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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Ind. Decisions - "Invader’s sentence halved for young age: 70 years reduced to 32 in wake of appeals order"
The May 18, 2009 Court of Appeals opinion in the case of Malcolm K. Ellis v. State of Indiana (NFP) is the basis for stories today in both Fort Wayne papers.
Rebecca Green reports in today's Journal Gazette:
With respectful disagreement to the appellate court for ordering him to do so, Allen Superior Judge John Surbeck on Monday more than cut in half the 70-year prison sentence of a man convicted in a pair of violent home invasions.Aaron Organ of The News-Sentinel reports today:In May, the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered Surbeck to resentence 19-year-old Malcolm Ellis for his role in a pair of violent home-invasion robberies committed in mid-February 2007. * * *
After initially pleading guilty under an agreement that would have given him 36 years in prison, Ellis and two of his co-defendants withdrew their guilty pleas, refusing to testify against Wright in spite of their promise to do so.
After Wright was convicted of his role in the robberies, and sentenced to 80 years, Knight, Ellis and Walker again pleaded guilty, this time without the benefit of an agreed-upon sentence.
Knight, Ellis and Walker were all sentenced to 70 years and the appellate court turned down Knight’s request to revisit his sentence earlier this year.
While Knight is only eight months older than Ellis, the court found that Ellis’ sentence was too harsh for someone his age and ordered Surbeck to redo it.
In its split decision, the court cited the prosecution’s earlier offer of 36 years as a reason to give a shorter prison sentence.
That, Surbeck said during Monday’s hearing, is inappropriate, asking the state to be held to its end of the agreement, but not requiring the same of the defendant.
“I still believe the original sentence I passed was accurate and proper,” Surbeck said.
In the end, Malcolm K. Ellis will go to prison for the term he would have been sentenced to originally, had he held up his end of the Allen County Prosecutor’s bargain two years ago.Ellis, 19, was resentenced Monday by Allen Superior Judge John F. Surbeck to 32 years – a far cry from the 70 years Surbeck sentenced the then-16-year-old to in 2007 on convictions of 11 felony counts ranging from robbery and burglary to criminal confinement.
In February 2007, along with three other men, Ellis was involved in the brutal robbery and shooting of one woman, and then the stripping and ordering of another woman to have sex with her boyfriend’s brother. The Indiana Court of Appeals called Ellis’ punishment for the crimes “inappropriate” and said that despite his involvement, such a lengthy sentence would make the city teen “less susceptible to redemption,” the May order read.
On Monday, after following the appellate court’s orders, Surbeck made his disagreement a matter of record.
“I still believe the original sentence I passed was accurate and proper,” said Surbeck. “I respect each of the folks on the Indiana Court of Appeals, and, just for the record, I respectfully disagree.” * * *
On Monday, Surbeck questioned why the local court was bound by a deal that did not bind Ellis.
Deputy Prosecutor Adam Mildred voiced his displeasure too, saying he had to explain to one of the victims that Ellis would be sentenced to the same term he was offered in a deal.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 29, 2009 11:39 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions | Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions