Ernest Ray Snow, Jr. v. State of Indiana ( 2019 )

FILED
Nov 27 2019, 10:46 am
CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Zachary J. Stock Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Megan M. Smith
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Ernest Ray Snow, Jr., November 27, 2019
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
19A-CR-949
v. Appeal from the Hendricks Circuit
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Dan F. Zielinski,
Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
32C01-1705-F5-80
Najam, Judge.
Statement of the Case
[1] Ernest Ray Snow, Jr. appeals his convictions following a jury trial for burglary,
as a Level 5 felony; theft, as a Level 5 felony; conversion, as a Level 5 felony;
and auto theft, as a Level 6 felony; and his sentence enhancements for
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committing a felony while a member of a criminal organization and for being a
habitual offender. Snow presents three issues for our review:
1. Whether the trial court erred when it admitted evidence
that law enforcement officers had seized pursuant to a
search of his residence.
2. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support
his convictions.
3. Whether the criminal organization enhancement violates
the prohibition against double jeopardy.
[2] We also address sua sponte whether the trial court’s judgment of conviction and
sentencing order erroneously lists Snow’s convictions.
[3] We affirm and remand with instructions.
Facts and Procedural History
[4] On May 6, 2017, a friend of Snow’s introduced him to Robert Fields, a forklift
operator at Ingram Micro, a company that distributes mobile devices, including
Fitbits and Fitbit accessories. Snow drove a gold-colored Ford F350 truck that
day. Fields was interested in buying shoes from Snow, so they exchanged
phone numbers. Early the next morning, Snow called Fields, and he told Fields
that he would give Fields ten pairs of shoes in exchange for information about
security at an Ingram Micro warehouse. Fields described the two “older”
people who provided security for the warehouse, and Fields told Snow the
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“trailer number” for a trailer loaded with Fitbits parked outside the warehouse.
Tr. Vol. 2 at 234.
[5] During the early morning hours of May 8, a semi-tractor was stolen from a
facility in Plainfield, and that semi-tractor was used to steal the trailer full of
Fitbits from Ingram Micro. When Scott Sunderman, an Ingram Micro security
manager, learned of the missing trailer, he notified some “off-duty” officers
with the Plainfield Police Department, and Sunderman “headed around town”
to investigate himself. Id. at 141. The trailer was equipped with a GPS tracking
device, and the company that owned the trailer accessed the data for that
device, which showed that the trailer had been parked at 3524 Shadeland
Avenue between 2:30 and 5:15 a.m. on May 8. The trailer was ultimately
found abandoned and empty, and someone had disabled the GPS tracking
device.
[6] The next morning, Sunderman drove to the area of 3524 Shadeland Avenue,
and he obtained a nearby hotel’s exterior surveillance video showing the semi-
tractor driving the trailer full of Fitbits to that address, where several businesses
are located. After watching the video, Sunderman notified law enforcement
about the possible location where the Fitbits had been unloaded. And
Sunderman decided to “continue to sit on the location.” Id. at 146. Dan
Marshall, the director of security for Ingram Micro, joined Sunderman.
[7] At some point, Sunderman and Marshall saw a man arrive at 3524 Shadeland
Avenue in a “gold F350 pickup” truck. Id. The man was making several trips
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between the truck and a business at that address, Caldwell Automotive,
carrying boxes that looked like the ones containing the Fitbits from Ingram
Micro. Plainfield police officers then obtained a search warrant for Caldwell
Automotive. During their subsequent search of the premises, officers found
multiple boxes containing Fitbits and Fitbit accessories. Officers also talked to
Gregory Street, who leases the premises immediately adjacent to Caldwell
Automotive. Street provided the officers with surveillance footage of the
exterior of the building from the morning of May 8. That footage showed
people moving boxes from the parked trailer into Caldwell Automotive. Street
recognized one of the men on the footage as one of his employees, Randy Price.
Plainfield Police Department Detective Brian Bugler interviewed Price, who
stated that a man named “Snow” had organized the heist and was one of the
three to five men who had moved the boxes from the trailer into Caldwell
Automotive. Appellant’s App. Vol. 2 at 34.
