Jecori M. Jeffries v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED
this Memorandum Decision shall not be
regarded as precedent or cited before any May 05 2017, 6:52 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
the defense of res judicata, collateral Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Timothy P. Broden Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Lafayette, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Christina D. Pace
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Jecori M. Jeffries, May 5, 2017
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
79A02-1612-CR-2792
v. Appeal from the Tippecanoe
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Steven P. Meyer,
Appellee-Plaintiff Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
79D02-1606-F5-82
Baker, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1612-CR-2792 | May 5, 2017 Page 1 of 4
[1] Jecori Jeffries appeals the sentence imposed by the trial court after Jeffries
pleaded guilty to Level 5 felony carrying a handgun while having a prior felony
conviction. Jeffries contends that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the
nature of the offense and his character. Finding that the sentence is not
inappropriate, we affirm.
[2] On February 14, 2016, at 3:16 a.m., Jeffries had been drinking at a house party
and walked across the street to a gas station. Jeffries approached a police
officer; when Jeffries turned around, the officer saw the pistol grip of a black
semi-automatic handgun in Jeffries’s possession. The handgun was a Smith &
Wesson M&P 45 and was fully loaded with ten rounds in the magazine. The
officer knew Jeffries and knew that he had a prior felony conviction. An officer
secured Jeffries’s handgun and attempted to handcuff him; Jeffries turned and
forcibly pulled away multiple times. After he was handcuffed and being
transported to the patrol vehicle, Jeffries continued to forcibly pull away from
the officers.
[3] On June 2, 2016, the State charged Jeffries with Level 5 felony carrying a
handgun while having a prior felony conviction and with Class A misdemeanor
resisting law enforcement. The State also alleged that Jeffries was a habitual
offender. On September 26, 2016, Jeffries pleaded guilty to the handgun charge
in exchange for the dismissal of the resisting law enforcement charge and the
habitual offender enhancement. On November 14, 2016, the trial court
sentenced Jeffries to five years, with one year to be served on community
corrections and one year suspended to probation.
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[4] Jeffries’s sole argument on appeal is that the sentence is inappropriate in light of
the nature of the offense and his character. Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B)
provides that this Court may revise a sentence if it is inappropriate in light of
the nature of the offense and the character of the offender. We must “conduct
[this] review with substantial deference and give ‘due consideration’ to the trial
court’s decision—since the ‘principal role of [our] review is to attempt to leaven
the outliers,’ and not to achieve a perceived ‘correct’ sentence . . . .” Knapp v.
State, 9 N.E.3d 1274, 1292 (Ind. 2014) (quoting Chambers v. State, 989 N.E.2d
1257, 1259 (Ind. 2013)) (internal citations omitted).
[5] Jeffries was convicted of one Level 5 felony. For this conviction, he faced a
term of two to eight years, with an advisory term of four years imprisonment.
Ind. Code § 35-50-2-6(b). Jeffries received a five-year term, but one of those
years is suspended to probation and one of those years is to be served on
community corrections.
[6] As for the nature of the offense, Jeffries, who was on probation, was out
drinking at 3 in the morning. He went to a college party with a fully loaded
semi-automatic handgun. Jeffries was aware that he was not permitted to have
this weapon because he had a previous felony conviction. While this offense is
not the worst of the worst, Jeffries escalated the potential for violence by
attending a party with a loaded handgun.
[7] As for Jeffries’s character, he was only twenty-four years old at the time of
sentencing but had a lengthy history of contact with the criminal justice system.
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As a juvenile, he was adjudicated delinquent on three occasions. Two of his
adjudications were for attempted dealing and possession of a controlled
substance; for these adjudications, Jeffries was waived to adult court. He has
three prior felony convictions, including Class C felony possession of a
controlled substance and two convictions for Class D felony possession of
marijuana. He has six prior misdemeanor convictions, has violated probation
on two occasions, and was on probation at the time he committed the instant
offense. Moreover, the State has filed two new criminal cases against Jeffries
since filing the instant charges.
[8] Given the nature of the offense, including Jeffries’s decision to bring a loaded
handgun to a party where alcohol was being consumed, and Jeffries’s character,
including a lengthy history of contact with the criminal justice system that has
not deterred him from continuing to commit crimes, we do not find the
sentence imposed by the trial court to be inappropriate.
[9] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Barnes, J., and Crone, J., concur.
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