Burdin, 924 S.W.2d at 87
    .
    Finally, we must address a matter unrelated to those raised by the
    defendant. In our de novo review of the record, we noted that the judgment entered
    in this case is deficient. The judgment indicates that the defendant was convicted
    of assault as defined in Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-101 and
    sentenced to serve 60% of his eleven month and twenty-nine day sentence in the
    county jail before being eligible for any release programs. The form also notes that
    the jury imposed a fine of $2,500. The judgment does not indicate that the
    mother of his child were living together but that another woman also lived in the
    house. He referred to this woman as a “roommate” who had not fulfilled her
    obligation to pay her share of the rent and the utilities.
    4
    We note that the conditions as written in the probation order are
    even more broad than the trial court’s pronouncements at the sentencing
    hearing. According to the order, the defendant “will not live with anyone to whom
    you are not married,” and “will not use intoxicants of any kind,” nor “use or be in
    possession of narcotic drugs, including marijuana,” or “visit places where
    intoxicants or drugs are sold, dispensed, or used.” If this order were taken
    literally, the defendant would be precluded from entering grocery stores,
    pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and hospitals and would be forced to reside by
    himself.
    9
    defendant is to serve 60 days in jail and the balance on probation. It is also silent
    on the subject of restitution, costs, and community service.       At the sentencing
    hearing, the trial judge ordered the defendant to pay both his court costs as well as
    restitution to the victim at the rate of $100.00 per month.5 However, it is not clear
    from the transcript how the funds are to be allocated between the costs and
    restitution. Facts in the record indicate that the victim’s medical costs amounted to
    $11,967.04. The trial court made no findings as to the amount of restitution the
    defendant was required to pay and the time of payment.
    According to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-304, a trial
    court must specify at the sentencing hearing the amount of restitution to be paid.
    Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-304(c) (1997).          The court may permit payment in
    installments but may not establish a payment schedule that extends beyond the
    statutory maximum term of probation supervision that may be imposed for the
    offense. Id.6 In determining the amount of restitution and the method of payment,
    the trial court shall consider the financial resources and the future ability of the
    defendant to pay. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-304(d) (1997).
    The present judgment form does not contain many of the trial court’s
    orders relevant to sentencing, and the transcript itself does not clarify the questions
    relevant to restitution. Upon remand, the trial court shall enter a judgment that
    accurately reflects the sentence imposed at the sentencing hearing as well as a
    probation order containing any conditions the trial judge determines to be
    reasonably related to the purposes of sentencing as defined in Burdin and in the
    best interests of the public and the defendant. The trial court shall make the
    5
    The probation order states that the defendant must pay restitution
    through the court but does not mention any amount.
    6
    An offender may be required to serve a portion of his sentence in
    continuous confinement with probation for a period of time up to and including
    the statutory maximum for the class of conviction offense. Tenn. Code Ann. §
    40-35-306(a) (1997). The defendant in this case was convicted of a Class A
    misdemeanor for which the statutory maximum sentence is eleven months and
    twenty-nine days. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-111(e)(1).
    10
    required findings concerning the total amount of restitution and the manner of
    payment after taking into consideration the defendant’s financial resources and
    future ability to pay.
    __________________________
    CURWOOD W ITT, Judge
    CONCUR:
    ______________________________
    PAUL G. SUMMERS, Judge
    ______________________________
    JERRY L. SMITH, Judge
    11