Opinion
Record No. 0904-92-3
December 21, 1993
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF BEDFORD COUNTY WILLIAM W. SWEENEY, JUDGE.
Jonathan M. Apgar (Damico Apgar, on briefs), for appellant.
Janet F. Rosser, Assistant Attorney General (Stephen D. Rosenthal, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judges Coleman and Willis.
Argued at Salem, Virginia.
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
The judgment of the trial court convicting William Rodney Maxwell of aggravated sexual battery and sentencing him to serve a total of five years imprisonment is affirmed.
(1) Appellant's contention that the trial judge "abused his discretion by abdicating the judicial function to mitigate the jury sentence" is not sustained by the record. The trial judge acknowledged his duty to consider suspending all or part of jury sentence, but opined that the sentence in question was within the lower range of sentences for such cases and declined to do so.
(2) A trial court is not required to follow the sentencing guidelines. See Robinson v. Commonwealth, 13 Va. App. 540, 542, 413 S.E.2d 661, 662 (1992).
Affirmed.