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Court: Actual psychological injury must occur to consider an event for scoring purposes

Scales of Justice photo
Tim Evanson via Wikimedia | CC BY 3.0
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wikimedia.org

The Michigan Supreme Court says a judge was wrong to increase the sentence of man convicted of armed robbery. That’s because the judge made an assumption at sentencing instead of using actual proof.

Anthony White robbed a gas station. During the robbery he held a gun to a victim’s head and the victim later said she heard the trigger being pulled.

White later pleaded guilty to armed robbery and breaking and entering. At sentencing, the judge said the defendant caused the victim serious psychological trauma. The judge justified the decision saying a normal person would experience trauma after that happened.

But the Michigan Supreme Court disagreed. It says there has to be proof of actual psychological injury. It said the court can’t assume trauma simply because of the characteristics of the crime. This evidence could be shown through a victim testifying to trauma or getting psychological treatment.

I’m Cheyna Roth in Lansing.