State of Minnesota v. Douglas James Swenson

This opinion is nonprecedential except as provided by
Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1(c).

STATE OF MINNESOTA
IN COURT OF APPEALS
A25-0349

State of Minnesota,
Respondent,

vs.

Douglas James Swenson,
Appellant.

Filed December 29, 2025
Affirmed
Larkin, Judge

Clay County District Court
File No. 14-CR-23-792

Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, John P. Monnens, Assistant
Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota (for appellant)

Keith Ellison, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and

Brian J. Melton, Clay County Attorney, Moorhead, Minnesota (for respondent)

Considered and decided by Reyes, Presiding Judge; Larkin, Judge; and Wheelock,

Judge.

NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINION

LARKIN, Judge

Appellant challenges his sentence for second-degree intentional murder, arguing

that the district court abused its discretion by imposing the longest sentence available in

the presumptive range under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. We affirm.
 FACTS

Respondent State of Minnesota charged appellant Douglas James Swenson with

second-degree intentional murder. According to the complaint, officers were dispatched

to a residence on a report that males were yelling and one male said, “you deserve to die.”

When officers arrived and knocked, Swenson opened the door slightly and said everything

was “good.” Officers asked to enter to check on the occupants, and Swenson said his

brother was sleeping. Swenson appeared to have blood on his eyebrows and hands. When

officers again requested access, Swenson got angry and started banging his head against

the door jamb. Swenson then opened the door; he was nude and had blood on his hands

and feet. Swenson acknowledged that he “killed him.” Inside, officers located DM, who

was deceased and had suffered significant blunt-force trauma to his head, broken facial

bones, broken ribs, and sharp-force injuries to his neck.

The district court ordered an evaluation to determine Swenson’s competency to

stand trial. Following that evaluation, the court found Swenson competent to proceed.

The state filed notice of its intent to seek an aggravated sentence, arguing that the

victim was particularly vulnerable due to a high level of intoxication and a hereditary

medical condition. The state also argued that Swenson treated the victim with particular

cruelty, noting evidence that the victim was mutilated and bludgeoned and that Swenson

“had cut through the back of the victim’s neck, through bone and severed his spinal cord

nearly decapitating [the] victim” with a “dull serrated bread knife.”

2
 Swenson ultimately pleaded guilty to the charged offense via an Alford plea,1 and

the state agreed to withdraw its request for an aggravated sentence. The parties agreed that

the district court would impose a sentence within the presumptive guidelines range. As

support for his guilty plea, Swenson admitted that the evidence showed that DM,

Swenson’s half-brother and roommate, suffered significant blunt-force and sharp-force

injuries, and was strangled.

Swenson participated in a confidential presentence investigation (PSI).2 Based on

his criminal history and the severity level of the admitted offense, the presumptive

sentencing range was between 312 and 439 months in prison. The PSI described

Swenson’s long history of substance abuse and mental-health issues and recommended a

366-month sentence.

Swenson submitted a sentencing memorandum, along with a forensic psychological

evaluation. During that evaluation, Swenson alleged that the victim, DM, sexually and

physically abused him beginning when he was six years old.

1
Under an Alford plea, “a defendant may plead guilty to an offense, even though the
defendant maintains his or her innocence, if the defendant reasonably believes, and the
record establishes, the state has sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction.” State v. Ecker,
524 N.W.2d 712, 716 (Minn. 1994).
2
The PSI is designated confidential. Materials filed as confidential in the district court
remain nonpublic on appeal. Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 112.02, subd. 1. To the extent possible,
we mention the contents of the confidential documents only as necessary to address the
issues on appeal. See Minn. R. Pub. Access to Recs. of Jud. Branch 4, subd. 4 (stating that
we are not precluded “from mentioning the contents” of confidential documents if the
information is “relevant to the particular issues or legal argument being addressed in the
proceeding”).

3
 At sentencing, the district court took a brief recess to “review all of the materials

that both . . . sides have submitted.” The district court then heard sentencing arguments

from the parties. The state requested the longest sentence in the presumptive range: 439

months. The defense requested the shortest sentence in the presumptive range: 312

months, noting that Swenson had “suffered multiple adverse childhood experiences that

ha[d] led to trauma and lasting impacts.”

The district court sentenced Swenson to serve 439 months in prison, explaining its

decision as follows:

I first want to note that I understand that the Defense has
filed the evaluation for purposes of making an argument here
for a sentence within the guidelines. Understanding -- but I
want to make it clear that while that evaluation does outline
mental health diagnoses and struggles and issues relating to
Mr. Swenson at the time that this incident occurred, that there
has been no finding by any doctor or mental health provider
that at the time that this incident occurred that Mr. Swenson
did not understand the wrongfulness of his actions, or that he,
in some way, lacked capacity to understand. So we’re not here
on that basis.

We are here, Mr. Swenson, because you previously
entered a plea of guilty in this matter to a second-degree
murder charge with intent, but without premeditation. At this
time, the Court is accepting that plea and entering a conviction
as it relates to that charge.

