State v. Roberts

At issue is an order postponing the sentencing of Simon Roberts and Adrian Guthrie while they undergo tribal banishment in Alaska. Implicit in the order is the assumption that the young men may thereby avoid the prison terms the law would otherwise impose. Because an offender’s conduct after the crime cannot justify an exception to a standard sentence, and because a court may not delay sentencing to see if the law will change, the order of continuance must be vacated.

I

On the night of August 31,1993, Roberts and Guthrie carried out a plan to attack and rob a pizza delivery man. While Guthrie…