State of Tennessee v. Abel Torres

A Warren County jury convicted the defendant, Abel Torres, of one count of attempted especially aggravated robbery and two counts of attempted second degree murder, Class B felonies, and the trial court sentenced him to twelve years for each conviction, to be served consecutively for an effective sentence of thirty-six years in the Department of Correction (DOC). On appeal, this court affirmed the defendant's convictions but modified the length of his sentences from twelve years to ten and remanded the case for a determination by the trial court of the reasons justifying the imposition of consecutive sentencing. State v. Abel Caberra Torres, No. M2001-01412-CCA-R3-CD, Warren County (Tenn. Crim. App. June 10, 2003). On remand, the trial court again imposed consecutive sentencing and the defendant appeals, claiming the trial court erred under both state law and the rule announced in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The state contends the trial court properly sentenced the defendant. We affirm the trial court's imposition of consecutive sentencing but conclude that Blakely requires us to modify the defendant's sentences from ten years to eight for an effective sentence of twenty-four years.