Brandon C. Staggs v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2017 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Nov 22 2017, 5:46 am
court except for the purpose of establishing
the defense of res judicata, collateral CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Carlos I. Carrillo Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Greenwood, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Tyler G. Banks
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Brandon C. Staggs, November 22, 2017
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
79A02-1705-CR-1152
v. Appeal from the Tippecanoe
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Randy J. Williams,
Appellee-Plaintiff Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
79D01-1608-F1-13
Crone, Judge.
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Case Summary
[1] Brandon C. Staggs was the subject of a no-contact order concerning his three-
week-old baby. Notwithstanding the order, he became intoxicated with illegal
drugs and then slept with the baby, who died from positional asphyxiation.
Faced with a seven-count criminal information, Staggs agreed to plead guilty to
level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death, level 5 felony narcotics
possession, and level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, in exchange for
the dismissal of the remaining counts. Per the plea agreement, sentencing was
left to the trial court’s discretion. The court ultimately sentenced Staggs to an
aggregate thirty-nine-year term. In this appeal, Staggs raises several issues,
most of which are unavailable to him either because of his guilty plea or
because they are proper for postconviction proceedings rather than direct
appeal. He also challenges the trial court’s application of aggravating factors
during sentencing as well as the appropriateness of his sentence. Finding that
the trial court acted within its discretion in its identification of aggravators and
that Staggs has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his sentence is
inappropriate, we affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] In 2002, Staggs slept with his two-month-old baby, who died of positional
asphyxiation. He had two other children with his now ex-wife. In 2013, his
child K.S. was paralyzed following an accident in which Staggs was the driver
and for which Staggs was investigated concerning intoxication. Staggs’s ex-
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wife eventually gained full custody of K.S. and the couple’s other surviving
child.
[3] In early June 2016, Staggs and Sara Martin had a baby boy, Z.S. Because of his
entanglements with the Department of Child Services (“DCS”) in children in
need of services (“CHINS”) proceedings, Staggs was under a no-contact order
regarding Z.S. On June 27, 2016, Martin had Z.S. in her care while she cleaned
out the home of her recently deceased mother. She took Z.S. with her to buy
heroin and then injected herself once at her mother’s house and then at Staggs’s
house. She overdosed, and Jason Vanhorn, a friend of both Staggs and Martin,
drove her, Staggs, and Z.S. to the hospital. An attending physician later told
police that Staggs appeared to be under the influence of drugs while at the
hospital.
[4] After a few hours, the group left Martin at the hospital and went to Staggs’s
house. Initially, Vanhorn watched Z.S. while Staggs slept on the sofa. Later,
Vanhorn awakened Staggs and informed him that he was leaving. Staggs took
Z.S. from Vanhorn and slept with him. Several hours later, another friend,
“T.J.,” entered Staggs’s living room and found Staggs sitting on the sofa,
asleep. He found Z.S. between the cushions, bluish in color and totally
nonresponsive. T.J. attempted to arouse Staggs but described Staggs as largely
nonresponsive and apparently under the influence of drugs. Shortly thereafter,
emergency personnel arrived and Z.S. was pronounced dead. An autopsy
revealed that he died of positional asphyxiation. Police found heroin in a lunch
box underneath Staggs’s sofa. Later that day, Staggs tested positive for
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amphetamine, methamphetamine, benzodiazepenes, cocaine, morphine, and
marijuana.
[5] The State charged Staggs with level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in
death, level 5 felony narcotics possession (in the presence of a child under age
eighteen), level 6 felony possession of a controlled substance, class B
misdemeanor marijuana possession, class A misdemeanor possession of
paraphernalia, level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, and class A
misdemeanor marijuana possession. Via an open plea agreement, Staggs pled
guilty to neglect of a dependent causing death, narcotics possession, and
maintaining a common nuisance, in exchange for the dismissal of the
remaining four counts.
