Trevor Williams v. State of Indiana

On September 19, 2008, Williams and his friends discussed setting fire to a hay

filled barn in Fulton County. Williams then started a fire, and the barn and its

contents were destroyed.

[3] On September 28, 2008, Williams broke into a Fulton County residence with

the intent to steal property. He was observed leaving the residence carrying a

shotgun wrapped in a hooded sweatshirt.

[4] After he had been taken into police custody, Williams agreed to act as a police

informant. On October 6, 2008, Williams was given $160.00, fitted with a

recording device, and transported to a Fulton County residence for the purpose

of conducting a controlled drug buy. However, Williams abandoned the

recording device and escaped out the back door.

[5] On June 11, 2009, Williams pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Arson,

Burglary, and Escape. Pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement with the

State, the executed portion of the sentence for each Class B felony was to be

capped at ten years. Sentencing on the Class C felony was left to the discretion

of the trial court.

[6] On July 9, 2009, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing at which

Williams testified. The trial court found Williams’s juvenile history and

pending criminal charges in another county to be aggravating. His age –

eighteen – and his injuries from a recent automobile accident were found to be

mitigating circumstances. The trial court imposed twenty-year sentences, with

ten years suspended, for each of the Class B felony convictions. Williams

received a two-year sentence for his Class C felony conviction. All sentences

were to be served consecutively, providing for an aggregate sentence of forty

two years, with twenty years suspended.

[7] On March 28, 2016, the trial court granted Williams’s request to pursue a

belated appeal.

Discussion and Decision



Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 25A03-1604-CR-905 | September 15, 2016 Page 4 of 8

Appropriateness of Sentence

[8] Indiana Code Section 35-50-2-5 provides that a person convicted of a Class B

felony faces a sentencing range of six to twenty years, with the advisory

sentence being ten years. Indiana Code Section 35-50-2-6 provides that a

person convicted of a Class C felony faces a sentencing range of two to eight

years, with four years as the advisory sentence. Williams received a maximum

term of years for his Class B felony convictions, but did not receive a maximum

sentence because ten years of each sentence were suspended.4 He received a

minimum sentence for his Class C felony conviction.

[9] Under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), this “Court may revise a sentence

authorized by statute if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, the

Court finds that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense

and the character of the offender.” In performing our review, we assess “the

culpability of the defendant, the severity of the crime, the damage done to

others, and myriad other factors that come to light in a given case.” Cardwell v.

State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1224 (Ind. 2008). The principal role of such review is

to attempt to leaven the outliers. Id. at 1225. A defendant ‘“must persuade the

appellate court that his or her sentence has met th[e] inappropriateness standard



4 A maximum sentence is a fully executed sentence of maximum length. Bratcher v. State, 999 N.E.2d 864, 871 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).



Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 25A03-1604-CR-905 | September 15, 2016 Page 5 of 8

of review.”’ Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482, 494 (Ind. 2007) (quoting

Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1073, 1080 (Ind. 2006)).

[10] As for the nature of the conspiracy offense, Williams and friends planned to

burn down a barn. Williams then set fire to the hay-filled barn, causing a total

loss of $334,122.00. He broke into the residence of someone he knew, and took

a shotgun from inside the residence. He agreed to assist police officers in a

controlled drug buy, but escaped out a back door while the officers were

waiting, potentially endangering the surveilling officers.

[11] As to the character of the offender, Williams was adjudicated delinquent for

possessing marijuana and stolen property. He was placed on probation, but

probation was unsuccessfully terminated due to Williams’s lack of compliance

with substance abuse treatment and anger management counseling. Shortly

after reaching the age of eighteen, Williams committed the instant crimes and

was charged in Warsaw County with the offenses of Possession of Marijuana

and Conversion. Williams admitted that, at his guilty plea hearing, he gave

perjured testimony when he claimed that he acted alone in committing the

burglary. His motive was to protect friends.

[12] Having reviewed the matter, we conclude that the trial court did not impose an

inappropriate sentence under Appellate Rule 7(B), and the sentence does not

warrant appellate revision. Accordingly, we decline to disturb the sentence

imposed by the trial court.