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Friday, December 29, 2006
Ind. Decisions - "Sentence reversed in infant death"
Today's Evansville Courier&Press has a story by Bryan Corbin on Wednesday's Court of Appeals decision in Misty Marie Howell v. State of Indiana. From today's story:
The Evansville woman serving an eight-year prison term for giving her infant a lethal dose of cold medicine will get a new sentencing hearing, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.Applying a U.S. Supreme Court precedent that has created a ripple effect in criminal cases nationwide, the appeals court found a technical violation in the way Misty Marie Howell was sentenced after pleading guilty to reckless homicide.
Kyle Howell, a 7-week-old infant, was found dead Feb. 20, 2004. His mother admitted she gave him an overdose of Dimetapp, which contains the drug pseudoephedrine.
The appeals court found the judge incorrectly used the victim's age as an aggravating factor, justifying a longer sentence, when that detail had not been officially established by a jury or by Howell herself under oath.
Vanderburgh County prosecutors disagree with the appeals court's decision and are considering whether to ask the state attorney general to appeal it up to the Indiana Supreme Court. * * *
In its 15-page decision Wednesday, the appeals court relied on a courtroom transcript of Howell's testimony at her guilty-plea hearing, in which the judge read the indictment to her - reciting the allegation, and the fact that Kyle Howell was 7 weeks old and was in Misty Howell's care. "Do you understand that charge?" Pigman asked Howell, according to the transcript. Howell replied with a one-word answer: yes.
"However, Howell did not admit to the facts contained in the trial court's question. Rather, Howell just admitted that she understood the charge," appeals court Judge John Sharpnack wrote in the decision. That cannot be used to justify using Kyle's age as an aggravating factor requiring a longer sentence, Sharpnack added. Appeals court Chief Judge James Kirsch and Judge Paul Mathias concurred, sending the case back to Pigman to resentence Howell.
"If it is decided that an appeal (to the Indiana Supreme Court) will not be made, then a new sentencing hearing will take place," Farr said. The decision whether to appeal is up to the attorney general's office.
The appeals court's ruling stems from a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2004: Blakely vs. Washington. It did away with the longstanding practice of judges lengthening sentences after finding aggravating factors exist, such as the victim's age and the defendant's position of trust over the victim.
The Supreme Court declared that only juries, not judges, could find aggravating factors, unless the defendant admits them. The only exception is the defendant's criminal record; a judge still can cite that without a jury finding it.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 29, 2006 01:01 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions