Loper v. Shillinger

I respectfully dissent. The issue presented does not involve the discretion of the trial court to make sentences either consecutive or concurrent; what is presented is the effect of nondesignation.

The rules of criminal law have been clear for many more years than the time that present jurists of this court have been engaged in this activity. Generally, by majority rule, a presumption exists for sentences to be concurrent unless specifically defined to be consecutive. I reject a thesis that we, as the appellate court, should now make the sentencing decision by opining that rationally the trial…