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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Ind. Decisions - "Appeals court overturns sentencing of gay defendant"

That is the heading of this story today in the Muncie Star-Press, reported by Rick Yencer, re the Court of Appeals' opinion Oct. 5 in the case of Jeffrey Phelps v. State of Indiana - see ILB summary here, 3rd case. Some quotes:

MUNCIE -- The Indiana Court of Appeals found a local court abused its discretion when it sentenced a gay defendant convicted of sex crimes and found he was a violent sex predator without having sufficient evidence.
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In October 2008, Delaware Circuit Court 2 Judge Richard Dailey sentenced Jeffrey S. Phelps, 46, to eight years in prison for two counts of vicarious sexual gratification and a count of dissemination of matter harmful to a minor.

That sentence was part of a plea deal with the state that dropped 10 other charges and proposed an executed sentence of no more than eight years. After Dailey handed down the sentence, he then determined Phelps was a violent sex predator, which mandated his listing on the state's sex offender registry.

The crime involved Phelps having teenage boys at his house and watching pornographic videos while the boys gratified themselves. Police also said Phelps supplied liquor and marijuana to the teenagers during gatherings between June and November 2006.

Defense attorney Jill Gonzalez, representing Phelps, filed an appeal, saying Dailey abused his discretion when he sentenced Phelps, and that there was no evidence supporting the sexual predator decision. She also argued the court's probation officer omitted in a pre-sentence report that Phelps had no prior criminal record.

The appeals court agreed this week, throwing out the lower court's sentence and imposing an aggregate sentence of four years. Justices also agreed there was no evidence that supported a violent sex predator status.

"There is no evidence in the record that (Phelps) forced any of the boys to do anything against their will, nor is there any evidence that Phelps' crime stemmed from a pattern of recurring conduct," the justices wrote. "This offenses stem from a series of bad decisions occurring on one particular evening."

The appeals court noted that Phelps had no prior criminal convictions, and mental health experts had reported the defendant was not a violent sex predator.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 10, 2009 08:42 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions