Blake A. Johnson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2020 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Mar 05 2020, 9:25 am
court except for the purpose of establishing
CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Leanna Weissmann Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Lawrenceburg, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Tiffany A. McCoy
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Blake A. Johnson, March 5, 2020
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
19A-CR-2108
v. Appeal from the Jefferson Superior
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Michael J.
Appellee-Plaintiff. Hensley, Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
39D01-1605-F3-490
Najam, Judge.
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Statement of the Case
[1] Blake A. Johnson appeals his sentence following the court’s revocation of his
placement on community corrections. Johnson presents a single issue for our
review, namely, whether the trial court abused its discretion when it ordered
him to serve the balance of his previously suspended sentence in the
Department of Correction.
[2] We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[3] On June 6, 2018, Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit dealing in
methamphetamine, as a Level 5 felony. In exchange for his guilty plea, the
State agreed to dismiss several remaining charges. After a hearing, the trial
court accepted Johnson’s guilty plea and sentenced him to six years, with three
years and three months suspended to community corrections.
[4] Following his placement on community corrections, Johnson resided in the
Jefferson House. Johnson lived there until September 13, 2018, when the
Jefferson House released him from the program due to a “gross curfew
violation,” which was “not the only time” that Johnson had violated his
curfew. Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 105.
[5] On October 18, Bobbi Roberts, Johnson’s girlfriend, reported to Officer Chad
Wehner with the Madison Police Department that Johnson had “repeatedly”
choked her until she “black[ed] out” and that Johnson had “hit [her] in the
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face.” Ex. at 88. Roberts also reported to Officer Wehner that Johnson had put
“zip ties on [her] hands.” Id. at 90. Based on those allegations, the State
charged Johnson with criminal confinement, as a Level 5 felony; intimidation,
as a Level 6 felony; domestic battery, as a Level 6 felony; and strangulation, as
a Level 6 felony.
[6] Thereafter, on April 3, 2019, the State filed an amended petition to revoke
Johnson’s placement on community corrections. In that petition, the State
alleged that Johnson had violated conditions of his placement when he was
charged with various offenses based on Robert’s allegations. The State also
alleged that Johnson had violated the terms of his placement when he visited
unauthorized locations on four occasions without permission. In addition, the
State alleged that Johnson had been arrested and charged with battery, as a
Level 5 felony, based on allegations that he had kicked another inmate.
[7] The trial court held a fact-finding hearing on the State’s petition on April 24.
At the hearing, the State presented the testimony of Leah Pruitt, Johnson’s
community corrections case manager. Pruitt testified that Johnson had been in
unauthorized locations on four occasions between August 17 and October 16,
2018, which included the violation on September 13 that led to his release from
the Jefferson House. The State also presented the testimony of Officer Wehner.
Officer Wehner testified that, following Robert’s report of domestic violence, he
observed injuries on Roberts that were consistent with her allegation that
Johnson had choked her.
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[8] Andrew Garcia, the Assistant Jail Commander at the Jefferson County Jail also
testified. Assistant Commander Garcia testified that on February 26, 2019,
Johnson and other inmates “kicked or stomped” another inmate of the jail. Tr.
at 60. He also testified that security footage did not clearly show Johnson
striking the victim, but the video showed that Johnson had “lifted his leg” and
“shifted in position” while the victim was on the ground. Id. at 63.
[9] At the end of the fact-finding hearing, the trial court found by a preponderance
of the evidence that Johnson had battered Rogers, that he had been in
unauthorized locations, and that he had battered the inmate. Accordingly, the
trial court found that Johnson had violated the terms of his probation.
Following a hearing, the court revoked Johnson’s placement on community
corrections and ordered him to serve the balance of his previously suspended
sentence in the Department of Correction. This appeal ensued.
Discussion and Decision
[10] Johnson appeals the trial court’s order that he serve the balance of his
previously suspended sentence. We begin by noting that placement in
community corrections is a “matter of grace” and a “conditional liberty that is a
favor, not a right.” Toomey v. State, 887 N.E.2d 122, 124 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008).
Further, “[b]oth probation and community corrections programs serve as
alternatives to commitment in the DOC and both are made at the sole
discretion of the trial court.” Holmes v. State, 923 N.E.2d 479, 482 (Ind. Ct.
App. 2010).
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[11] This Court treats a petition to revoke placement in a community corrections
program the same as a petition to revoke probation. See Cox v. State, 706
N.E.2d 547, 549 (Ind. 1999). Upon finding that a defendant violated the terms
of his placement, the trial court may do any of the following: change the terms
of placement, continue the placement, reassign the person to a different
community corrections program, or revoke the person’s placement and commit
him to the department of correction for the remainder of his sentence. Ind.
Code § 35-38-2.6-5 (2019). We review a trial court’s decision to revoke a
defendant’s placement on community corrections for an abuse of discretion.
See Morgan v. State, 87 N.E.3d 506, 5111 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017). An abuse of
discretion occurs when the decision is clearly against the logic and effects of the
facts and circumstances before the court. See id.[12] Here, Johnson does not dispute that he violated the terms of his placement.
Rather, he asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when it ordered him
to serve the balance of his previously suspended sentence because he “was no
longer living a life of drug addiction,” and because he “was helping other drug
addicts get clean and maintain sobriety[.]” Appellant’s Br. at 9, 10. In essence,
Johnson maintains that, given his progress, the trial court should have
“returned him to the community corrections program.” Id. at 10.
[13] But we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion when it ordered
Johnson to serve the balance of his sentence in the Department of Correction.
Johnson violated the terms of his placement when he battered his girlfriend and
when he participated in the battery of another inmate. And Johnson violated
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the terms of his placement when he was in unauthorized locations on several
occasions. 1 Those violations are sufficient to support the revocation of his
placement on community corrections.
[14] Further, Johnson has a lengthy criminal history, and he has been given multiple
opportunities in the past to avoid incarceration through alternative sentences.
However, Johnson has had those alternative sentences revoked on several
occasions. While Johnson’s efforts to overcome his substance abuse are
laudable, the court’s order that he serve the remainder of his previously
suspended sentence is supported by the record and was well within the trial
court’s discretion. We affirm the court’s judgment.
[15] Affirmed.
Vaidik, J., and Tavitas, J., concur.
1
Johnson contends that the trial court did not find that he had been in unauthorized places. However, at the
end of the fact-finding hearing, the court specifically found by a preponderance of the evidence that Johnson
“in fact violated his terms of probation by being in authorized locations when he was on direct commit[.]”
Tr. at 67.
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