LaQuitta Griggs v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be
regarded as precedent or cited before any
FILED
court except for the purpose of establishing Apr 01 2019, 6:53 am
the defense of res judicata, collateral CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
estoppel, or the law of the case. Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Valerie K. Boots Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Marion County Public Defender Agency Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
Matthew B. MacKenzie
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
LaQuitta Griggs, April 1, 2019
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
18A-CR-2588
v. Appeal from the Marion County
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Lisa Borges, Judge
Appellee-Plaintiff Trial Court Cause Nos.
49G04-1308-FC-057117
49G04-1607-F5-028612
Vaidik, Chief Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2588 | April 1, 2019 Page 1 of 6
Case Summary
[1] LaQuitta Griggs admitted violating her community corrections and probation
by leaving a residential center on a pass and not returning, and the trial court
ordered her to serve seven years in the Department of Correction. She now
appeals, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering her to serve
all seven years in the DOC. We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] In October 2013, Griggs pled guilty in Cause No. 49G04-1308-FC-57117
(Cause No. 57117) to Class D felony identity deception in exchange for the
State dismissing two Class C felonies and two Class D felonies. The trial court
sentenced Griggs to two years on community corrections. Before Griggs was to
start her community-corrections sentence, she was transported to the Hancock
County Jail for another case. Griggs was released from the Hancock County
Jail in April 2015. Upon her release, Griggs did not report to community
corrections as ordered, and her whereabouts were still unknown two months
later. Accordingly, in June 2015, the State filed a Notice of Community
Corrections Violation alleging that Griggs failed to report to community
corrections. A warrant was issued for her arrest.
[3] A little more than a year later, in July 2016, Griggs was arrested and charged in
Cause No. 49G04-1607-F5-28612 (Cause No. 28612) with Level 5 felony
battery causing bodily injury to a public-safety officer, two counts of Level 6
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2588 | April 1, 2019 Page 2 of 6
felony battery by bodily waste to a public-safety officer, two counts of Class A
misdemeanor battery, two counts of Class A misdemeanor domestic battery,
and being a habitual offender. As a result of Griggs’s arrest in this case, the
State amended its June 2015 Notice of Community Corrections Violation in
Cause No. 57117 to add that Griggs committed new offenses.
[4] Griggs resolved both Cause No. 57117 and Cause No. 28612 in November
2016. In Cause No. 57117, Griggs was found to have violated community
corrections for not reporting to community corrections and committing new
offenses. By agreement of the parties, Griggs was sentenced to community
corrections work release with GPS monitoring for two years. In Cause No.
28612, Griggs pled guilty to Level 5 felony battery causing bodily injury to a
public-safety officer, one count of Level 6 felony battery by bodily waste to a
public-safety officer, and one count of Class A misdemeanor battery. She also
admitted to being a habitual offender. The trial court sentenced Griggs to an
aggregate term of five years, with three years executed on community
corrections work release with GPS monitoring, two years suspended, and one
year of probation. The court ordered this sentence to run consecutive to
Griggs’s sentence in Cause No. 57117. Griggs was placed at Theodora House.
[5] One month later, in December 2016, the State filed a Notice of Community
Corrections Violation in both cause numbers. Appellant’s App. Vol. II pp. 76
(Cause No. 57117), 195 (Cause No. 28612). The State alleged that on
December 9, Griggs, who was six months pregnant and experiencing back pain,
was given a pass to go to Eskenazi Hospital but had not returned to Theodora
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2588 | April 1, 2019 Page 3 of 6
House as of December 10. The State alleged that her whereabouts were
unknown. The trial court issued warrants for Griggs’s arrest under both cause
numbers.
[6] Approximately two years later, in September 2018, Griggs was pulled over and
arrested on the outstanding warrants. The State filed a Notice of Probation
Violation in Cause No. 28612, alleging that she failed to comply with
community corrections. Id. at 230.
[7] At the hearing for both cause numbers, Griggs, who was pregnant again,
admitted that she violated community corrections and probation by leaving
Theodora House on a pass in December 2016 and not returning. Griggs
explained that she did not return to Theodora House because she had learned at
Eskenazi Hospital that her baby did not have a heartbeat, so she “chose to do
[her] own thing and got mental health.” Tr. p. 5. Griggs said she was “scared
to turn [herself] in because [she] didn’t want to go to prison.” Id. Griggs asked
the trial court “for another chance on strict compliance at Marion County
Community Corrections.” Id. at 8. The court, however, said that Griggs had
“been gone way too long for [it] to do that.” Id. Although the court had “great
sympathy” for the loss of Griggs’s baby, it explained that it had “really ben[t]
over backwards for [Griggs] previously to try to give [her] a shot at not being in
custody.” Id. Accordingly, the court revoked Griggs’s community-corrections
placement in Cause No. 57117 and ordered her to serve two years (minus
credit) in the DOC. Also, the court revoked Griggs’s community-corrections
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2588 | April 1, 2019 Page 4 of 6
placement and probation in Cause No. 28612 and ordered her to serve five
years in the DOC. The court ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.
[8] Griggs now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
[9] Griggs’s only argument on appeal is that the trial court abused its discretion in
ordering her to serve all seven years in the DOC because of a “poor decision”
she made not to return to Theodora House. Appellant’s Br. p. 10. She claims
that the trial court should have “fashioned a sentence which would have
enabled [her] to transition to a less restrictive placement after serving several
years of executed time at the [DOC].” Id. at 11. We review sentencing
decisions in community-corrections and probation-revocation proceedings for
an abuse of discretion. Johnson v. State, 62 N.E.3d 1224, 1229-30 (Ind. Ct. App.
2016).
[10] The record shows that Griggs made more than a poor decision. Upon her
release from the Hancock County Jail in April 2015, Griggs was ordered to
report to community corrections. She did not do so. Her whereabouts were
unknown for a little more than a year, when she got arrested in a new case.
Griggs was again placed on community corrections for both cases in November
2016. The very next month, Griggs left Theodora House on a pass but did not
return. For nearly two years, Griggs’s whereabouts were unknown. She never
turned herself in during the two years because she “didn’t want to go to prison.”
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2588 | April 1, 2019 Page 5 of 6
Because Griggs’s actions show that “a less restrictive placement” is not
appropriate for her, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering her to
serve all seven years in the DOC.
[11] Affirmed.
Kirsch, J., and Altice, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2588 | April 1, 2019 Page 6 of 6