FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
JOHN PINNOW STEVE CARTER
Special Assistant to the Attorney General of Indiana
State Public Defender
Greenwood, Indiana
CHRISTOPHER C.T. STEHPEN
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
VALENTIN JARAMILLO, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 76A03-0306-CR-209
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
APPEAL FROM THE STEUBEN SUPERIOR COURT
The Honorable William C. Fee, Judge
Cause No. 76D01-0208-FB-924
February 11, 2004
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
FRIEDLANDER, Judge
Valentin Jaramillo appeals his conviction of Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death,
See footnote a class
B felony, and the determination that he is a Habitual Substance Offender.See footnote
Jaramillo presents the following restated issues for review:
1. Was the evidence sufficient to support the enhancement of Jaramillos conviction for driving
while intoxicated from a class C felony to a class B felony?
2. Was the evidence sufficient to support the determination that Jaramillo is a habitual
substance offender?
3. In the event that Jaramillo prevails on Issues 1 and 2, may he
be retried with respect to the enhancement of his conviction and the determination
that he is a habitual substance offender?
4. Did the trial court err in its order of restitution?
We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
The facts favorable to the conviction are that at approximately 2:30 a.m. on
August 29, 2002, Jaramillo was driving eastbound on U.S. Highway 20 in Steuben
County, Indiana. He crossed the centerline and drove into the westbound lane.
At that time, Margaret Pocock was driving a pickup truck westbound on
U.S. 20. She saw Jaramillo cross into her lane and she swerved
to her left in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid him. Jaramillos vehicle
struck the passenger side of Pococks truck. Pococks husband, Brian, was sitting
in the passenger seat of the truck and was killed. When police
officers arrived on the scene a short time later, they noticed that Jaramillo
smelled of alcohol. A blood-alcohol test was performed on Jaramillo and revealed
that he had a blood-alcohol content of .137%.
Jaramillo was charged with operating while intoxicated (OWI) causing death. That charge
was elevated from a class C to a class B felony because the
State alleged that, within the five years preceding the commission of the offense,
Jaramillo had a prior unrelated OWI conviction. I.C. § 9-30-5-5(a). The
State also alleged that Jaramillo was a habitual substance offender, based upon two
previous OWI convictions. Jaramillo was convicted as set out above and now
appeals.
1.
Jaramillo contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the enhancement of his
conviction for driving while intoxicated from a class C felony to a class
B felony. This argument is based upon the assertion that the State
failed to present sufficient evidence to prove the existence of the alleged prior
OWI conviction.
We review challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a habitual offender
determination the same as any other sufficiency challenge. We do not reweigh
the evidence or assess witness credibility.
Lewis v. State, 769 N.E.2d 243
(Ind. Ct. App. 2002), trans. denied. Instead, we examine the evidence and
reasonable inferences supporting the verdict and will affirm if there is probative evidence
from which a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt. Id.
We note first that I.C. § 9-30-5-5(a) provides that operating while intoxicated causing
death is elevated to a class B felony if, within the five (5)
years preceding the commission of the offense, the person had a prior unrelated
conviction under this chapter. The plain meaning of this language is that
in order to be subject to an enhancement under I.C. § 9-30-5-5, the
defendants previous conviction must have been entered less than five years before the
instant offense was committed. In support of the enhancement, the State
alleged that Jaramillo was convicted of an OWI offense on March 30, 1998
(the 1998 conviction). Jaramillo contends that the State failed to prove that
predicate offense.
After the jury returned verdicts finding Jaramillo guilty of operating while intoxicated as
a class A misdemeanor and operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death as
a class C felony, the court proceeded to the second phase of the
bifurcated trial. In the second phase, the jury was asked to determine
whether Jaramillo was guilty of certain previous offenses, including the 1998 conviction.
If proven, the 1998 conviction would serve to enhance the instant OWI offense,
and, combined with another previous offense, would serve as the basis for a
habitual substance offender finding. We note that in the charging information relative
to the OWI enhancement, the 1998 conviction was the only predicate offense alleged.
