STATE OF LOUISIANA v. TYRONE TERRY BRADEN (2024)

Writ application denied.

Having received the maximum sentence for the crime of second degree battery, La. R.S. 14:34.1, defendant complains that the district court declined to order a presentence investigation (PSI) report, implicitly suggesting that it would have contained mitigation evidence. While a PSI report is not required by law, see La.C.Cr.P. art. 875, compliance with La.C.Cr.P. art. 894.1 is, of course, mandatory. First Judicial District Court Judge Donald E. Hathaway, Jr., who presided over defendant's jury trial and sentencing hearing, fully adhered to its requirements.

Before imposing the eight-year sentence, Judge Hathaway stated for the record the considerations he took into account. Among other factors, he noted the violent nature of the offense involving a dangerous weapon, opined that a lesser sentence would deprecate the seriousness of the crime, and found that defendant needed correctional, custodial treatment. He also correctly considered defendant's previous felony convictions, including a similar aggravated battery. Defendant had an opportunity to present mitigation evidence at his sentencing hearing, but apparently chose to present little or none. Weighing all of these factors, the eight-year hard labor sentence imposed is not “grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime,” does not “shock[ ] the sense of justice,” State v. Weaver, 2001-0467, p. 11 (La. 1/15/02), 805 So.2d 166, 174, and, in my view, is abundantly warranted under the law and facts of this case.