[6] At the guilty plea hearing, the State established a factual basis, which the trial
court found sufficient. The court explained the applicable sentencing ranges,
and accepted Staggs’s guilty plea. During sentencing, the court heard testimony
from several witnesses and identified as aggravating circumstances Staggs’s
significant history of substance abuse, the significant extent of the harm, injury,
and loss suffered by the victim beyond the elements of the offenses, the victim’s
young age, Staggs’s criminal history and previous probation and rehabilitation
failures, and the fact that he was out on bond and was in violation of a no-
contact order when he committed the current offenses. The court identified as
mitigating circumstances Staggs’s guilty plea, cooperation, sense of
responsibility, and support of family and friends. The trial court sentenced
Staggs to thirty-four years for level 1 felony neglect, five years for level 5 felony
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narcotics possession, and two years for level 6 felony maintaining a common
nuisance, with the last two terms to run concurrent with each other and
consecutive to the first felony. His thirty-nine-year aggregate sentence
comprised thirty-seven years executed, with thirty-five years in the Department
of Correction (“DOC”), two years in community corrections, and two years
suspended to probation.
[7] Staggs now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.
Discussion and Decision
Section 1 – Because he pled guilty by plea agreement in
exchange for the dismissal of four counts, Staggs is precluded
from attacking his convictions on double jeopardy grounds.
[8] Maintaining that his convictions for neglect, narcotics possession, and
maintaining a common nuisance were all based on the same evidence, Staggs
claims that his convictions for the lesser offenses of neglect and nuisance must
be vacated on double jeopardy grounds. “To find a double jeopardy violation
under the actual evidence test, we must conclude that there is ‘a reasonable
possibility that the evidentiary facts used by the factfinder to establish the
essential element of one offense may also have been used to establish the
essential elements of a second challenged offense.’” Garrett v. State, 992 N.E.2d
710, 719 (Ind. 2013) (quoting Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32, 53 (Ind.
1999)). However, “defendants who plead guilty to achieve favorable outcomes
give up a plethora of substantive claims and procedural rights, such as
challenges to convictions that would otherwise constitute double jeopardy.”
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Lee v. State, 816 N.E.2d 35, 40 (Ind. 2004) (quoting Davis v. State, 771 N.E.2d
647, 649 n.4 (Ind. 2002)).
[9] Here, Staggs faced a seven-count information and pled guilty by plea agreement
to three counts, in exchange for the dismissal of four counts (one felony and
three misdemeanors). He clearly received a benefit from his plea agreement,
and we are unpersuaded by his labored attempts to characterize his plea
agreement to the contrary. Staggs is precluded from raising double jeopardy in
this appeal.1
Section 2 – Staggs waived any challenge to the trial court’s
decision to allow the State to amend the charging information.
[10] Staggs next asserts that the trial court erred in allowing the State to amend the
charging information. At sentencing, the State verbally requested an
amendment to the narcotics possession charge to change “knowingly and
intentionally” to “knowingly or intentionally.” Appellant’s App. Vol. 2 at 9;
Tr. Vol. 2 at 12. Staggs was present in person and by counsel, and when the
trial court asked Staggs whether he understood the amendment, he answered
affirmatively. As such, he had the opportunity to be heard. Yet, he neither
objected nor requested a continuance. As such, he has waived consideration of
1
We note that a double jeopardy violation under the actual evidence test presupposes the development of an
evidentiary record such that the factfinder (jury or trial court) uses the same evidentiary facts to convict the
defendant on multiple counts. Here, the record was developed only to the extent necessary to establish a
factual basis for Staggs’s guilty plea as to each count. Moreover, we note that Staggs has cited no authority
for his proposition that the fundamental error doctrine rescues a double jeopardy claim that is otherwise
precluded by a beneficial plea agreement.
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this issue on appeal. See Absher v. State, 866 N.E.2d 350, 355 (Ind. 2007) (failure
to object to amendment to charging information waives issue for review unless
fundamental error occurred).
[11] Waiver notwithstanding, Indiana Code Section 35-34-1-5(a)(5) allows the State
on motion at any time to amend the charging information because of “any
immaterial defect, including … the use of alternate or disjunctive allegations to
the acts, means, intents, or results charged.” Here, the State requested the
amendment simply to correct a clerical error in the mens rea element for the
narcotics possession charge by changing the conjunctive to the disjunctive.
