State v. Berger

In State v. Berger, 212 Ariz. 473,12, 134 P.3d 378, 381 (2006), the defendant was convicted of twenty counts of sexual exploitation of a minor under the age of fifteen. Id.5. The trial court sentenced him to a ten-year prison term, the minimum sentence, for each of the twenty counts, totaling 200 years' imprisonment. Id.6. Applying the two-part framework enumerated above, our supreme court upheld the sentences, finding that a ten-year prison term is not grossly disproportionate to the offense. Id.29. In doing so, the court noted that the Eighth Amendment analysis focuses on the sentence for each offense individually and not on the cumulative sentence for all the offenses. Id.28. The court concluded that twenty consecutive ten-year sentences imposed on a defendant found guilty of twenty counts of sexual exploitation of a minor was not grossly disproportionate to the crimes and thus did not violate the Eighth Amendment. Id.5, 51. Berger was convicted of violating A.R.S. 13-3551(11) and 13-3553(A)(2). Id.2, 3. He was sentenced pursuant to 13-3553(C), which prescribes sentencing under A.R.S. 13-604.01. That provision was renumbered as A.R.S. 13-705 in 2008. 2008 Ariz. Sess. Laws, ch. 301, 17, 29. The language of 13-705 is identical to that of 13-604.01.