The charging information pertaining to the habitual substance offender charge alleged the
minimum two predicate offenses, one of which was the 1998 conviction.
In seeking to prove the 1998 conviction during the second part of the
bifurcated proceeding, the State called as a witness Trooper Roland Purdy of the
Indiana State Police. Trooper Purdy testified that on September 6, 1997, he
arrested and ticketed Jaramillo in LaGrange County, Indiana for operating a vehicle while
intoxicated. During Trooper Purdys testimony, the State introduced into evidence a copy
of the criminal information filed against Jaramillo relating to the 1998 conviction.
The State also introduced the probable cause affidavit completed by Trooper Purdy in
conjunction with the incident. Finally, the State introduced a copy of an
order issued by the LaGrange Superior Court pertaining to a guilty plea entered
by Jaramillo in that proceeding. The order stated, in pertinent part, as
follows:
Defendant enters a plea of Guilty to the offense of Operating a Vehicle
While Intoxicated, a Class D Felony, as charged in Count I. Sworn
evidence heard. This Court finds that the Defendant freely and voluntarily waivers
[sic] his/her Rights, that he/she voluntarily pleads guilty, and that there is a
factual basis for defendants plea.
The Court takes Defendants plea under advisement and Orders the Probation Office to
prepare a Pre-Sentence Investigation Report. Cause continued for further proceedings/sentencing to March
9, 1998 at 8:30 oclock a.M. [sic][.]
The Exhibits at 15. All of the aforementioned documents bore the same
cause number, i.e., 44D01-9709DF96. The controversy here centers not upon those documents
or Trooper Purdys testimony, but upon the lack of testimony or documentation to
the effect that a conviction was entered upon Jaramillos guilty plea.
The State contends that Trooper Purdys testimony and the exhibits introduced through his
testimony provide sufficient circumstantial evidence that Jaramillo was convicted of that offense in
1998. We cannot agree. In a different setting, our supreme court
has addressed the question of what constitutes acceptance of a guilty plea?
State v. Daniels, 680 N.E.2d 829, 832 (Ind. 1997). In State v.
Daniels, the court rejected the assertion that proof that a guilty plea was
entered and taken under advisement is proof that a conviction resulted therefrom.
In fact, the court did so on facts that are more supportive of
the ruling the State seeks here than are present in the instant case.
In Daniels, the defendant submitted a signed guilty plea form. After
conducting a hearing on the motion, the court accepted the written form, stating,
Ill take the motion to enter a plea of Guilty under advisement, pending
your pre-sentence report[.] Id. at 831. Notwithstanding the courts statement that
it was taking the plea under advisement, the judge signed and dated a
form which stated,
The Court having personally addressed the defendant and having advised him of his
rights and having determined that he understands the same and has entered his
plea voluntarily and not by reason of any promises, force or threats having
been made to him, now accepts the defendants plea of guilty and orders
this Motion and Certificate of Counsel to be made a part of the
transcript of the entire proceedings of the guilty plea hearing and sentence herein.
Id. (emphasis supplied). The trial court subsequently rejected the plea agreement and
the matter proceeded to trial. The defendant argued on petition for post-conviction
relief that the aforementioned facts constituted an acceptance of his plea, which could
not thereafter be revoked. The post-conviction court agreed and granted the defendants
PCR petition. The State appealed.
The question of the effect of a signed plea agreement, sans judgment of
conviction, was placed squarely before the supreme court in Daniels. In its
decision, the supreme court clearly conveyed its view that the acceptance of a
signed plea agreement form is not tantamount to entry of judgment on that
plea. That is certainly the case when the trial court indicates only
that it is taking the plea under advisement. As we have learned
in Daniels, it is even the case when the court signs a form
stating that it now accepts the defendants plea of guilty. Id.
