A former local volleyball coach sentenced to prison on three felony child-molesting convictions had his sentence reduced in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
Bruce Giggy, 62, of Columbus, was sentenced to six years and eight months on each of the child molesting counts last June by Superior Court 1 Judge Jim Worton after Giggy pleaded guilty to the charges in April. The plea bargain Giggy agreed to in April left sentencing up to the judge.
Worton took about five years off Giggy’s estimated 20-year sentence at a hearing Monday after considering a motion to correct an erroneous sentence filed by defense attorney Mark Dove.
In the motion, Dove argued that a federal court ruling, Blakely vs. Washington, held that a sentencing court could not sentence a defendant exceeding the presumptive sentence for any crime unless a jury found aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt.
Because two of the convictions involved cases alleged to have occurred in 1999, and Giggy entered a plea bargain agreement rather than having a jury trial, Giggy could not be sentenced to more than the presumptive sentence of four years on two of the counts, which resulted in the reduced sentence, Dove said.
Prior to Worton’s ruling to reduce the sentence, Giggy said he no longer wanted Dove as his attorney, saying he had not asked Dove to file the motion to correct the erroneous sentence.
Dove then asked the court to withdraw as Giggy’s attorney, which the court granted, and Dove sat in the gallery for the remainder of the hearing as Giggy then represented himself.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