Thus, the amendment was clearly within the dictates of the statute, and the trial
court properly granted the State’s request.
Section 3 – Staggs’s challenge to the sufficiency of the factual
basis to support his guilty plea is not reviewable on direct
appeal.
[12] Staggs also contends that the State failed to establish a factual basis to support
his pleas of guilty to narcotics possession and maintaining a common nuisance.
Because this argument amounts to an attack on his convictions, he is precluded
from raising it on direct appeal and must instead raise it in a petition for
postconviction relief. See Stanley v. State, 849 N.E.2d 626, 630 (Ind. Ct. App.
2006) (error premised on insufficiency of factual basis for guilty plea must be
brought by petition for postconviction relief).
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Section 4 – The trial court did not err in advising Staggs
concerning all aspects of his potential sentence.
[13] Staggs also submits that the trial court failed to properly advise him concerning
the possibility of fines and consecutive sentencing. He essentially argues that
proper advisements would have affected his decision to plead guilty.2 In so
arguing, he attacks the voluntariness of his plea, which he may not do on direct
appeal. See M.Y. v. State, 681 N.E.2d 1178, 1179 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) (criminal
defendant is prohibited from challenging validity of his guilty plea by direct
appeal, but must instead raise issue via petition for postconviction relief) (citing
Tumulty v. State, 666 N.E.2d 394, 395-96 (Ind. 1996)). That said, we briefly
note that the trial court did not ultimately impose a fine as part of Staggs’s
sentence but nevertheless advised him at the guilty plea hearing that he could be
subject to a fine of up to $10,000. Tr. Vol. 2 at 15. As for the possibility of
consecutive sentencing, the trial court did not use the word “consecutive,” but it
properly and specifically addressed his maximum sentence exposure for each
offense as well as the maximum aggregate sentence exposure, which as a matter
of mathematics included a potential consecutive sentencing component. See id.
at 13-15 (trial court’s statement of intent to sentence Staggs to somewhere
between twenty and forty-two years, which could exceed maximum for level 1
felony).
2
We note that these arguments are phrased in terms similar to those applicable to proving the prejudice
prong of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. Staggs did not raise ineffective assistance of counsel in
this direct appeal.
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Section 5 – The trial court acted within its discretion in its
treatment of aggravating factors during sentencing.
[14] Staggs also challenges the trial court’s treatment of aggravating factors during
sentencing. Sentencing decisions rest within the sound discretion of the trial
court, and so long as a sentence is within the statutory range, it is subject to
review only for an abuse of discretion. Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482, 490
(Ind. 2007), clarified on reh’g, 875 N.E.2d 218. An abuse of discretion occurs
where the trial court’s decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts
and circumstances before it, or the reasonable, probable, and actual deductions
to be drawn therefrom. Sloan v. State, 16 N.E.3d 1018, 1026 (Ind. Ct. App.
2014). One of the ways in which a trial court may abuse its discretion is if the
sentencing statement identifies aggravating factors that “are improper as a
matter of law.” Anglemyer, 868 N.E.2d at 491.
[15] Staggs maintains that the trial court improperly designated elements of his
neglect and narcotics offenses as aggravators. A trial court may not use a
material element of the offense as an aggravating factor, but it may find the
nature and particularized circumstances surrounding the offense to be an
aggravating factor. Caraway v. State, 959 N.E.2d 847, 850 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011),
trans. denied (2012). In other words, “[w]here a trial court’s reason for imposing
a sentence greater than the advisory sentence includes material elements of the
offense, absent something unique about the circumstances that would justify
deviating from the advisory sentence, that reason is ‘improper as a matter of
law.’” Gomillia v. State, 13 N.E.3d 846, 852-53 (Ind. 2014) (quoting Anglemyer,
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868 N.E.2d at 491). “Even if the trial court relied on an improper factor under
this aggravating circumstance, the sentence may be upheld so long as [t]he
remaining components of that aggravator were proper.” Id. at 853 (quoting
McCann v. State, 749 N.E.2d 1116, 1120 (Ind. 2001)).
