Opinion
No. 72394
07-20-2018
JACK HOWARD, JR., Appellant, v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, Respondent.
ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE
Jack Howard, Jr. appeals from a judgment of conviction entered pursuant to a guilty plea of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell. Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Kerry Louise Earley, Judge.
Howard argues his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Howard asserts his sentence is disproportionate to his crime and there was no proof he actually intended to sell controlled substances. Regardless of its severity, "[a] sentence within the statutory limits is not 'cruel and unusual punishment unless the statute fixing punishment is unconstitutional or the sentence is so unreasonably disproportionate to the offense as to shock the conscience.'" Blume v. State, 112 Nev. 472, 475, 915 P.2d 282, 284 (1996) (quoting Culverson v. State, 95 Nev. 433, 435, 596 P.2d 220, 221-22 (1979)); see also Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 1000-01 (1991) (plurality opinion) (explaining the Eighth Amendment does not require strict proportionality between crime and sentence; it forbids only an extreme sentence that is grossly disproportionate to the crime).
Howard's sentence of 12 to 36 months is within the parameters provided by the relevant statutes, see NRS 193.130(2)(d); NRS 453.337(2)(a), and Howard does not allege that those statutes are unconstitutional. We conclude the sentence imposed is not grossly disproportionate to the crime and does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Accordingly, we
ORDER the judgment of conviction AFFIRMED.
/s/_________, C.J.
Silver
/s/_________, J.
Tao
/s/_________, J.
Gibbons cc: Hon. Kerry Louise Earley, District Judge
Clark County Public Defender
Attorney General/Carson City
Clark County District Attorney
Eighth District Court Clerk