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FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
MICHAEL R. BURROW JEFFREY A. MODISETT
JEFFREY S. NEEL Attorney General of Indiana
Wolf & Burrow
Greenfield, Indiana CHRIS WORDEN
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
RALPH E. CHISSELL, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 33A05-9805-CR-238
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
APPEAL FROM THE HENRY SUPERIOR COURT
The Honorable H. Terrell Harvey, Judge
Cause No. 33D02-9603-CF-30
January 26, 1999
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
NAJAM, Judge
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Following a jury trial, Ralph E. Chissell was convicted of Operating a Motor Vehicle
While Intoxicated ("OWI"), a class A misdemeanor; Operating a Motor Vehicle With a
Blood Alcohol Level ("BAC") of .10 Percent or Greater, a class C misdemeanor; and Public
Intoxication, a class B misdemeanor.See footnote
1
The court enhanced Chissell's conviction for OWI to
a class D felony based upon a prior OWI conviction
See footnote
2
and sentenced Chissell to one and one-
half years, with all but sixty days suspended to probation.
The court withheld judgment on
the public intoxication and operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .10 percent or greater
convictions. Chissell now appeals, and the State requests that we instruct the trial court to
enter judgments where judgments were withheld.
We affirm in part and dismiss in part.
ISSUES
The parties present three issues for review which we restate as:
1. Whether Chissell's conviction should be reversed due to the State's failure to
preserve videotapes of the police administering sobriety tests to Chissell.
2. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that Chissell drove his vehicle while impaired.
3. Whether the trial court erred when it withheld judgment on Chissell's convictions
for operating a motor vehicle with a BAC .10 percent or greater and public intoxication.
FACTS
On March 6, 1998, Richmond Police Officer Brian Thomas observed Chissell driving
a vehicle with inoperative tail lights. As Officer Thomas followed the vehicle, Chissell
failed to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Officer Thomas activated the overhead
lights on his vehicle, and Chissell pulled over. As Chissell stepped out of his vehicle, Officer
Thomas noticed that Chissell smelled of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot and his speech was
slurred.
Officer Thomas then radioed Captain Mel England to assist him with field sobriety
tests. Captain England administered finger-to-nose and a heel-to-toe tests. Chissell's balance
was unsteady, he had difficulty walking and could not touch his index finger to his nose.
Officer Thomas arrested Chissell and transported him to jail. At police headquarters, Officer
Thomas administered additional tests, all of which Chissell failed. Chissell's BAC was .16
percent.
DISCUSSION AND DECISION
Issue One: Police Videotapes
Chissell argues that the State's loss or destruction of allegedly material evidence
impaired his rights to a fair trial and due process of law. In particular, Chissell asserts that
he was "substantially prejudiced" because the State did not preserve police videotapes of him
performing sobriety tests both at the scene and at the jail.
To determine whether a defendant's due process rights have been violated by the
State's failure to preserve evidence, we first decide whether the evidence in question was
"potentially useful evidence" or "materially exculpatory evidence." Samek v. State, 688
N.E.2d 1286, 1288 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) (quoting Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 57,
109 S. Ct. 333, 337, 102 L. Ed. 2d 281 (1988)), trans. denied. The United States Supreme
Court has defined potentially useful evidence as "evidentiary material of which no more can
be said than that it could have been subjected to tests, the results of which might have
exonerated the defendant." Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 57, 109 S. Ct. at 337, 102 L. Ed. 2d at
289.
The State's failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute a denial
of due process of law "unless a criminal defendant can show bad faith on the part of the
police." Id. at 58, 109 S. Ct. at 337, 102 L. Ed. 2d at 289; Bivins v. State, 642 N.E.2d 928,
943 (Ind. 1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1077 (1996).