[16] Staggs specifically challenges the trial court’s use of Z.S.’s age as an aggravator
pertaining to his narcotics offense where the circumstance elevating the offense
from a level 6 to a level 5 felony involved “the person committ[ing] the offense
in the physical presence of a child less than eighteen (18) years of age, knowing
that the child was present and might be able to see or hear the offense.” Ind.
Code § 35-48-1-16.5(6). Staggs argues that Z.S.’s tender age of three weeks
should work to his advantage since the child, though present, seeing, and
hearing, was too young to understand and carry with him any lasting
impressions of his father’s narcotics use. However, in reviewing the sentencing
order, we do not read this aggravator as having been applied specifically to the
narcotics offense. Rather, the trial court merely listed it among the other
aggravators and did not specify that it was attaching Z.S.’s age to any particular
count. The court simply used the phrase, “the victim was under twelve years of
age.” Appellant’s App. Vol. 2 at 43. This language tracks Indiana Code
Section 35-38-1-7.1(a)(3), which directly addresses aggravating factors that the
court may consider, including that “[t]he victim of the offense was less than
twelve (12) years of age.” (Emphasis added.) Cf. Ind. Code § 35-48-1-16.5
(setting threshold age of less than eighteen years as basis for elevating
defendant’s narcotics offense to level 5 felony). In short, Z.S.’s tender age left
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him particularly dependent and vulnerable to harm, whether it be due to
Staggs’s neglect,3 drug use, or running a drug house. The trial court acted
within its discretion in identifying Z.S.’s age as an aggravating factor.
[17] Staggs also cites as an improper aggravator “that the harm, injury, or loss
suffered by the victim was significant and greater than the elements necessary to
prove the commission of the offense.” Appellant’s App. Vol. 2 at 42.
Presumably, though not specifically stated, the trial court was referencing the
neglect of a dependent offense. See Ind. Code § 35-38-1-7.1(a)(1), -(a)(3) (in
determining what sentence to impose, trial court may consider as aggravating
circumstances that harm, injury, loss, or damage suffered by victim was
significant and greater than elements necessary to prove offense and that victim
was under age twelve). Staggs argues that the elevated version of the neglect
offense makes the victim’s “death” a material element and that the extent of
harm, injury, and loss suffered by the victim could not exceed death. However,
this case involves not only the tragic death of an infant due to careless sleeping
arrangements and a parent’s drug-induced stupor but also the unique
circumstance of Staggs being under an order from the CHINS court that
prohibited him from being in Z.S.’s presence under any circumstances. In
short, Z.S. never should have been in such perilous hands. The trial court did
not abuse its discretion in its treatment of aggravating circumstances.
3
In many neglect of a dependent cases, this Court has affirmed the trial court’s use of a victim’s tender age
as an aggravating factor. See, e.g., Edwards v. State, 842 N.E.2d 849, 855 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006) (fifteen-month-
old victim); Kile v. State, 729 N.E.2d 211, 214 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000) (six-year-old victim); Mallory v. State, 563
N.E.2d 640, 647-48 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990) (six-year-old victim), trans. denied (1991).
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Section 6 – Staggs has failed to meet his burden of
demonstrating that his sentence is inappropriate in light of the
nature of the offenses and his character.
[18] Finally, Staggs asks that we review and revise his sentence pursuant to Indiana
Appellate Rule 7(B), which states that we “may revise a sentence authorized by
statute if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, [this] Court finds
that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the
character of the offender.” When a defendant requests appellate review and
revision of his sentence, we have the power to affirm or reduce the sentence.
Akard v. State, 937 N.E.2d 811, 813 (Ind. 2010). In conducting our review, we
may consider all aspects of the penal consequences imposed by the trial court in
sentencing, i.e., whether it consists of executed time, probation, suspension,
home detention, or placement in community corrections, and whether the
sentences run concurrently or consecutively. Davidson v. State, 926 N.E.2d
1023, 1025 (Ind. 2010). We do not look to see whether the defendant’s
sentence is appropriate or if another sentence might be more appropriate; rather,
the test is whether the sentence is “inappropriate.” Fonner v. State, 876 N.E.2d
340, 344 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007). A defendant bears the burden of persuading this
Court that his sentence meets the inappropriateness standard. Anglemyer, 868
N.E.2d at 490.