Thus, we are left to conclude that a signed guilty plea form, without
more, is not adequate to prove that a judgment of conviction was subsequently
entered in that cause.
In the instant case, the evidence was sufficient to prove that Jaramillo was
charged with an offense under I.C. § 9-30-5. It was sufficient to
prove that he entered a guilty plea with respect to that charge, and
that the trial court took the plea under advisement. There was, however,
absolutely no evidence presented to the jury concerning the fate of Jaramillos guilty
plea or, ultimately, the resolution of the charges against him. In short,
the evidence proving that the trial court took Jaramillos plea under advisement was
insufficient to prove that judgment of conviction was entered thereon. Therefore, the
evidence was insufficient to prove the predicate conviction necessary to enhance the OWI-causing-death
offense. We must remand this case with instructions to vacate Jaramillos conviction
for OWI causing death as a class B felony and to enter instead
a judgment of conviction for OWI causing death as a class C felony.
2.
Jaramillo contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the determination that he
is a habitual offender.
In order to obtain a habitual offender finding, the State was required to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jaramillo had accumulated two (2) prior unrelated
substance offense convictions. I.C. § 35-50-2-10. The State supported the
habitual substance offender charge by alleging the minimum two previous substance-abuse offenses.
One of those was the 1998 conviction. We have already determined that
the evidence was insufficient to prove that conviction. Because a habitual substance
offender finding must be supported by proof of two valid predicate offenses, the
failure of proof regarding the 1998 conviction vitiates the habitual offender determination.
Therefore, the habitual substance offender determination must be reversed.
3.
We have reduced the OWI causing death conviction from a class B felony
to a class C felony, and have reversed the habitual offender determination.
The State contends that it may retry Jaramillo on the enhancement of the
OWI charge, and may seek again to obtain a habitual substance offender determination
based upon the facts of the present case. Jaramillo contends that double
jeopardy principles bar a retrial of those issues.
We note first that Jaramillo does not present any argument under the Indiana
Constitution, but instead confines his argument to the United States Constitution. As
a result, any argument arising under the Indiana Constitution is waived. Jackson
v. State, 735 N.E.2d 1146 (Ind. 2000). Therefore, we confine our analysis
to federal double jeopardy jurisprudence.
Both parties acknowledge that the resolution of this issue hinges upon a United
States Supreme Court opinion that addressed this question. In Monge v. California,
524 U.S. 721 (1998), the Court was asked to decide whether the Double
Jeopardy Clause barred reprosecution of the question whether the defendant (Monge) had a
prior conviction. The case arose in the context of Californias three-strikes law.
Pursuant to the version of that law then in effect, among other
things, if the instant offense was preceded by a serious felony offense, the
defendants sentence on the instant offense would be doubled. In a bifurcated
trial, a jury first determined that Monge was guilty of the charged offense.
Then, the truth of the prior conviction allegations was argued before the
court. Id. at 725. The trial court found that the allegation
concerning the prior convictions was true, and imposed an enhanced sentence upon that
finding. Monge appealed, and the California Court of Appeals requested briefing on
the question whether sufficient evidence was presented to prove the prior conviction.
In response, the State conceded that it had not offered sufficient evidence to
prove the predicate offense at the bifurcated proceeding, but requested another opportunity to
prove the allegation on remand. The matter eventually was appealed to the
United States Supreme Court. Once it was there, the Justices attention was
focused on the Courts opinion in Bullington v. Missouri, 451 U.S. 430 (1981).
In Bullington, the Court held that a capital defendant who had received
a life sentence during a penalty phase that bore the hallmarks of [a]
trial on guilt or innocence could not be resentenced to death upon retrial
following appeal. Monge v. California, 524 U.S. at 726 (internal quotation in
original, but unattributed). The Court took the occasion of Monge to clarify
whether the Bullington holding applied in noncapital proceedings.
