People v. McIntire

Appellate judges are occasionally faced with distasteful obligations. Chief among these is the duty to either overturn or mitigate a sentence on a so-called “technicality,” though the reason is mandated by law. Such a duty unfolds before us here in dealing with a defendant who, at time of one sentence, was addressed thus by the trial court:.“I will now sentence you on the charge of assault with intent to rape. ;

“I want to make a few comments on this case. I heard this case, and it was only by the grace of the Almighty that I am not permitted to eliminate you from society forever. You haven’t…