State v. Todd W. Berggren, 2009 WI App 82, PFR filed 6/24/09
For Berggren: Robert G. LeBell
Issue/Holding: Initial confinement totaling 36, and supervision of 17, years on sexual assault-related convictions wasn’t harsh and excessive:
¶48 Berggren’s sentence was not shocking, nor does it violate the judgment of reasonable people concerning what is right and proper under the circumstances. As the State points out, the aggregate sentence of fifty-three years is less than one-fourth of the statutory exposure Berggren faced if the maximum sentences for the charges he pled guilty to had all been imposed consecutively. It was within the trial court’s discretion to impose an initial confinement period, upon the completion of which Berggren will be seventy-six years old. See State v. Stenzel, 2004 WI App 181, ¶¶10-20, 276 Wis. 2d 224, 688 N.W.2d 20 (upholding what the defendant described as a “de facto life sentence”); State v. Ramuta, 2003 WI App 80, ¶¶22-26, 261 Wis. 2d 784, 661 N.W.2d 483 (upholding the sentence imposed where the defendant raised an analogous argument).
