## Facts

- Ramona Dobbins approached 91-year-old John Postudensek at his home and asked him to help start her vehicle.
- While Postudensek was outside working on the vehicle, Dobbins left for a period of time.
- About 20 minutes later, as Postudensek walked back toward his home, he saw Dobbins walking toward him holding a battery charger.
- After Postudensek returned inside, he discovered property missing from his home, including his wallet containing about $49, additional money from his dresser, and his battery charger.
- Postudensek reported the incident to police and, during the investigation, indicated Dobbins might have taken the items.
- The State charged Dobbins with second-degree burglary.
- Dobbins pleaded guilty.
- The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines called for a presumptive 43-month prison term.
- Before sentencing, Dobbins moved for a downward dispositional departure, asserting mental impairment and arguing she could participate in a mental-health program if granted probation.
- The district court denied the departure request and imposed the presumptive 43-month sentence.
- Dobbins appealed the sentence.

## Issues

1. Did the district court abuse its discretion by denying Dobbins’s motion for a downward dispositional departure from the presumptive 43-month sentence based on her claimed mental impairment and proposed community treatment?

## Decision

- The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed.
- The district court acted within its discretion in denying a downward dispositional departure.
- The presumptive guidelines sentence of 43 months’ imprisonment remained in effect.

## Legal Principles

- Sentencing under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines is committed to the district court’s discretion, and appellate review is highly deferential.
- A guidelines sentence is presumed appropriate; the sentencing court may depart only when substantial and compelling reasons justify a departure.
- A dispositional departure focuses on the offender (for example, whether the offender is particularly amenable to probation and community-based supervision).
- Mental health conditions and the availability of treatment in the community may be considered as reasons supporting a dispositional departure, but they do not require probation.
- An appellate court generally will not reverse a refusal to depart when the sentencing court considered the arguments and imposed the presumptive sentence.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Dobbins’s 43-month second-degree burglary sentence because the district court considered her mental-impairment and treatment arguments but was not required to grant probation, and its decision to impose the presumptive guidelines term was not an abuse of discretion.


State v. Dobbins, 2006 WL 1320484 (2006)