Opinion
Docket: Pen-04-129.
Submitted on Briefs September 9, 2004.
Decided September 27, 2004.
R. Christopher Almy, District Attorney, C. Daniel Wood, Asst. Dist. Atty., Bangor, for State.
Steven J. Lyman, Bangor, for defendant.
Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, ALEXANDER, CALKINS, and LEVY, JJ.
[¶ 1] John Martin appeals from a judgment entered in the Superior Court (Penobscot County, Jabar, J.) convicting him of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon (Class C), 17-A M.R.S.A. § 209(1) (1983). Martin contends that the Superior Court erred in classifying the crime as a Class C crime and that the crime he was convicted of is designated by statute as a Class D crime. We disagree and affirm the judgment of conviction.
[¶ 2] Martin asserts that there is no statutory authority for the court to adjudge him guilty of a Class C crime because the Criminal Code defines criminal threatening as a Class D crime. He further contends that the statutes merely provide that the use of a dangerous weapon in committing a crime can enhance the sentence that may be imposed, but do not change the class of the crime.
[¶ 3] Section 4 of title 17-A provides:
§ 4. Classification of crimes in this Code
1. Except for murder, all crimes defined by this Code are classified for purposes of sentencing as Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E crimes.
17-A M.R.S.A. § 4 (1983).
[¶ 4] Section 1252(4) of title 17-A provides:
[I]f the State pleads and proves that a Class B, C, D, or E crime was committed with the use of a dangerous weapon then the sentencing class for such crime is one class higher than it would otherwise be.
17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252(4) (1983) (emphasis added).
[¶ 5] The legislative intent is clear. The jury found Martin guilty of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon. Although criminal threatening by itself for purposes of sentencing would be a Class D crime, the sentencing class for the crime Martin committed is one class higher: a Class C crime.
The entry is:
Judgment affirmed.