Seven years after he was convicted of attempting to hire someone to kill his wife, a Vancouver man was back in court Monday to see a judge shave 10 months off his 53-year prison sentence.
The prosecution dismissed one of four charges against Dino Constance, 55, who had been convicted in a 2008 jury trial of soliciting four men to kill or assault his ex-wife.
In 2012, Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis ruled that one charge against Constance — solicitation to commit second-degree assault — be vacated and ordered a new trial on that count. He made his decision after finding that certain evidence wasn’t disclosed by an investigator. However, he upheld three counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
Constance’s conviction was upheld by the state Court of Appeals.
Constance had received the lengthy prison sentence because the solicitations were counted as separate acts. The fourth charge was less serious, however, so it had little impact on his sentence.
During the Monday hearing, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Rachael Probstfeld said she did not wish to go forward with a trial on the fourth count at this time and dismissed the charge without prejudice, meaning it could be filed at a later date. Constance objected to that component and asked for a retrial.
Lewis ordered Constance serve 210 months on each of the three remaining counts to run consecutively for a total of 52½ years. He was given credit for 3,031 days in custody.
Constance asked that he be transported back to prison as soon as possible.
“The state is happy with the outcome and feels the sentence that Judge Lewis gave today was reasonable and appropriate given the seriousness of the offenses and the jury’s verdict,” Probstfeld said in an interview.
Constance’s case had gained additional notoriety after he alleged prosecutorial misconduct against Tony Golik during his 2010 campaign to become Clark County’s prosecutor. He also alleged that his trial defense attorney, Brian Walker, didn’t provide adequate representation.
Lewis ruled the allegations were unfounded.
