California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Alvisar, F064413 (Cal. App. 2013):
"[I]n assessing factors in aggravation or in mitigation the sentencing court not only may but must examine all of the circumstances of the crime. [Citations.] '[T]he "circumstances" the sentencing judge may look to in aggravation or in mitigation of the crime include "attendant facts," "the surroundings at the commission of an act." [Citation.] "Circumstances" include "practically everything which has a legitimate bearing" on the matter in issue. [Citations.]' [Citation.]" (People v. Blade (1991) 229 Cal.App.3d 1541, 1544.)
As this court has explained, because "[n]either section 1170 nor the California Rules of Court attempt to provide an inclusive list of aggravating circumstances ... a trial court is free to base an upper term sentence upon any aggravating circumstance that (1) the court deems significant and (2) is reasonably related to the decision being made. [Citations.]" (People v. Moberly (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 1191, 1196.) In this respect, "'[t]he essence of "aggravation" relates to the effect of a particular fact in making the offense distinctively worse than the ordinary.' [Citation.]" (People v. Rodriguez (1993) 21 Cal.App.4th 232, 241; accord, People v. Black (2007) 41 Cal.4th 799, 817.)
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