[8] After additional investigation by law enforcement implicated Snow in the theft
of the Fitbits from Ingram Micro, officers obtained a search warrant for Snow’s
residence. When officers executed that warrant, they found seven Fitbits and
Fitbit accessories. The Fitbits were identified as having been stolen from
Ingram Micro. Officers also obtained warrants to search Snow’s cell phone,
and they read text messages implicating Snow in the heist.
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[9] The State charged Snow with burglary, as a Level 5 felony; theft, as a Level 5
felony; conversion, as a Level 5 felony; and auto theft, as a Level 6 felony. 1
The State also alleged that Snow committed these offenses while he was a
member of a criminal organization and that he was a habitual offender. The
trial court held a trifurcated trial, and the jury found Snow guilty as charged at
the conclusion of each phase.
[10] In its judgment of conviction and sentencing order, the trial court erroneously
entered judgment on two counts of burglary, as Level 5 felonies; theft, as a
Level 5 felony; and conversion, as a Level 5 felony. The trial court did not
enter judgment of conviction on the auto theft count. And the trial court
sentenced Snow as follows: concurrent five-year sentences for the two burglary
convictions and the theft conviction; a two-year sentence for conversion, to be
served consecutive to the other counts; five years for the criminal organization
enhancement; and two years for the habitual offender enhancement. Thus,
Snow’s aggregate sentence is fourteen years executed. This appeal ensued.
Discussion and Decision
Issue One: Search Warrant
[11] Snow contends that the trial court erred when it admitted evidence seized by
law enforcement officers during the search of his residence. Snow’s argument
that the search of his residence violated his constitutional rights raises
1
The State had charged Snow with three additional offenses, but it dismissed those charges prior to trial.
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“questions of law that we review de novo.” Redfield v. State, 78 N.E.3d 1104,
1106 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017) (quotation marks omitted), trans. denied.
[12] On appeal, Snow maintains that the search of his residence was illegal because
the search warrant lacked probable cause. We cannot agree. Rather, we
conclude that the evidence supports the trial court’s determination that
sufficient probable cause supported the search warrant. In any event, even if we
assume for the sake of argument that Snow is correct and there was no probable
cause to support the search warrant, “[t]he lack of probable cause does not
automatically require the suppression of evidence obtained during a search
conducted pursuant to a warrant.” Jackson v. State, 908 N.E.2d 1140, 1143 (Ind.
2009). Indeed, “the exclusionary rule does not require the suppression of
evidence obtained in reliance on a defective search warrant if the police relied
on the warrant in objective good faith.” Id.
[13] Accordingly, to establish reversible error, Snow must demonstrate both the lack
of probable cause and the inapplicability of the good faith exception. But, in his
appellant’s brief, Snow only asserts that the search warrant lacked probable
cause. He makes no argument that the good faith exception does not apply.
And his attempt to make an argument on the good faith exception for the first
time in his reply brief is unavailing. “The law is well settled that grounds for
error may only be framed in an appellant’s initial brief and if addressed for the
first time in the reply brief, they are waived.” Monroe Guar. Ins. Co. v. Magwerks
Corp., 829 N.E.2d 968, 977 (Ind. 2005).
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[14] There are two situations where the good faith exception does not apply.
Jackson, 908 N.E.2d at 1143. Those include situations where “the magistrate is
misled by information in an affidavit that the affiant knew was false or would
have known was false except for his reckless disregard of the truth” or situations
where “the warrant was based on an affidavit so lacking in indicia of probable
cause as to render official belief in its existence entirely unreasonable.” Id.
(quotation marks omitted).
[15] As Snow has not addressed good faith in his lead brief on appeal, he has not
directed us to any evidence in the record, or made any argument, that the
magistrate was misled by information in the affidavit that Detective Bugler
knew or should have known was false. See Ind. Appellate Rule 46(A)(8)(a).
Neither does he assert that the warrant was so lacking in indicia of probable
cause as to render belief in its existence entirely unreasonable. See id. And it is
not this Court’s place to make arguments for a party on appeal. See Thacker v.
Wentzel, 797 N.E.2d 342, 345 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003). Accordingly, Snow has not
met his burden on appeal to demonstrate that the trial court erred when it
admitted as evidence items seized pursuant to the search of his residence.
