Tucker v. State
Annotate this CaseAppellant Clemmie Tucker pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional felony murder. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the district court sentenced Tucker to 225 months in prison. The sentence represented an upward durational departure from the presumptive sentencing range of 128 to 180 months for a defendant convicted of second-degree unintentional murder with Tucker's criminal history score. Tucker filed a petition for postconviction relief in which he claimed the sentencing court abused its discretion when it imposed an upward departure based on particular cruelty to his victim. The court of appeals affirmed the denial of postconviction relief on the ground that Tucker's failure to render aid to his victim constituted particular cruelty. On review, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the sentencing court's reason for departure was improper. Permitting an upward departure under the circumstances of the case failed to apply the plain meaning of the phrase "particular cruelty" and disregarded the fundamental requirement permitting sentencing departures only when a defendant's conduct in the commission of an offense is significantly more serious than that typically involved in the commission of the offense in question. Remanded.
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