There are many factors in this case for the Court to
consider. One is what has been supplied by Defense Counsel
relating to Mr. Swenson’s mental health diagnosis and his,
basically, life prior to this incident. The other that the Court
must consider is Mr. Swenson’s actions in this case, and what
occurred, and the infliction of injuries, specifically, that he
inflicted on the victim in this case, which are extensive. They
are beyond what the Court normally would see, even in a case
involving murder.

4
 I also note that the criminal history of Mr. Swenson does
show assaultive behavior in the past, but that is also taking into
consideration when the guideline sentence is found. That
guideline sentence is a range of 312 months to 439 months with
a presumptive duration of 366 months.

In the Court’s determination, I do believe that the most
appropriate sentence in this matter, taking into consideration
all of the circumstances of this incident, as well as Mr.
Swenson’s circumstances, is a sentence at the top of the box.

Swenson appeals.

DECISION

Swenson contends that the district court imposed an unreasonable and excessive

sentence, arguing that his mental-health issues and the abuse that he had allegedly endured

justified a shorter sentence.

“We afford the [district] court great discretion in the imposition of sentences” and

review sentencing decisions only for an abuse of that discretion. State v. Soto, 855 N.W.2d

303, 307-08 (Minn. 2014) (quotation omitted). A district court abuses its discretion when

its decision is contrary to law or against logic and the facts on record. Riley v. State, 792

N.W.2d 831, 833 (Minn. 2011).

The district court must pronounce a sentence of the applicable disposition and

within the applicable range set forth in the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines, unless

“identifiable, substantial, and compelling circumstances” support a departure. Minn.

Sent’g Guidelines 2.D.1 (2022). A sentence within the guidelines range is presumed

appropriate. Id.

5
 “A sentence within the presumptive-sentence range is not a departure from the

presumptive sentence but is a presumptive sentence and is generally not subject to appellate

review of the district court’s exercise of its discretion.” State v. Delk, 781 N.W.2d 426,

427 (Minn. App. 2010), rev. denied (Minn. July 20, 2010). Generally, “[t]his court

will . . . not exercise its authority to modify a sentence within the presumptive range absent

compelling circumstances.” Id. at 428 (quotation omitted). This court will affirm the

imposition of a presumptive sentence if the district court carefully evaluated all the

testimony and information presented before making its decision. State v. Johnson, 831

N.W.2d 917, 925 (Minn. App. 2013), rev. denied (Minn. Sept. 17, 2013). “Presumptive

sentences are seldom overturned.” Delk, 781 N.W.2d at 428 (quotation omitted).

In this case, the district court considered all relevant filings and heard arguments

from the parties before sentencing Swenson. The district court expressly stated that it had

“tak[en] into consideration all of the circumstances of this incident, as well as Mr.

Swenson’s circumstances.” We discern no abuse of discretion in the district court’s

imposition of a presumptive sentence under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines.

Swenson argues that the record establishes the presence of mitigating

circumstances, including Swenson’s mental-health issues, chemical dependency, and his

alleged past physical and sexual abuse by the murder victim in this case. As support,

Swenson points to State v. Hennum, in which the supreme court reversed the imposition of

a presumptive sentence and remanded for imposition of a durational departure as

recommended by the PSI based on mitigating factors, specifically, “the victim physically

abused defendant on the night of the incident” and “there was substantial evidence that the

6
victim had subjected defendant to severe physical and mental abuse throughout their

relationship.” 441 N.W.2d 793, 794, 800-01 (Minn. 1989).

This case is distinguishable from Hennum because in Hennum there was an

established record of abuse by the victim against the defendant. Id. at 795. Additionally,

there was evidence that the victim in Hennum repeatedly attacked the defendant on the

evening of the murder. Id. at 795-97. Here, there is no record of abuse by the victim and

no indication that that victim assaulted or abused Swenson prior to the murder; there are

only uncorroborated allegations by Swenson.

Swenson also argues that the district court erred in considering only whether his

mental-health issues amounted to a complete defense, instead of considering those issues

as a mitigating circumstance. The record does not support this assertion of error. Although

the district court clarified that it was not considering the defense’s psychological evaluation

for the purpose of determining whether Swenson “lacked capacity” to understand the

wrongfulness of his actions, the district court indicated that it considered the evaluation for

purpose of determining whether mitigating factors justified a shorter sentence. Indeed, the

district court acknowledged that the defense’s evaluation was offered “for purposes of

making an argument . . . for a sentence within the guidelines.”

In sum, the record shows that the district court considered Swenson’s mental-health

issues as a potential mitigating sentencing factor. As the district court stated, “There are

many factors in this case for the Court to consider. One is what has been supplied by

Defense Counsel relating to Mr. Swenson’s mental health diagnosis and his, basically, life

prior to this incident.”

7
 In short, the record shows that the district court evaluated all the information

presented before making its decision, and there is no basis for us to conclude that the district

court abused its discretion in imposing a presumptive sentence.

Affirmed.

8