Cogmon (Cecil) v. State ( 2014 )

 requires a sentencing court to exercise its discretion and weigh the
appropriate factors for and against the habitual criminal statute before
adjudicating a person as a habitual criminal "); see also Arajakis v. State,
108 Nev. 976, 983, 843 P.2d 800, 805 (1992) ("NRS 207.010 makes no
special allowance for non-violent crimes or for the remoteness of
convictions."). We conclude that the district court did not abuse its
discretion by adjudicating appellant as a habitual criminal.
Appellant next argues that his sentence to life with the
possibility of parole after ten years in prison constitutes cruel and unusual
punishment. Regardless of its severity, a sentence that is within the
statutory limits is not 'cruel and unusual punishment unless the statute
fixing punishment is unconstitutional or the sentence is so unreasonably
disproportionate to the offense as to shock the conscience." Blume v.
State, 112 Nev. 472, 475, 915 P.2d 282, 284 (1996) (quoting CuIverson v.
State, 95 Nev. 433, 435, 596 P.2d 220, 221-22 (1979)); see also Harmelin v.
Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 1000-01 (1991) (plurality opinion) (explaining
that Eighth Amendment does not require strict proportionality between
crime and sentence; it forbids only an extreme sentence that is grossly
disproportionate to the crime). The sentence imposed is within the
parameters provided by the relevant statute, see NRS 207.010, and
appellant does not allege that the statute is unconstitutional. We are not
convinced that the sentence imposed is so grossly disproportionate to the
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crime and appellant's history of recidivism as to constitute cruel and
unusual punishment. See Ewing v. California, 638 U.S. 11, 29 (2003)
(plurality opinion).
Having considered appellant's arguments and concluded that
no relief is warranted, we
ORDER the judgment of conviction AFFIRMED.
Pitletta J.
Pickering
•
ctaS J. J.
Parraguirre Saitta
cc: Hon. David B. Barker, District Judge
Jonathan E. MacArthur
Attorney General/Carson City
Clark County District Attorney
Eighth District Court Clerk
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