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Issue Two: Sufficiency of the Evidence
[16] Snow next contends that the State presented insufficient evidence to support his
convictions. 2 Our standard of review on a claim of insufficient evidence is well
settled:
For a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we look only at the
probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the
verdict. Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind. 2007). We do
not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh the evidence. Id.
We will affirm the conviction unless no reasonable fact-finder
could find the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable
doubt. Id.
Love v. State, 73 N.E.3d 693, 696 (Ind. 2017).
[17] To prove that Snow committed burglary, as a Level 5 felony, the State was
required to show that he broke and entered the building or structure of another
person, with the intent to commit a felony or theft in it. Ind. Code § 35-43-2-1
(2019). To prove that Snow committed theft, as a Level 5 felony, the State was
required to show that he knowingly or intentionally exerted unauthorized
control over the property of another person with the intent to deprive the other
person of any part of its value or use and that the property’s value was at least
$50,000. I.C. § 35-43-4-2(a)(2)(A). To prove that Snow committed conversion,
as a Level 5 felony, the State was required to show that he knowingly or
2
The parties address Snow’s convictions as found by the jury, not as listed in the judgment of conviction.
As we explain below, we remand to the trial court to correct the erroneous judgment of conviction and
sentencing order accordingly.
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intentionally exerted unauthorized control over another person’s motor vehicle.
I.C. § 35-43-4-3. To prove that Snow committed auto theft, a Level 6 felony,
the State was required to show that he knowingly or intentionally exerted
unauthorized control over the motor vehicle of another person with the intent
to deprive the other person of the vehicle’s value or use. I.C. § 35-43-4-2.5(b)
(2017). Finally, the State alleged that Snow committed each of these offenses as
an accomplice. A person who knowingly or intentionally aids, induces, or
causes another person to commit an offense commits that offense, even if the
other person: (1) has not been prosecuted for the offense; (2) has not been
convicted of the offense; or (3) has been acquitted of the offense. I.C. § 35-41-2-
4.
[18] Snow’s sole contention on appeal is that the State presented insufficient
evidence to prove his guilt as an accomplice “because the identity of the
individuals who committed the burglary, thefts, and conversion is completely
unknown.” Appellant’s Br. at 13. In support of that contention, Snow
maintains that none of the four factors relevant to accomplice liability is
satisfied here. We cannot agree.
[19] As our Supreme Court has explained,
[a] defendant may be charged as the principal but convicted as an
accomplice. Jester v. State, 724 N.E.2d 235, 241 (Ind. 2000); Wise
v. State, 719 N.E.2d 1192, 1198 (Ind. 1999). Generally there is no
distinction between the criminal liability of an accomplice and a
principal, Wise, 719 N.E.2d at 1198, although evidence that the
defendant participated in every element of the underlying offense
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is not necessary to convict a defendant as an accomplice. Vitek v.
State, 750 N.E.2d 346, 352 (Ind. 2001). . . . We consider four
factors to determine whether a defendant acted as an accomplice:
(1) presence at the scene of the crime; (2) companionship with
another at scene of crime; (3) failure to oppose commission of
crime; and (4) course of conduct before, during, and after
occurrence of crime. Id. at 352. That a defendant was present
during the commission of a crime and failed to oppose the crime
is not sufficient to convict [him]. Id. But, “presence at and
acquiescence to a crime, along with other facts and
circumstances” may be considered. Id. at 352-53.
Castillo v. State, 974 N.E.2d 458, 466 (Ind. 2012). Further, as this Court has
explained,
[t]he particular facts and circumstances of each case must be
considered in determining whether a person participated in the
commission of an offense as an accomplice.” Peterson v. State,
699 N.E.2d 701, 706 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998). For [a defendant’s]
conviction to stand, “there must be evidence of [his] affirmative
conduct, either in the form of acts or words, from which an
inference of a common design or purpose to effect the
commission of a crime may be reasonably drawn.” Id. “Each
participant must knowingly or intentionally associate himself
with the criminal venture, participate in it, and try to make it
succeed.” Cohen v. State, 714 N.E.2d 1168, 1177 (Ind. Ct. App.
1999), trans. denied. That said, the State need not show that [the
defendant] “was a party to a preconceived scheme; it must
merely demonstrate concerted action or participation in an illegal
act.” Rainey v. State, 572 N.E.2d 517, 518 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991).
