Fleshman v. State

In this unfortunate family dispute, Fleshman struck her seventy-nine year old mother. She was convicted of battery on a person at least sixty-five years old. The court, because it found that Fleshman “talked about her mother like a person talks about a dog,” entered an upward departure sentence. This was an invalid grounds for departure. When the defense objected that the court had stated no sufficient reason to depart, the court, resorting to the statute book, then found that defendant had “indicated behavior which is of a dangerous nature with respect to the crime. Additionally ... I find…