Central to the Courts double jeopardy analysis was the distinction between, on one
hand, elements of a crime and, on the other hand, factors considered in
sentencing. A majority of the Court rejected Justice Scalias dissenting view that
prior convictions are elements of a recidivism enhancement. In that regard, the
Court noted, An enhanced sentence imposed on a persistent offender thus is not
to be viewed as either a new jeopardy or additional penalty for the
earlier crimes but as a stiffened penalty for the latest crime, which is
considered to be an aggravated offense because a repetitive one. Monge v.
California, 524 U.S. at 728 (quoting Gryger v. Burke, 334 U.S. 728, 732
(1948)). Lest there be any doubt that the issue before the Court
in Monge is the same one before us in the instant case, we
reproduce the following from Monge:
Petitioner contends that the rationale for imposing a double jeopardy bar in Bullington
applies with equal force to Californias proceedings to determine the truth of
a prior conviction allegation. Like the Missouri capital sentencing scheme at issue
in Bullington, petitioner argues, the sentencing proceedings here have the hallmarks of a
trial on guilt or innocence because the sentencer makes an objective finding as
to whether the prosecution has proved a historical fact beyond a reasonable doubt.
The determination whether a defendant in fact has qualifying prior convictions may
be distinguished, petitioner maintains, from the normative decisions typical of traditional sentencing.
In petitioners view, once a defendant has obtained a favorable finding on such
an issue, the State should not be permitted to retry the allegation.
Monge v. California, 524 U.S. at 731 (internal quotes in original, but unattributed).
As the foregoing reflects, the Monge decision is squarely on point with
the matter under consideration here. On this issue, the court specifically held,
We conclude that Bullingtons rationale is confined to the unique circumstances of capital
sentencing and that the Double Jeopardy Clause does not preclude retrial on a
prior conviction allegation in the noncapital sentencing context. Id. at 734.
It would seem, therefore, that Monge settled the question whether the Double Jeopardy
Clause of the United States Constitution permits retrial of the existence of a
predicate offense where the evidence has been deemed insufficient by a trial or
appellate court: it does not.
Jaramillo counters that subsequent rulings of the Supreme Court signal a sea change
on that question. Most notably, Jaramillo contends that Almendarez-Torrez v. United States,
523 U.S. 224 (1998),
See footnote
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and
Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) combine to effectively overrule Monge.
We applaud the quality of the argument presented on Jaramillos behalf in this
regard. In the end, however, a synthesis of those decisions simply does
not present a compelling enough case to permit this court to take upon
itself a task that the Supreme Court has thus far refrained from undertaking,
viz., announcing that Monge is a dead letter. We note in this
regard that the Court was both deeply divided and fragmented in Monge, Almendarez-Torrez,
Apprendi, and Ring. In each case, there were multiple concurring and dissenting
opinions reflecting various viewpoints on the various sub-issues, as well as the main
question itself. Utilizing what might fairly be described as a cut-and-paste approach,
Jaramillo does a creditable job of cobbling together from those various expressions of
viewpoint a majority of five Justices that would vote to overturn Monge.
Jaramillos argument is plausible, but by no mean unassailable. Accepting the argument
requires a fair amount of speculation on our part concerning the way certain
Justices would assess particular components of the analysis Jaramillo presents. We would
prefer to take the guesswork out of the exercise altogether, and so will
leave it to the Supreme Court to decide for itself whether a new
view on that question should carry the day.
Therefore, pursuant to Monge, the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution
does not bar the State from seeking again to establish the requisite predicate
offense to support enhancement of the OWI-causing-death offense, and to establish predicate offenses
that would support a habitual substance offender finding.
4.
The trial court ordered Jaramillo to pay restitution to the following parties in
the following amounts: $17,584.30 to Assure Care; $9566.10 to Margaret Pocock; and
$7557 to Unum Life Insurance Company of America. Jaramillo contends the trial
court erred in its order of restitution.