Griffin v. State, 16 N.E.3d 997, 1003-04 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).
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[20] The State presented ample circumstantial evidence to prove that Snow was
involved in every step of the heist—from the planning to the execution. In
particular, prior to the heist, Snow asked Fields for information about security
at Ingram Micro, and he asked Fields for identifying information on the trailer
containing the Fitbits. Snow sent text messages to someone offering to pay
$15,000 for that person to drive a semi-truck from one side of Indianapolis to
the other. And when the trailer containing the stolen Fitbits was stolen,
someone transported it from the west side to the east side of Indianapolis.
Before, during, and after the heist, Snow was in close contact by phone with
Caldwell, who owned the business where the Fitbits were unloaded from the
trailer. After the heist, someone driving the same pickup truck Snow had
driven to Ingram Micro prior to the heist parked that truck outside of Caldwell’s
business and transported multiple boxes from Caldwell’s to the truck. And
officers found some of the stolen Fitbits inside Snow’s residence.
[21] Snow’s contentions on appeal amount to a request that we reweigh the evidence
and assess witnesses’ credibility, which we cannot do. We hold that the State
presented sufficient evidence to prove that Snow was liable as an accomplice for
each of his convictions: burglary, as a Level 5 felony; theft, as a Level 5 felony;
conversion, as a Level 5 felony; and auto theft, as a Level 6 felony.
Issue Three: Criminal Organization Enhancement
[22] Finally, Snow contends that the criminal organization enhancement “violates
both Snow’s right to be free from double jeopardy [under the Indiana
Constitution] and the common law prohibition of enhancing a sentence using
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the very same behavior used to support the underlying conviction.” Appellant’s
Br. at 14. Article 1, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution provides that “[n]o
person shall be put in jeopardy twice for the same offense.” As we have
explained,
[o]ur Supreme Court has interpreted that clause to prohibit
multiple convictions based on the same “actual evidence used to
convict.” Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32, 49 (Ind. 1999). To
determine the actual evidence used to establish a conviction, we
look to the “evidentiary facts” as they relate to “all” of the
elements of both offenses. Spivey v. State, 761 N.E.2d 831, 833
(Ind. 2002). In other words, the actual evidence test requires “the
evidentiary footprint for all the elements required to prove one
offense” to be “the same evidentiary footprint as that required to
prove all the elements of another offense.” Thrash v. State, 88
N.E.3d 198, 208 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017) (quoting Berg v. State, 45
N.E.3d 506, 510 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015)).
Bradley v. State, 113 N.E.3d 742, 751 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018), trans. denied.
[23] The State charged Snow as follows:
Ernest Snow was knowingly a member of a criminal organization
while committing any of his charged offenses and committed the
felony offense at [the] direction or in affiliation with a criminal
gang or with the intent to benefit, promote, or further the interest
of a criminal organization or for the purposes of increasing the
person’s own standing or position with the criminal organization.
Tr. Vol. 3 at 159; see I.C. § 35-50-2-15. Indiana Code Section 35-45-9-1 defines
“criminal organization” in relevant part as a formal or informal group with at
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least three members that either assists in or participates in or has as one of its
goals the commission of a felony.
[24] Here, during the criminal organization enhancement phase of Snow’s trial, the
State did not present additional evidence. Instead, the State told the jury that it
was “incorporating all of the evidence that [the jury] heard presented in the first
phase of the trial and we’re going to rely on that evidence.” Id. at 163. And
during closing argument, the prosecutor stated:
In this case there is ample evidence that the State has proved this
enhancement beyond a reasonable doubt. If you recall, the video
that was played to you in the cab was an individual who came in
and cut . . . the GPS [in the semi-truck], cut the video. Individual
number one. Individual number two is an individual [who]
testified to you of his involvement, Mr. Fields. Individual
number three is their co-defendant sitting here in the courtroom.
That’s number three and there’s many other people that had
involvement in this case. Randy Price, you heard his name,
didn’t you? So, the State of Indiana is going to ask you to rely on
that, rely on the fact that the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt
demonstrates that both Defendant Caldwell and Defendant Snow
acted in concert with at least three people, thereby constituting a
criminal organization.
