FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
DANIELLE L. GREGORY STEPHEN R. CARTER
Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
MONIKA PREKOPA TALBOT
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
C.S., )
)
Appellant-Respondent, )
)
vs. ) No. 49A02-0403-JV-289
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Petitioner. )
APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT
The Honorable James Payne, Judge
Cause No. 49D09-0308-JD-3060
NOVEMBER 30, 2004
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
GARRARD, Senior Judge
C.S. was adjudged a delinquent pursuant to a plea agreement. At the
dispositional hearing on December 3, 2003, he was made a ward of the
Department of Corrections for housing in any correctional facility for children. This
order was then suspended, and he was placed upon strict probation. He
first met with his probation officer five days later on December 8.
At that time he gave a urine sample for a drug screen.
A week later the probation officer received the results of the screen, which
showed positive for cocaine metabolites. She then filed a petition to revoke
probation.
During a hearing on December 19, 2003, the court ordered C.S. detained.
He remained in detention for thirty-one days until his dispositional hearing on January
20, 2004.
At the January hearing the probation officer was the only witness called by
the state, and C.S. presented no testimony. The probation officer testified regarding
the process employed by her in collecting urine samples from her probationers.
She also testified concerning her lack of knowledge of the actual testing procedures
employed. She testified that she received back the results of the urine
screen of December 8, and [t]he results stated that [C.S.] tested positive of
cocaine. (Tr. 30). The report was not introduced in evidence, and no
other evidence of the presence of cocaine was presented.
See footnote
Upon this evidence the court found that C.S. had violated the terms of
his probation, awarded wardship to the Indiana Department of Correction for housing in
any correctional facility for children until the age of 21, unless sooner released
by the Department and recommended, inter alia, that C.S. be committed for a
period of six months.
On appeal C.S. challenges the propriety of permitting the probation officers limited knowledge
to establish the results of the drug screen. We find the answer
to his contentions in
Cox v. State, 706 N.E.2d 547 (Ind. 1999).
In that decision the court noted that probation revocation proceedings are governed by
a preponderance of the evidence standard and are not subject to the Indiana
Rules of Evidence. It noted that while defendants in such proceedings are
entitled to due process, they are not entitled to the panoply of rights
afforded a person prior to conviction. The court held that in revocation
proceedings the rule against hearsay does not apply and the trial court might
consider any relevant evidence bearing some substantial indicia of reliability. 706 N.E.2d
at 550-551. Accordingly, the court held that the testimony of the operations
manager of the work release center regarding a urine screening test for marijuana
and his sponsoring of the exhibit showing the test results was proper.
Here the probation officer testified in detail about how the sample was secured
and sealed, how it was transmitted to the laboratory and how she received
the results. She followed a standard process. We believe this provided
a substantial indicia of reliability and the evidence was properly admitted.
C.S. contends he was denied his due process rights to confront his accuser
and cross examine the witnesses against him, but that question was resolved against
him in Cox, supra. He confronted the probation officer and skillfully cross
examined her concerning her knowledge and lack of knowledge about the test.
That is what due process requires under these circumstances since the hearsay nature
of the testimony was not objectionable.
C.S. next contends that the evidence was insufficient to establish a probation violation.
In considering this claim we are reminded that the burden of proof
upon the state was a preponderance of the evidence, and that our appellate
review will not reweigh the evidence or redetermine the credibility of witnesses.
If there is substantial evidence of probative value to support the courts decision,
we will affirm. Cox, 706 N.E.2d at 551.
It is axiomatic that to violate ones probation, one must perform some prohibited
act, or fail to perform some required action, during the period of probation.
Ordinarily, the facts are such that there is no dispute regarding this
element of the states claim. But here the facts are different.
Here the urine test was taken only five days after C.S. was placed
on probation. We know that cocaine metabolites appear in the urine for
some time period after cocaine has been ingested.
The state produced no evidence whatever of what that time period might be.
There was no prior screen establishing that C.S. was free of drugs,
so that subsequent use might be inferred. There was not even any
evidence of the amount, or concentration, of the metabolite in the urine.
Because the sample was taken only five days after C.S. was placed on
probation, we are left to merely speculate whether he used cocaine before or
after probation was imposed. We are unable to say that the evidence
favorable to the decision, and the reasonable inferences therefrom, are sufficient to establish
by a preponderance of the evidence that C.S. used cocaine at some time
after he was placed on probation.
It follows that the decision revoking probation must be reversed and the case
remanded for such further proceedings as may be necessary.
See footnote
Reversed and remanded.
ROBB, J., and BAILEY, J., concur.
Footnote: The probation officer testified that a second urine screen was taken on
December 14 or 15, but the results of that test do not appear.
Footnote: Since we find it necessary to reverse, we need not address the
other issue raised by C.S.