State of Tennessee v. Richard L. Thompson

Defendant, Richard L. Thompson, was accused by the Wilson County grand jury of incest of his stepdaughter, in three counts, all occurring between May and August 1999. On January 13, 2000, defendant agreed to plead guilty to one count of incest for a sentence of six (6) years in the Department of Correction. As part of the plea agreement, defendant requested a sentencing hearing for the trial court to consider an alternative sentence and probation. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, the trial court denied defendant's request for an alternative sentence and probation and confined Defendant in the Department of Correction for six (6) years. On direct appeal, defendant raises five (5) issues: (1) Whether the trial court improperly considered a 1989 Pennsylvania conviction for an undetermined offense in finding defendant was not an appropriate candidate for full probation or split confinement; (2) Whether the trial court erred by finding certain statutory enhancement factors applicable to the determination of how the sentence should be served, where length of sentence was determined in the guilty plea; (3) Whether the trial court erred in finding that the sentence of confinement was necessary to avoid depreciating the seriousness of the offense; (4) Whether the trial court erred in failing to consider whether measures less restrictive than confinement had been applied to this offender; and (5) Whether the trial court erred in failing to consider defendant's special needs into consideration as a factor that made alternative sentencing (community corrections) particularly appropriate in this case. Upon a review of the record, legal arguments, the briefs of the parties, and applicable law, we find no error. Thus, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.