Louisiana v. Aguliar-Benitez
Annotate this CaseRespondent Noe Aguliar-Benitez was convicted by jury of attempted aggravated rape and sexual battery. The evidence presented at trial established that respondent, while a guest in the home, sexually abused an 8-year-old child who resided there. As part of that abuse, he raped or attempted to rape her. Respondent claimed the offenses occurred during a single incident; the victim described repeated abuse. The trial court sentenced respondent to serve the statutory maximum sentences of 50 years imprisonment at hard labor for attempted aggravated rape and 99 years imprisonment at hard labor for sexual battery, to run concurrently and without parole eligibility. The court of appeal vacated the sentences, and remanded to the trial court with instructions to rule on respondent’s motion for new trial before resentencing. On remand, the trial court denied respondent’s motion for new trial and resentenced him to the same terms of imprisonment. The court of appeal affirmed the convictions but vacated the sentences as unconstitutionally excessive, and remanded for resentencing a second time. On remand, the trial court resentenced respondent to serve 40 years imprisonment at hard labor for attempted aggravated rape and 75 years imprisonment at hard labor for sexual battery, to run concurrently and without parole eligibility. The court of appeal affirmed the 40-year sentence for attempted aggravated rape, but vacated the 75-year sentence for sexual battery as unconstitutionally excessive, and remanded for resentencing a third time. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the State’s application to determine whether the trial court, after the second remand, abused its discretion in imposing a sentence for sexual battery that, while it was 24 years less than the sentence originally imposed, was still 20 years greater than the maximum recommended by the court of appeal. After reviewing the record, the Supreme Court found the trial court did not abuse its broad discretion in sentencing following the second remand. Furthermore, the Court respectfully disagreed with the court of appeal’s emphasis on whether the trial court articulated a sufficient justification for departing from the court of appeal’s recommended sentencing range. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the court of appeal in part and reinstated the 75-year sentence imposed by the trial court for sexual battery.
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