Id. at 168. The prosecutor concluded his argument by stating that Snow was
knowingly a member of a criminal organization when he committed the
burglary “[w]ith the intent to promote or further the interest of the criminal
organization.” Id. at 169.
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[25] On appeal, Snow avers that “this Court is not required to speculate about what
evidence guided the jury’s guilty verdict on the criminal organization
enhancement. The Court can be sure that the jury used the very same evidence
used to support the underlying felonies.” Appellant’s Br. at 16. Thus, Snow
concludes, “the criminal organization enhancement violated [his] right to be
free from double jeopardy under the Indiana Constitution.” Id. But Snow’s
argument is silent regarding whether the evidentiary footprint for all the
elements required to prove the enhancement is the same evidentiary footprint as
that required to prove all the elements of burglary or any of the other underlying
felonies. See Bradley, 113 N.E.3d at 751. Indeed, in his argument, Snow does
not set out the elements for either the enhancement or any underlying felony.
Accordingly, Snow has not sustained his burden on appeal to show that the
criminal organization enhancement violates the actual evidence test under
Article 1, Section 14.
[26] Still, Snow asserts that, because “the State itself has argued that it used the
same behavior to convict and enhance,” the enhancement cannot stand under
common law principles. Appellant’s Br. at 16. As we explained in Bradley,
the Indiana Supreme Court has also “long adhered to a series of
rules of statutory construction and common law that are often
described as double jeopardy[ ] but are not governed by the
constitutional test set forth in Richardson.” Guyton v. State, 771
N.E.2d 1141, 1143 (Ind. 2002) (quotation marks omitted).
113 N.E.3d at 751. As Snow points out, one such rule “‘prohibit[s] conviction
and punishment for an enhancement of a crime where the enhancement is
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imposed for the very same behavior or harm as another crime for which the
defendant has been convicted and punished.’” Cross v. State, 15 N.E.3d 569,
571 (Ind. 2014) (quoting Miller v. State, 790 N.E.2d 437, 439 (Ind. 2003);
emphasis omitted).
[27] However, as our Supreme Court has explained, “[a] criminal gang
enhancement . . . is fundamentally related to its underlying felony or felonies.
The enhancement increases punishment based on the manner in which the
defendant committed the underlying felony or felonies.” Jackson v. State, 105
N.E.3d 1081, 1086 (Ind. 2018). Here, the State presented evidence that Snow
committed four felonies. In addition, the State presented evidence that Snow
committed one or more of those felonies in concert with at least two other
people with the intent to promote or further the interests of the criminal
organization. The underlying felonies are the foundation for the enhancement,
but it is the manner in which Snow committed those felonies, namely, acting in
concert with at least two other people to further their organization’s interests,
that supports the enhancement. Thus, the enhancement was not imposed for
the “very same behavior or harm” as the underlying felonies. See Cross, 15
N.E.3d at 571. We reject Snow’s contention on this issue.
Conclusion
[28] On appeal, both Snow and the State describe Snow’s convictions as follows:
burglary, as a Level 5 felony; theft, as a Level 5 felony; conversion, as a Level 5
felony; auto theft, as a Level 6 felony; criminal organization enhancement; and
habitual offender enhancement. Given the discrepancy between the parties’
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understanding of the convictions, which is consistent with the jury verdicts, and
the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentencing order, we remand with
instructions to vacate one of the burglary convictions listed on the judgment of
conviction and sentencing order and to enter judgment of conviction as follows:
burglary, as a Level 5 felony; theft, as a Level 5 felony; conversion, as a Level 5
felony; auto theft, as a Level 6 felony; criminal organization enhancement; and
habitual offender enhancement. And the trial court shall resentence Snow
accordingly.
[29] The trial court did not err when it admitted evidence seized by officers during a
search of Snow’s residence. The State presented sufficient evidence to support
Snow’s convictions. And Snow’s contentions regarding the criminal
organization enhancement are without merit. We affirm Snow’s convictions,
but we remand with instructions to enter judgment of conviction consistent
with the jury’s verdicts and to resentence Snow accordingly.
[30] Affirmed and remanded.
Bailey, J., and May, J., concur.
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