AKINS III v. STATE (2024)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

[1] Roy Chester Akins, III, appeals his sentence for aggravated battery as a level 3 felony. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On August 22, 2020, Akins was present in the parking lot of a gas station in Lake County with Courtney Moss, Willie Jones, and Myles Thomas. A verbal disagreement occurred between Thomas and Rayvon Harris, who was walking along the road. Akins had a rifle in his hand “kind of in the low ready position” or “[j]ust kind of down towards the ground.” Transcript Volume II at 30. When Harris reached the gas station, an altercation occurred between Thomas and Harris. Inside the gas station, Jones punched Harris, and Moss shot Harris multiple times. Akins then entered the gas station and fired several rounds at Harris as he lay on the ground. At least one round fired by Akins struck Harris in the leg. Harris died as a result of shots fired by Moss.

[3] On August 27, 2020, the State charged Akins with murder and alleged an enhancement of using a firearm in the commission of a felony that resulted in death. An arrest warrant was issued that same day. On May 8, 2023, the warrant was served.¹ On March 8, 2024, the State filed an amended information that added a charge of aggravated battery as a level 3 felony. Meanwhile, on March 5, 2024, Akins and the State filed a plea agreement in which Akins agreed to plead guilty to aggravated battery as a level 3 felony and the State agreed to dismiss the murder charge.

[4] The court accepted Akins's plea. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor argued that a sentence of fifteen years would be appropriate. Akins apologized to Harris and his family. The court found Akins's guilty plea, admission of responsibility, and age of eighteen years at the time of the offense to be mitigating circumstances. It found the fact that Akins was under the supervision of the Juvenile Court at the time of the offense, his juvenile adjudications, his violent character, and Akins's participation in the events that led to the shooting and his firing at Harris striking him in the leg as aggravating circumstances. The court sentenced Akins to thirteen years in the Department of Correction. It found that any lesser sentence or suspension would depreciate the seriousness of the crime. Specifically, the court stated: “[Y]our character on this particular fatal day is violent - - horribly violent, frankly, and reckless. And therefore I make the finding that any lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of what occurred here.” Id. at 83.

Discussion

[5] Akins argues that his sentence is inappropriate because his conduct was no more egregious than necessary to show the elements of aggravated battery and there was no preconceived plan. He acknowledges his prior misdemeanor contacts with the juvenile court system but asserts that this history fails to support the enhanced sentence. He asks that we revise his sentence from thirteen years to eleven years with seven years executed followed by two years in community corrections and two years suspended to probation.

[6] 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). Ind. Code § 35-50-2-5 provides that a person who commits a level 3 felony shall be imprisoned for a fixed term of between three and sixteen years with the advisory sentence being nine years.

[7] Our review of the nature of the offense reveals that Akins, Jones, Moss, and others were present in the gas station parking lot. After a verbal disagreement and after Jones punched Harris and Moss shot Harris multiple times, Akins entered the gas station with a rifle and fired several rounds at Harris as he lay on the ground. At least one round fired by Akins struck Harris in the leg.

[8] Our review of the character of the offender reveals that Akins pled guilty to aggravated battery as a level 3 felony pursuant to a plea agreement and in exchange the State dismissed the count of murder. Akins, who was born in April 2002, was adjudicated delinquent in July 2019 for disorderly conduct and successfully completed probation. He was arrested for conversion in August 2019, he was placed in a pretrial diversion program involving community service and other programs in December 2019, he failed to complete the other programs, community service was dismissed in May 2020, and he was adjudicated a delinquent for theft as a class A misdemeanor in October 2020. The presentence investigation report (“PSI”) indicates that Akins reported experimenting with alcohol and marijuana at the age of fourteen and last using alcohol and marijuana “a month before his arrest on the instant offense.” Appellant's Appendix Volume II at 50. The PSI states that Akins “admitted to being under the influence of marijuana and alcohol on the day he committed the instant offense.” Id. Akins admitted that he experimented with codeine four times and experimented with Adderall five times in his life. The PSI also indicates that Akins's overall risk assessment score using the Indiana risk assessment tool places him in the moderate risk to reoffend category. After due consideration, we conclude that Akins has not sustained his burden of establishing that his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and his character.

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

[10] Affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1.   At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor argued that Akins turned himself in only after Moss's murder conviction was affirmed on appeal.

Brown, Judge.

Pyle, J., concurs. May, J., concurs in result without opinion.