Court of Appeals affirms 142-year sentence

JOHN DAVIDSON-Frontiersman reporter

The Alaska Court of Appeals, in an opinion released last week, affirmed the 142-year sentence of a man who murdered Alaska State Trooper Bruce Heck.

On. Jan. 9, 1997, John Kevin Phillips was released from prison on felony parole. Within 48 hours, he committed armed robbery and assaulted two people in Anchorage, stole a taxicab in Palmer, eluded Heck and then, after a crash ended the car chase, murdered the trooper near the side of the Glenn Highway.

In 1998, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Larry D. Card sentenced Phillips to a composite term of 142 years to serve for second-degree murder, two counts of first degree robbery, two counts of second degree assault, second-degree escape and first-degree vehicle theft.

When Card imposed this sentence, he said his intention was "to restrict Mr. Phillips from being in … society for [the rest of] his natural life."

But the Alaska Court of Appeals remanded the case to the superior court for reconsideration of Phillip's sentence because it appeared Card had misinterpreted an earlier decision concerning sentencing for second-degree murder. That decision, a 1985 case, Page v. State, established a benchmark sentence of 20 to 30 years to serve for a typical first-felony offender who commits a typical second-degree murder.

Card had given Phillips 99 years to serve for the second-degree murder conviction, the maximum term possible for that offense. Phillips received a consecutive 25 years to serve for the two robbery charges, a consecutive 14 years to serve for the two second-degree assaults, a consecutive three years to serve for the escape and a consecutive year to serve for the vehicle theft.

Upon reconsideration last year, Card again imposed the same sentence he originally handed down, calling Phillips "undeterrable."

Phillips appealed the sentence on the grounds that it exceeded the benchmark range sentencing range for second-degree murder.

But in its opinion dated Nov. 10, the members of the appeals court stated that Phillips was not a typical first-felony offender and did not commit a typical second-degree murder.

Before Phillip's 1997 felony crime spree upon his release from Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, he already had five felony convictions, beginning with a 1985 second-degree burglary conviction in the state of Washington. In addition, Phillips had more than a dozen misdemeanor convictions, including four for assault. His probation and parole had been revoked some half-dozen times between 1989 and 1992.

Card also concluded, and the court of appeals agreed, that Phillip's second-degree murder was not typical, but aggravated for several reasons.

Phillips had been out on felony parole less than 48 hours before he killed Heck. Prior to committing the murder, Phillips robbed Fifth Avenue Furs in Anchorage, beating the owner and wounding his pregnant daughter; he cut the woman's hand as she tried to shield herself from the knife he held at her throat.

After robbing the fur store, Phillips stole a taxi and drove to the Valley, where Heck and Phillips engaged in a high-speed chase. Phillips crashed the taxi and killed Heck in a struggle as he tried to flee on foot.

When reimposing the 142-year sentence, Card said Phillip's criminal history manifested "an ingrained, compulsive criminal pattern of behavior."

In its decision, the appeals court concluded Card was not mistaken when he imposed a composite sentence exceeding the 99-year maximum penalty for second-degree murder.

"Based on Phillip's continuing string of offenses and probation and parole violations over the course of nearly two decades," the opinion stated, "Judge Card concluded that Phillips was dangerous, that he was not capable of being rehabilitated, and that he could not be deterred."