John Lamar Vance v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED
this Memorandum Decision shall not be Mar 28 2018, 5:57 am
regarded as precedent or cited before any
CLERK
court except for the purpose of establishing Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
the defense of res judicata, collateral and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Anthony C. Lawrence Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Anderson, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Michael Gene Worden
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
John Lamar Vance, March 28, 2018
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
48A05-1707-CR-1708
v. Appeal from the Madison Circuit
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Thomas Newman,
Appellee-Plaintiff. Jr., Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
48C03-1302-FB-384
Pyle, Judge.
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Statement of the Case
[1] John Lamar Vance (“Vance”) appeals the trial court’s award of credit time
following the termination of his in-home detention. Concluding that the trial
court did not fully award Vance credit for the time that he spent on in-home
detention, we reverse and remand with instructions for the trial court to award
Vance 152 days of accrued time and 152 days of good time credit for the time
that he spent on in-home detention from December 22, 2016 through May 22,
2017.
[2] Reversed and remanded with instructions.
Issue
Whether the trial court failed to fully award Vance credit for the
time he spent on in-home detention.
Facts
[3] In June 2014, Vance pled guilty to Class B felony unlawful possession of a
firearm by a serious violent felon. Pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement,
the trial court imposed a six (6) year executed sentence to be served on in-home
detention. During the next three years, the State filed several “violation[s] of
executed sentence,” which alleged that Vance had failed drug and alcohol tests
and had been arrested for Class A misdemeanor trespassing and Level 6 felony
domestic battery and strangulation. (App. 30, 34, 39, 48, 50). In June 2017,
the trial court terminated Vance’s in-home detention and ordered him to serve
his sentence at the Department of Correction (“DOC”). The trial court’s order
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specifically stated that “[c]redit [was] to be given as indicated on abstract of
judgment filed with the Indiana [DOC].” (App. 61). That abstract of judgment
did not account for accrued time or good time credit for a five month period
beginning in December 2016. Vance had been on in-home detention during
part of that time.
[4] In August 2017, Vance, represented by attorney Anthony Lawrence, filed a
notice of appeal in this Court. On August 17, the Notice of Completion of
Clerk’s Record was filed, which conferred jurisdiction on this Court.1 The case
was fully briefed and transmitted to this Court on January 18, 2018.
1
Four months later, on December 6, 2017, Vance, represented by counsel Bryan Williams, filed a request to
modify the abstract of judgment for credit time, wherein he stated that he should receive additional credit on
his abstract of judgment for time that he spent on in-home detention from December 22, 2016 to May 22, 2017.
In support of his request, Vance submitted an account balance summary showing that he had served time on
in-home detention from December 22, 2016 to May 22, 2017. On December 15, 2017, the trial court issued an
order amending the abstract of judgment to include credit for Vance’s in-home detention from December 22,
2016 to May 22, 2017. However, in Jernigan v.State, 894 N.E.2d 1044, 1046 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008), we explained
that:
Pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 8, ‘The Court on Appeal acquires jurisdiction on the
date the trial court clerk issues its Notice of Completion of Clerk’s Record.’ See also Clark
v. State, 727 N.E.2d 18, 20 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000) (once an appeal is perfected, trial court
loses subject matter jurisdiction over the case), trans. denied. A judgment made when the
court lacks subject matter jurisdiction is void. Id. The policy underlying the rule is to
facilitate the efficient presentation and disposition of the appeal and to prevent the
simultaneous review of a judgment by both a trial and appellate court. Id. at 21.
Here, this Court acquired jurisdiction over the case to award credit time when the Notice of Completion of
Clerk’s Record was filed on August 17, 2016. The trial court therefore lacked subject matter jurisdiction over
Vance’s case on December 15, 2017, and its order issued on that day is void.
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Decision
[5] Vance argues that the trial court failed to fully award him credit for the time he
spent on in-home detention. Specifically, Vance points to the abstract of
judgment that was filed with the DOC following the termination of Vance’s in-
home detention, which did not account for accrued time or good time credit for
the five-month period beginning in December 2016 and ending in June 2017.
According to Vance, he had been on in-home detention during part of that
time. The State “acknowledges that a criminal defendant is entitled to credit
time for the days in which he is on in-home detention.” (State’s Br. 8).
Specifically, a defendant who is placed directly in a local community
corrections program, such as in-home detention, as an alternative to a DOC
commitment is entitled to earn both accrued time credit and good time credit
for the time served in the program. Shepard v. State, 84 N.E.3d 1171, 1173 (Ind.
2017) (citing IND. CODE § 35-38-2-6-6(c)). The State’s sole response to Vance’s
argument is that Vance failed to set forth “how many days credit time is
involved here.” (State’s Br. 9).
[6] However, our review reveals that Vance was on in-home detention from
December 22, 2016 until May 22, 2017, which is 152 days. The abstract of
judgment that was filed with the DOC following the termination of Vance’s in-
home detention did not include these days. We therefore instruct the trial court
to award Vance 152 days of accrued time and 152 days of good time credit for
the time that he spent on in-home detention from December 22, 2016 through
May 22, 2017.
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[7] Reversed and remanded with instructions.
Kirsch, J., and Bailey, J., concur.
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