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Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: MARCE GONZALEZ, JR. Dyer, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: GREGORY F. ZOELLER Attorney General of Indiana GARY R. ROM Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

FILED
Dec 22 2011, 9:11 am
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
NATHANIEL BOBO, Appellant-Defendant, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee-Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

CLERK

No. 45A03-1105-CR-224

APPEAL FROM THE LAKE SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Thomas P. Stefaniak, Jr., Judge Cause No. 45G04-1010-FA-42

December 22, 2011 MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION FRIEDLANDER, Judge

Nathaniel Bobo pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to class B felony aggravated battery. The trial court sentenced him to the sentencing cap set forth in the plea agreement, ten years. On appeal, Bobo argues that his sentence is inappropriate. We affirm. On October 3, 2010, Bobo and the victim, both eighteen-year-olds, met for the first time at a gas station in Gary, Indiana. The victim invited Bobo to her home, where they drank alcohol together and Bobo smoked marijuana into the early morning hours. At some point, Bobo became angry and physically attacked the victim. During the attack, he cut the victim on her leg, face, head, and arm. In fact, Bobo acknowledged that he "sawed her leg" with a knife causing severe injuries. Transcript at 30. The following day, the State charged Bobo with class A felony attempted murder, class A felony attempted rape, class A felony attempted criminal deviate conduct, class B felony aggravated battery, and class C felony battery. Bobo entered into a plea agreement with the State, pursuant to which he pleaded guilty to the aggravated battery charge and the remaining charges were dismissed. The agreement also provided for a sentencing cap of ten years. The trial court sentenced Bobo to ten years in prison. On appeal, Bobo claims that the advisory sentence1 of ten years is inappropriate in light of his character and the nature of the offense. He asks that we revise his sentence to between six and nine years. We have the constitutional authority to revise a sentence if, after careful consideration

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of the trial court's decision, we conclude the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and character of the offender. See Ind. Appellate Rule 7(B); Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482 (Ind. 2007), clarified on reh'g, 875 N.E.2d 218. Even if a trial court follows the appropriate procedure in arriving at its sentence, we maintain the constitutional power to revise a sentence we find inappropriate. Hope v. State, 834 N.E.2d 713 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). Although we are not required under App. R. 7(B) to be "extremely" deferential to a trial court's sentencing decision, we recognize the unique perspective a trial court brings to such determinations. Rutherford v. State, 866 N.E.2d 867, 873 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007). The burden of persuading us that the sentence is inappropriate is on the defendant. Rutherford v. State, 866 N.E.2d 867. When imposing the sentence, the trial court explained: In mitigation, the Court finds that the defendant pled guilty and accepted responsibility to a class B felony, with three A felonies, one class B, one class C felony being dismissed and a cap of ten years in the Department of Correction, being a term of the plea agreement, although the defense does contest the ability of the State to prove those more serious charges. That's where the parties take issue with the facts and circumstances. That is abundantly clear from the record. In further mitigation, the Court finds that the defendant is an 18-yearold or 19-year-old young male. The Court is expressly rejecting the mitigating factor of the defendant acted under strong provocation. In that all indications in the record are that the defendant recently met this young girl, went over to her home, was in the bedroom with her, was under the influence of alcohol, and marijuana, and the facts and circumstances and the backdrop of the case just don't add up that she would provoke a violent attack in her own bedroom. And in judging credibility, the credibility judgment that I make is that the defendant went there for a reason. And contrary to his statements, that reason was attempt to have sexual contact with her. And, in fact, when she
A person who commits a class B felony shall be imprisoned for a fixed term of between six and twenty years, with the advisory sentence being ten years. Ind. Code Ann.

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