On the other hand, materially exculpatory evidence is that evidence which "possesses
an exculpatory value that was apparent before the evidence was destroyed" and must "be of
such a nature that the defendant would be unable to obtain comparable evidence by other
reasonably available means." California v. Trumbetta, 467 U.S. 479, 489, 104 S. Ct. 2528,
2534, 81 L. Ed. 2d 413, 422 (1984). Unlike potentially useful evidence, the State's good or
bad faith in failing to preserve materially exculpatory evidence is irrelevant. Samek, 688
N.E.2d at 1288.
During Officer Thomas' cross-examination, defense counsel questioned Thomas about
a video camera located inside his police vehicle. Defense counsel then introduced
Defendant's Exhibit A, a letter to the prosecutor from Sergeant James Milner, the Systems
Administrator of the New Castle Police Department. In that letter, Sergeant Milner reported
that although Officer Thomas' vehicle had been equipped with an in-car camera, Chissell's
"stop and arrest for some reason was not recorded." Milner further informed the prosecutor
that the videotape of Chissell's sobriety tests recorded at the jail had been reused.
Chissell asserts that the tapes would be materially exculpatory evidence "if [they]
contained Chissell passing the field sobriety tests." While a defendant is not required to
prove conclusively that the destroyed evidence was exculpatory, there must be some
indication that the evidence was exculpatory.
Johnson v. State, 507 N.E.2d 980, 983 (Ind.
1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 946 (1987).
We cannot assume that the destroyed evidence
contained exculpatory material when the record is devoid of such indication. Id. Chissell
provides no evidence in support of his contention that the videotapes contained apparent
exculpatory value. Rather, he asks that we speculate. We conclude that the videotapes do
not rise to the level of materially exculpatory evidence.
Assuming the videotapes may have shown Chissell passing the sobriety tests, we
agree that the tapes were potentially useful evidence. To show a denial of due process,
however, Chissell must demonstrate bad faith. See Bivins, 642 N.E.2d at 943. The record
shows that while the in-car camera should have started to record when Officer Thomas
activated his overhead lights, the camera did not work.
Officer Thomas testified that he did
not turn off the in-car camera during Chissell's stop.
He also stated that the type of in-car
cameras used at the time of Chissell's arrest were later replaced due to recurring problems.
In addition, Sergeant Milner testified that the videotape of the sobriety tests Chissell
performed at the jail was unavailable because it had been reused. There is no showing that
the tapes were erased intentionally or negligently by the police in order to suppress material
evidence. See Johnson, 507 N.E.2d at 980. Chissell has not shown bad faith. Thus, we
conclude that Chissell was not denied due process of law.
Issue Two: Sufficiency of the Evidence
Chissell argues that we should reverse his conviction for OWI because the State failed
to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he drove his vehicle while "impaired." We must
disagree.
In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we neither reweigh the evidence nor
judge the credibility of the witnesses. Fields v. State, 679 N.E.2d 898, 900 (Ind. 1997). We
look only to the probative evidence supporting the verdict and the reasonable inferences
therefrom to determine whether a reasonable trier of fact could conclude the defendant was
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. The conviction will stand as long as there is
substantial evidence of probative value to support it. Id.
To sustain Chissell's conviction, the State was required to show that the defendant
operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Ind. Code § 9-30-5-2. "Intoxicated" means
being under the influence of alcohol such that there is an impaired condition of thought and
action and the loss of normal control of a person's faculties to the extent that endangers a
person. Hornback v. State, 693 N.E.2d 81, 85 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998); Ind. Code § 9-13-2-86.
In this case, Officer Thomas testified that after he stopped Chissell for a traffic
violation, Chissell's eyes were bloodshot, he smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech.
Thomas also stated that Chissell was unsteady on his feet and failed the field sobriety tests
he and Captain England administered. For example, Chissell could not touch his index finger
to his nose, he failed the heel-to-toe test and could not recite the alphabet as requested.
Captain England, a twenty-four year veteran, stated that he believed Chissell was intoxicated.