[19] In considering the nature of Staggs’s offenses, “the advisory sentence is the
starting point the Legislature has selected as an appropriate sentence.” Id. at
494. When determining the appropriateness of a sentence that deviates from an
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advisory sentence, we consider whether there is anything more or less egregious
about the offense as committed by the defendant that “makes it different from
the typical offense accounted for by the legislature when it set the advisory
sentence.” Holloway v. State, 950 N.E.2d 803, 807 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).
[20] The sentencing range for a level 1 felony is twenty to forty years, with an
advisory term of thirty years. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-4(b). A level 5 felony carries
a sentencing range of one to six years, with a three-year advisory term, and a
level 6 felony carries a range of six months to two and one-half years, with a
one-year advisory term. Ind. Code §§ 35-50-2-6(b); -7(b). Staggs’s thirty-nine-
year aggregate sentence comprises a thirty-four-year term for level 1 felony
neglect, a five-year term for level 5 felony narcotics possession, and a two-year
term for level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, with the last two to run
concurrent to each other and consecutive to the first. The court executed thirty-
seven years (thirty-five years in the DOC and two years in community
corrections), followed by two years’ probation.
[21] The nature of Staggs’s offenses is more egregious than typical offenses in those
classifications. As discussed, three-week-old Z.S. died from sleeping with
Staggs, but even this was not a garden-variety case of asphyxiation. Rather,
Staggs was in such a drug-induced stupor that he did not (and could not) even
detect any positional changes that Z.S. had made, let alone make any
potentially life-saving positional adjustments. He was passed out, and the baby
was eventually found between the sofa cushions. He took drugs at his home
and then helped inject Martin, who had already injected drugs and had to be
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taken to the hospital shortly thereafter due to an overdose. Both Staggs and
Martin used drugs while Z.S. was present and despite the CHINS court’s no-
contact order. Staggs was not supposed to be in Z.S.’s presence under any
circumstances, yet he violated that order and the consequences were
devastating. The circumstances surrounding Staggs’s offenses support a
sentence above the advisory.
[22] Similarly, Staggs’s character does not merit a shorter sentence. We conduct our
review of his character by engaging in a broad consideration of his qualities.
Aslinger v. State, 2 N.E.3d 84, 95 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014), clarified on other grounds on
reh’g, 11 N.E.3d 571. Based on our review of the record, we find Staggs to be a
serial drug user and traffic violator who has an extremely poor record of
responding to lenient sentencing options. His criminal record spans decades,
and as a juvenile, he had three true findings for theft, one for burglary, and one
for criminal mischief. As a young adult, he had several convictions for
underage consumption of alcohol and a felony conviction for maintaining a
common nuisance. He has numerous misdemeanor traffic offenses, which
eventually led to a felony conviction for operating as a habitual traffic violator.
He also has a felony domestic battery conviction and two felony drug-related
convictions. His criminal record is peppered with entries for failure to appear,
probation violations, and revocations from probation and/or community
corrections. He has demonstrated no regard for court orders, and as discussed,
his violation of the CHINS court’s no-contact order had tragic consequences.
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[23] Staggs has expressed remorse and love for his family. He indicates that he
believes he can be successful in cleaning up his life. Yet, he has continued to
abuse drugs and has not successfully completed the rehabilitation programs
offered in the past. He has failed to learn from previous tragic instances
involving his other children, with one baby having died from sleeping with him
in 2002 and another child being confined to a wheelchair due to his driving left
of center and causing a serious auto accident.
[24] Simply put, Staggs has failed to demonstrate that his sentence is inappropriate
in light of the nature of the offenses and his character. Accordingly, we affirm
his sentence.
[25] Affirmed
Vaidik, C.J., and Mathias, J., concur.
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