Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-12340 No. 6411
12-21-2016
CARL DAVID LEEDOM, Appellant, v. STATE OF ALASKA, Appellee.
Appearances: Craig S. Howard, Assistant Public Advocate, and Richard Allen, Public Advocate, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Jason Gist, Assistant District Attorney, Anchorage, and Craig W. Richards, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
NOTICE Memorandum decisions of this Court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited as binding authority for any proposition of law. Trial Court No. 3AN-10-9815 CR
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appeal from the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Jack W. Smith, Judge. Appearances: Craig S. Howard, Assistant Public Advocate, and Richard Allen, Public Advocate, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Jason Gist, Assistant District Attorney, Anchorage, and Craig W. Richards, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee. Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, Allard, Judge, and Suddock, Superior Court Judge. Judge MANNHEIMER.
Sitting by assignment made pursuant to Article IV, Section 16 of the Alaska Constitution and Administrative Rule 24(d).
In August 2010, Harvey Albright Jr. and his girlfriend stole a backpack belonging to Carl David Leedom. When Albright and his girlfriend opened the backpack, they discovered that it contained several thousand dollars in cash, a variety of drugs, and a handgun. Albright and his girlfriend took the cash and some of the drugs, and then they dumped the backpack and its remaining contents (the remaining drugs and the gun) in a wooded area in Eagle River.
Leedom suspected that Albright had stolen the backpack. Together with two of his friends (Phillip Floor and Kennith Upton), Leedom bound Albright with zip-ties and beat him. During this beating, Leedom struck Albright in the head with the butt of a handgun. This blow crushed Albright's skull. Leedom and Floor then wrapped Albright in a blanket and, using Floor's truck, they drove Albright to Palmer.
Albright died from his head injury, either at the scene or during the drive to Palmer. When Leedom and Floor got to Palmer, they removed some of Albright's clothing and other personal items, and they burned them. They buried Albright's body under some brush.
Based on these events, Leedom, Floor, and Upton were each charged with murder and evidence tampering. Leedom was also charged with drug and weapons offenses.
Upton pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, and Floor was convicted of manslaughter following a jury trial. Leedom pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, with open sentencing, in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges.
The superior court sentenced Leedom to serve 55 years for the murder, and he now appeals that sentence, contending that it is excessive.
At the time of Leedom's offense, the sentencing range for second-degree murder was 10 to 99 years' imprisonment. In Page v. State, this Court established a benchmark sentencing range of 20 to 30 years to serve for first felony offenders who engage in conduct that is typical for second-degree murder.
AS 12.55.125(b) (pre-2016 version).
657 P.2d 850, 855 (Alaska App. 1983).
In his sentencing remarks, Superior Court Judge Jack Smith acknowledged the Page benchmark range, but he concluded that the facts of Leedom's case warranted a sentence higher than the Page range.
Judge Smith noted that the State had dismissed other charges against Leedom — to wit, tampering with evidence, third-degree controlled substance misconduct, and second-degree theft (because the handgun in the backpack was stolen). The judge also noted that Leedom was the leader of a group of three accomplices — a circumstance that would have been an aggravating factor under AS 12.55.155(c)(3) if Leedom's offense had been governed by presumptive sentencing.
See Gregory v. State, 689 P.2d 508, 509 (Alaska App. 1984) (holding that even though the statutory aggravating and mitigating factors found in AS 12.55.155(c)-(d) apply only by analogy when a defendant is being sentenced for second-degree murder, it is nevertheless proper for the sentencing judge to consider these factors when deciding whether to give a sentence outside the Page benchmark range).
Judge Smith also found that Leedom's history of juvenile delinquency was "fairly remarkable". Leedom's contact with the juvenile justice system began around the time of his 13th birthday. As a juvenile, Leedom committed property offenses, an assault, a vehicle theft, and an attempted burglary.
As an adult, Leedom had no prior felony convictions, but he had eight misdemeanors in the three years before the murder in this case. Three of these misdemeanor convictions were for assault.
Turning to the facts of the present case, Judge Smith found that Leedom had resorted to violence because he was selling drugs and he wanted to retaliate against Albright for stealing his cash and his drugs. Judge Smith found that Leedom's conduct was more than typically blameworthy because Leedom recruited two friends to help him beat a victim who was asleep on the couch when the beating began, and who was then rendered helpless. Later, after Leedom disposed of Albright's body, he "went on about his life as if nothing unusual had happened." Judge Smith described Leedom's conduct as "calculating, vicious, and unremorseful."
Based on Leedom's history and the facts of the present case, Judge Smith concluded that the sentencing goals of community condemnation and deterrence should be given greater weight than the goal of rehabilitation.
Having independently reviewed Judge Smith's sentencing remarks, we find that the record supports his analysis, and we conclude that his decision to sentence Leedom to serve 55 years in prison was not clearly mistaken.
See McClain v. State, 519 P.2d 811, 813-14 (Alaska 1974) (an appellate court is to affirm a sentencing decision unless the decision is clearly mistaken). --------
Accordingly, the superior court's sentencing decision is AFFIRMED.