State v. Gideon

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the defendant, Donald Ray Gideon, from sentences he received after he pleaded guilty to premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated criminal sodomy, and rape.

The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 40 years (the hard 40) for first-degree murder, 408 months for aggravated kidnapping (an upward durational departure from the sentencing guidelines of 204 months), 154 months for aggravated criminal sodomy (an upward durational departure from the sentencing…