WILLIAMS v. STATE (2024)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

[1] Ashalique Williams appeals the two-and-one-half-year aggregate sentence imposed by the trial court following her guilty plea to criminal recklessness, battery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of attempted battery with a deadly weapon as level 5 felonies. She asserts that the sentence is inappropriate. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On June 15, 2021, Evansville Police Department officers were dispatched in response to a report that a child had been shot. The child's mother, Destiny Franklin, informed officers that at around 10:30 or 11:00 a.m., she had driven with her three children to the home of her romantic partner, Arick (Jaleel) Pam. When she arrived, she and Pam spoke in the driveway and quickly began to argue. Williams was with Pam in the driveway. Franklin eventually decided to leave because Pam had a handgun in his waistband and she was worried he might use it. While Franklin was driving away, Williams used a firearm to shoot into Franklin's vehicle seven times. Four bullets struck the front passenger door and three struck the back passenger door. One of the bullets struck the leg of Franklin's eight-year-old child who was sitting in the back passenger seat. Franklin was injured from glass projectiles, and her other two children were unharmed. Williams admitted to officers that she shot at the vehicle that Franklin was driving. Williams claimed that Franklin “had tossed a brick striking her car,” and that she fired the shots in retaliation. Appellant's Appendix Volume II at 61.

[3] The State charged Williams with criminal recklessness, battery by means of a deadly weapon, and two counts of attempted battery with a deadly weapon as a level 5 felonies. In November 2022, Williams entered into a plea agreement with the State pursuant to which she agreed to plead guilty to all counts with an executed sentence of two and one-half years, with the first year served on electronic monitoring home detention and the rest suspended to probation. The trial court rejected the agreement because Williams was found ineligible for electronic monitoring home detention. In August 2023, Williams agreed to plead guilty to all counts without a plea agreement and to leave sentencing to the trial court's discretion. Following a hearing, the court sentenced Williams to concurrent sentences of two and one-half years on each count.

Discussion

[4] Ind. Appellate Rule 7(B) provides that we “may revise a sentence authorized by statute if, after due consideration of the trial court's decision, [we find] that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.” Under this rule, the burden is on the defendant to persuade the appellate court that his or her sentence is inappropriate. Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1073, 1080 (Ind. 2006).

[5] Ind. Code § 35-50-2-6 provides that a person who commits a level 5 felony shall be imprisoned for a fixed term between one and six years, with an advisory sentence of three years. The court here imposed concurrent two-and-one-half-year sentences, which were below the advisory sentences, for each of Williams's four crimes.

[6] Our review of the nature of the offenses reveals that Williams used a firearm to shoot seven times into a vehicle that a woman was driving with her three children inside. One of the children suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. As noted by the trial court, placing “a bullet hole in a juvenile” exceeds the necessary elements for the crimes to which Williams pled guilty. Transcript Volume II at 31.

[7] Our review of Williams's character reveals that she pled guilty to the charges against her with sentencing left to the trial court's discretion. The presentence investigation report provides that she has a criminal history consisting of misdemeanor convictions in Kentucky for endangering the welfare of a minor, careless driving, driving without being in possession of her license, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license. It also indicates that, just fifteen months after she was charged in Indiana in the instant case, she was charged in Kentucky with seven additional misdemeanor counts.

[8] After due consideration, we conclude that Williams has not sustained her burden of establishing that her aggregate sentence of two-and-one-half-years is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and her character.

[9] For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Williams's sentence.

[10] Affirmed.

Brown, Judge.

May, J., and Pyle, J., concur.