Ind. Code Ann. § 35-38-2-2.3(a)(5) (West, PREMISE through 2003 1st Reg. Sess.) authorizes
courts to order a person convicted of a criminal offense to pay restitution
or reparation to the victim. According to that provision, [w]hen restitution or
reparation is a condition of probation, the court shall fix the amount, which
may not exceed an amount the person can or will be able to
pay, and shall fix the manner of performance. Id. The purpose
behind an order of restitution is to impress upon the criminal defendant the
magnitude of the loss he has caused and to defray costs to the
victim caused by the offense. Carswell v. State, 721 N.E.2d 1255 (Ind.
Ct. App. 1999). When restitution is ordered as a condition of probation,
the trial court must assess the defendants ability to pay in order to
prevent an indigent defendant from being imprisoned because of his or her inability
to pay. I.C. § 35-38-2-2.3; Ladd v. State, 710 N.E.2d 188 (Ind.
Ct. App. 1999). Such an order must fix the amount of restitution,
which may not exceed what a person will be able to pay, as
well as the manner of performance. Bailey v. State, 717 N.E.2d 1
(Ind. 1999). Whether to order restitution is committed to the trial courts
discretion, and we will reverse such an order only upon a showing that
an abuse of discretion occurred. Antcliff v. State, 688 N.E.2d 166 (Ind.
Ct. App. 1997).
We note that Jaramillo does not challenge the validity of the amounts of
the three restitution orders entered against him by the trial court. Although
it is not entirely clear, it appears also that he does not challenge
the determination that he will be able to pay the indicated amounts when
he is released on probation. Rather, we understand Jaramillos complaint to be
that the trial court did not specify the manner of performance with sufficient
clarity, to wit:
The order of probation states restitution is to be paid within six months,
but neither it nor the restitution orders fix payment in periodic amounts.
Any expectation that Jaramillo could pay the full amount of restitution in one
payment is unrealistic given his limited ability in English, employment skills as a
general laborer and lack of a bank account or other assets. The
cause should be remanded with an order for the trial court to specify
the manner in which Jaramillo will pay restitution.
Appellants Brief at 23. Therefore, we will confine our review to the
question whether the trial courts order is valid with respect to the manner
of performance.
Jaramillo is correct in observing that the restitution order is lacking any details
concerning the form payment is to take. Although identifying the recipients and
setting the amounts owed to each, the restitution order fails to provide guidance
as to how Jaramillo is to pay those debts. By our calculation,
Jaramillo will owe a total of $34,707.40 to the three payees, and the
order specifies that it is due within 6 months or as ordered by
the court. Appellants Appendix at 11. There being no contrary indication
in the restitution order, the order must be interpreted as providing that full
payment is due within six months of Jaramillos release on probation. In
view of the facts that Jaramillo works as a laborer and does not
speak English as his first language, such paucity of details concerning the manner
of payment results in a restitution order that is unacceptable. We therefore
remand with instructions to set the manner of performance regarding the payment of
the several restitution orders after considering Jaramillos ability to pay. See Bailey
v. State, 717 N.E.2d 1.
In summary, we affirm Jaramillos conviction of operating while intoxicated causing death, but
reverse the enhancement of that offense from a class C felony to a
class B felony. We also reverse the determination that Jaramillo is a
habitual substance offender. We note also that the Double Jeopardy Clause does
not bar reprosecution of the enhancement of the underlying offense from a class
C felony to a class B felony, nor does it prevent the State
from seeking again to establish that Jaramillo is a habitual substance offender.
Finally, the order of restitution is conditionally affirmed, but remanded with instructions to
issue an order setting out the manner of payment.
Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.
SULLIVAN, J., and RILEY, J., concur.
Footnote:
Ind. Code Ann. § 9-30-5-5 (West, PREMISE through 2003 1
st
Regular Sess.).
Footnote:
Ind. Code Ann. § 35-50-2-10 (West, PREMISE through 2003 1
st
Regular Sess.).
Footnote:
We note that
Almendarez-Torrez was decided before Monge.