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Published by the Indiana Office of Court Services

McCain v. State, No. 18S-CR-26, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Jan. 17, 2018).

January 22, 2018 Filed Under: Criminal Tagged With: Per Curiam, Supreme

Per Curiam
….
Jessica McCain pleaded guilty to Level 1 felony child molesting, for which the sentence is a fixed term between twenty and fifty years, with an advisory term of thirty years.  See Ind. Code § 3550-2-4.  The trial court identified as mitigating factors McCain’s guilty plea, lack of criminal history, and history of employment.  The court identified as aggravating factors McCain’s position of care, custody, and control of the victim, the victim’s age, and McCain’s intent at the time of the offense.  The court found the aggravators outweigh the mitigators and imposed a forty-year sentence with thirty-eight years executed and two years suspended to probation.
McCain appealed her sentence.  The Court of Appeals reduced McCain’s sentence to thirty years, finding the forty-year sentence inappropriate under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B).  McCain v. State, No. 79A02-1703-CR-616, 2017 WL 4079491 (Ind. Ct. App. Sept. 15, 2017).  The State seeks transfer.
The Indiana Constitution authorizes independent appellate review and revision of a trial court’s sentencing decision.  Ind. Const. art. 7, §§ 4, 6; Serino v. State, 798 N.E.2d 852, 856 (Ind. 2003).  This authority is implemented through Appellate Rule 7(B), which permits an appellate court to revise a sentence if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, the sentence is found to be inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender. Serino, 798 N.E.2d at 856.  The principal role of such review is to attempt to leaven the outliers.  Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1225 (Ind. 2008).
Our judgment is that the sentence imposed by the trial court in this case is not inappropriate under Appellate Rule 7(B) and does not warrant appellate revision. Accordingly, we grant transfer, see Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A), and affirm the sentence imposed by the trial court.
Rush, C.J., and David, Massa, and Goff, JJ., concur.
Slaughter, J., votes to deny transfer.

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