ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Leanna Weissmann Gregory F. Zoeller
Lawrenceburg, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Paula J. Beller
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
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FILED
In the
Oct 25 2016, 2:45 pm
CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
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No. 15S04-1610-CR-555
VICTOR KARP,
Appellant (Defendant below),
v.
STATE OF INDIANA,
Appellee (Plaintiff below).
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Appeal from the Dearborn Superior Court, No. 15D01-1412-F4-71
The Honorable Jonathan N. Cleary, Judge
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On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 15A04-1601-CR-32
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October 25, 2016
Per Curiam.
After declining to plead guilty and receive a sentence capped at twenty years, Victor Karp
was convicted by a jury of Level 4 felony burglary and was found to be a habitual offender. The
trial court sentenced Karp to an aggregate term of twenty-four years. Karp appealed, contending
among other things that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him. Specifically, Karp
argued the trial court sentenced Karp more harshly because he exercised his constitutional right to
a jury trial.
The Court of Appeals affirmed Karp’s conviction and sentence. Karp v. State, No. 15A04-
1601-CR-32 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016). In so doing, the court found Karp’s sentencing argument
“specious and not supported by cogent reasoning.” Id. at 6. While we agree with our colleagues’
ultimate resolution of the sentencing issue and the case as a whole, we do not share their assessment
of Karp’s sentencing argument. Accordingly, we grant transfer and summarily affirm the Court
of Appeals opinion pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 58(A), with the exception of the above-
quoted passage, which is hereby vacated.
Rush, C.J., and Rucker and David, JJ., concur.
Massa and Slaughter, JJ., concur in result.