Willis G. Heck v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2016 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED
this Memorandum Decision shall not be Jun 24 2016, 8:45 am
regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
court except for the purpose of establishing Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
the defense of res judicata, collateral
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Cara Schaefer Wieneke Gregory F. Zoeller
Wieneke Law Office, LLC Attorney General of Indiana
Brooklyn, Indiana Tyler G. Banks
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Willis G. Heck, June 24, 2016
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
84A01-1601-CR-126
v. Appeal from the Vigo Superior
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable John T. Roach,
Appellee-Plaintiff Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
84D01-1508-F5-1837
Crone, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 84A01-1601-CR-126 | June 24, 2016 Page 1 of 5
Case Summary
[1] Willis G. Heck appeals the five-year sentence imposed by the trial court
following his guilty plea to level 5 felony burglary. He argues that his sentence
is inappropriate in light of the nature of his offense and his character.
Concluding that he has not met his burden to show that his sentence is
inappropriate, we affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] In August 2015, Heck burglarized a retail store. Heck and an accomplice stole
a computer monitor and a cash register. The State charged Heck with level 5
felony burglary. Heck entered into a plea agreement with the State which
provided for a maximum executed sentence of five years. All other aspects of
sentencing were left to the trial court’s discretion.
[3] A sentencing hearing was held in December 2015. The trial court found Heck’s
significant criminal history and repeated probation violations as aggravating
circumstances. Although the trial court found no statutory mitigating factors,
the court considered Heck’s “acceptance of responsibility to be of some
mitigating weight.” Appellant’s App. at 67. The trial court sentenced Heck to
five years on work release with the opportunity to petition to modify the last
year of his sentence to formal probation. This appeal ensued.
Discussion and Decision
[4] Heck invites this court to reduce his five-year work release sentence pursuant to
Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), which provides that we may revise a sentence
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 84A01-1601-CR-126 | June 24, 2016 Page 2 of 5
authorized by statute if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, we
find that the sentence “is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and
the character of the offender.” The defendant bears the burden to persuade this
Court that his or her sentence is inappropriate. Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d
1073, 1080 (Ind. 2006). “[W]hether we regard a sentence as appropriate at the
end of the day turns on our sense of the culpability of the defendant, the
severity of the crime, the damage done to others, and myriad other factors that
come to light in a given case.” Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1224 (Ind.
2008). We recognize that the “principal role of appellate review should be to
attempt to leaven the outliers, and identify some guiding principles for trial
courts and those charged with improvement of the sentencing statutes, but not
to achieve a perceived ‘correct’ result in each case.” Id. at 1225. Indeed, “[t]he
question under Appellate Rule 7(B) is not whether another sentence is more
appropriate; rather, the question is whether the sentence imposed is
inappropriate. King v. State, 894 N.E.2d 265, 268 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008).
[5] Regarding the nature of the offense, “the advisory sentence is the starting point
the Legislature selected as appropriate for the crime committed.” Fuller v. State,
9 N.E.3d 653, 657 (Ind. 2014). Heck pled guilty to a level 5 felony. The
sentencing range for a level 5 felony is between one and six years, with an
advisory sentence of three years. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-6(b). The maximum
allowable executed sentence pursuant to his plea agreement was five years.
Heck received a five-year sentence on work release with an opportunity to
request formal probation in the last year of his sentence.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 84A01-1601-CR-126 | June 24, 2016 Page 3 of 5
[6] Heck contends that this sentence is inappropriate because the nature of his
offense is minor. While we do not disagree with Heck that the nature of his
offense was not particularly egregious, we would not characterize his offense as
minor. Nevertheless, his poor character justifies the sentence imposed by the
trial court.
[7] Heck is only twenty-seven years old and has a significant criminal history
which includes two felony convictions and four misdemeanor convictions. One
of his prior felony convictions is for theft, which is similar to his current crime
of burglary. See Williams v. State, 838 N.E.2d 1019, 1021 (Ind. 2005)
(significance of criminal history varies based on the gravity, nature and number
of prior offenses as they relate to the current offense). In addition, Heck’s prior
theft conviction was committed within three years of his current crime, which
does not reflect favorably upon his character.
[8] Moreover, the record indicates that Heck has previously been granted the grace
of probation only to then violate it repeatedly. Indeed, the court placed Heck
on probation after his most recent conviction and, during that placement, four
petitions to revoke his probation were filed, three of which were granted.
Heck’s consistent history of failure to abide by the terms of probation does
nothing to convince us that his five-year sentence on work release is
unwarranted. In sum, Heck has not shown that the sentence imposed by the
trial court is inappropriate and therefore we affirm.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 84A01-1601-CR-126 | June 24, 2016 Page 4 of 5
[9] Affirmed.
Najam, J., and Robb, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 84A01-1601-CR-126 | June 24, 2016 Page 5 of 5