Opinion
No. 63200
12-13-2013
JOHNNY KIRKLING, JR. A/K/A JOHNNY EDWARD KIRKLING, JR., Appellant, v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, Respondent.
An unpublished order shall not be regarded as precedent and shall not be cited as legal authority. SCR 123.
ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE
This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to an Alford plea, of attempted theft. North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970). Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Valorie J. Vega, Judge.
Appellant Johnny Kirkling, Jr., contends that the district court abused its discretion by imposing a sentence that "does not serve the interests of justice," constituting cruel and unusual punishment. We disagree. This court will not disturb a district court's sentencing determination absent an abuse of discretion. Parrish v. State, 116 Nev. 982, 989, 12 P.3d 953, 957 (2000). Kirkling's sentence of 12 to 34 months' incarceration falls within the parameters provided by the relevant statutes, see NRS 193.130(2)(d) (providing a sentence of 1 to 4 years of imprisonment for category D felonies); NRS 193.330(1)(a)(4) (attempt to commit a category C felony punished as a category D felony); NRS 205.0835(3) (theft of property valued $650 or more but less than $3,500 constitutes a category C felony), and Kirkling does not allege that the district court relied solely on impalpable or highly suspect evidence or that the sentencing statutes are unconstitutional, see Chavez v. State, 125 Nev. 328, 348, 213 P.3d 476, 489-90 (2009). Moreover, we do not conclude that the sentence is so unreasonably disproportionate to the gravity of the offense as to shock the conscience. See 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 that 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). Accordingly, we
ORDER the judgment of conviction AFFIRMED.
_________________, C.J.
Pickering
_________________, J.
Hardesty
_________________, J.
Cherry
cc: Hon. Valorie J. Vega, District Judge
Keith C. Brower
Attorney General/Carson City
Clark County District Attorney
Eighth District Court Clerk