Appeals Court Denies Clay Man’s Request For Probation

The State Court of Appeals denied a Clay County man’s request to serve his nine-year sentence on probation.

Paul D. Page pled guilty in August, 2019 on two counts of selling 0.5 grams or less of methamphetamine. Page sold to a undercover source for the Clay County Sheriff’s Department. As part of a plea agreement, Page agreed to serve a three-year sentence in jail on one count and to allow the court to determine how he would serve the six-year term on the second count.

During original sentencing, the court determined Page should serve time on both counts based on his eight prior convictions as well as probation violations. Page testified that he wanted to enter a treatment program.

“According to the trial court, the defendant’s “decades of convictions” proved he was not willing to take personal responsibility for his actions and, therefore, was not a proper candidate for rehabilitation,” the record stated.

In the appeal, lawyers for Page said the court did not consider his particular circumstances in considering rehabilitation or probation. The State Court Of Appeals disagreed.

“We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of probation,” Judge J. Ross Dyer wrote in the appeal decision. “As the trial court noted, the defendant had a history of committing similar drug offenses and had previously been granted probation, which he violated on several occasions. Although the defendant testified he was ready to attend rehab and get his “mind back right,” the presentence report indicated that the defendant admitted to continually using cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamines for decades.”