At police headquarters, Chissell's BAC was .16 percent. We conclude that the State proved
beyond a reasonable doubt that Chissell drove his vehicle in an impaired condition of thought
and action and that his condition posed a danger to himself or others on the public roadways.
We affirm Chissell's conviction for driving while intoxicated.
See Boyd v. State, 519 N.E.2d
182, 184-85 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988) (evidence that driver has committed traffic violation,
exhibits signs of intoxication and has a BAC of .10 percent or more is sufficient to sustain
conviction for OWI).
Issue Three: Withheld Judgments
The trial court entered judgment on the OWI conviction but withheld judgment on the
operating a vehicle with a BAC of .10 percent or greater and public intoxication convictions.
The State asks us to remand the case with instructions to the trial court to:
(1) enter judgment
on the operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .10 percent or greater and public intoxication
convictions, (2) merge the conviction for operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .10
percent or greater with the conviction for OWI, and (3) impose a sentence for the public
intoxication conviction.See footnote
3
We first address the State's contention that it's claim is properly before us. In Abron
v. State, 591 N.E.2d 634, 638 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992), trans. denied, this court stated that "a trial
court's failure to sentence a defendant in accordance with statutory requirements constitutes
fundamental error, and may therefore be presented by the State for the first time on appeal."
Here, however,
the State does not complain that the sentence imposed was contrary to law
but that judgment and sentence were not entered.See footnote
4
The State's reliance on Abron is
misplaced.
We are aware that some trial courts withhold judgment as a case management device
for various purposes. While it may be useful, this informal practice finds no sanction in the
law.
Trial courts may not withhold judgment nor indefinitely postpone sentencing.
Robinson v. State, 172 Ind. App. 205, 359 N.E.2d 924 (Ind. Ct. App. 1977);
see Ind. Code
§
35-38-1-1(a) (after a verdict, the court shall enter a judgment of conviction).
As a matter
of law, a "withheld judgment" or "judgment withheld" (also commonly known as a "JW")
is a nullity. Thus,
a withheld judgment is not appealable because it is neither a final
judgment nor an appealable interlocutory order.
Robinson, 172 Ind. App. at 205, 359 N.E.2d
at 924.
Further, a party cannot appeal from the failure of a trial court to enter judgment. State
ex rel. v. Scott Circuit Court, 203 Ind. 572, 576-77, 181 N.E. 523, 524 (1932). The only
available remedy is a writ of mandamus. Id. O
ur supreme court has exclusive, original
jurisdiction over actions for writs of mandamus against inferior state courts based on the
alleged failure of the respondent court to act when it was under a duty to act, in this case to
compel the trial court to comply with Indiana Code § 35-38-1-1(a).
Ind. Original Action
Rules 1(A),(B) and 2(A); Ind. Appellate Rule 4(A)(5). Thus, we have no authority to instruct
the trial court to enter judgments on the jury verdicts and must dismiss the State's prayer for
relief.
Affirmed in part and dismissed in part.
SHARPNACK, C.J., and BAILEY J., concur.
Footnote:
1 See Ind. Code § 9-30-5-2; § 9-30-5-1; § 7.1-5-1-3.
Footnote:
2 See Ind. Code § 9-30-5-3.
Footnote:
3 We agree with the State that had the court entered judgment on the operating a motor vehicle with
a BAC of .10 percent or greater conviction, we would order the court to vacate the conviction on the lesser-
included offense. See Redman v. State, 679 N.E.2d 927, 929 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) (operating a motor vehicle
with a BAC of .10 percent or greater is a lesser-included offense of OWI and, thus, double jeopardy principles
require the court to vacate the conviction for the lesser-included offense), trans. denied.
Footnote:
4 Specifically, the State argues that the court committed fundamental error when it failed to comply
with Indiana Code § 35-38-1-1(a), which provides that "[a]fter a verdict, finding, or plea of guilty, if a new trial
is not granted, the court shall enter a judgment of conviction."
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