State v. Bearce
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In November 2021, Mark Bearce was charged with two counts of driving under the influence resulting in death and four counts of reckless endangerment. In October 2022, Bearce pled guilty to the two driving under the influence charges in exchange for the dismissal of the reckless endangerment charges. The district court sentenced Bearce to a 12-year prison term for the first count and a 20-year term with 8 years suspended for the second count, with the sentences to be served consecutively. In December 2022, Bearce filed a motion to amend the judgment, claiming he was not given credit for time served. The court amended the judgment, giving Bearce credit for 15 days of time served. In January 2023, Bearce filed another motion for a reduction of his sentence, which the court granted in April 2023, amending his sentence so that the two counts would run concurrently. However, the court did not provide reasons for this reduction.
The State of North Dakota appealed this decision. The Supreme Court of the State of North Dakota affirmed the lower court's decision to reduce Bearce's sentence but noted that the lower court had erred by not stating its reasons for the reduction in writing, as required by North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure 35(b). The Supreme Court also noted that it could not reverse or modify a criminal judgment in a way that would increase the defendant's punishment, as per North Dakota Century Code § 29-28-35. The Supreme Court also concluded that the lower court did not err in reducing Bearce's sentence without considering the victim's rights, as neither the victim nor anyone else had asserted these rights.
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