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The Utah Supreme Court on Friday ordered a new sentencing for a Midvale man serving a prison term of life without the possibility of parole for kidnapping his girlfriend.
In a 4-1 decision, the high court said 3rd District Judge Terry Christiansen had erred when he considered only aggravating and mitigating circumstances when he sentenced Andrew LeBeau. Under Utah's aggravated kidnapping law, the judge was required to also consider "the interests of justice" to determine if a lesser sentence was appropriate, the ruling said.
Justice Thomas Lee dissented, saying the law gives trial judges broad discretion in sentencing decisions.
"Such discretion is not without limits," Lee wrote. "But so long as the judge imposes a sentence within the range of punishments established by law, and based on an inquiry into the nature of the offense and of the offender, the law has long upheld the judge's prerogative of determining the appropriate sentence."
LeBeau, now 45, was convicted by a jury of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault of his live-in girlfriend, who he suspected of cheating on him.
According to court documents, he forced her into her car on Feb. 23, 2009, and began driving, eventually attracting the attention of a Midvale police officer. LeBeau refused his girlfriend's requests to pull over and did not comply with the officer's signal for him to stop, the documents say.
As the car accelerated, the girlfriend opened the passenger door in an attempt to escape and was seriously injured when the vehicle slammed into a parked truck while it was going about 60 mph.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC