Robert Wayne Dilden III v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be
FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Jul 22 2020, 10:47 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
the defense of res judicata, collateral Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Timothy P. Broden Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Lafayette, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Ian McLean
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Robert Wayne Dilden III, July 22, 2020
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
20A-CR-111
v. Appeal from the Tippecanoe
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Randy J. Williams,
Appellee-Plaintiff Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
79D01-1901-F2-5
May, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-111 | July 22, 2020 Page 1 of 7
[1] Robert Wayne Dilden III appeals his adjudication as a habitual offender. 1
Dilden argues the State did not present sufficient evidence to support the
adjudication because the State did not provide certified copies to prove his prior
convictions, and Dilden asks that we vacate his adjudication without
remanding for a new trial on the issue. The State concedes the evidence was
insufficient and asks that we remand for a new trial on the habitual offender
adjudication. We reverse Dilden’s adjudication and remand for a new trial to
determine whether Dilden is a habitual offender.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] The facts here are undisputed. On January 25, 2019, the State charged Dilden
with Level 2 felony dealing in methamphetamine 2 and Level 3 felony
possession of methamphetamine. 3 The State also alleged Dilden was a habitual
offender. On November 19, 2019, the State amended the charging information
to reduce the Level 3 felony possession charge to Level 4 felony possession of
methamphetamine 4 and added a charge of Level 6 felony possession of a
narcotic drug. 5
1
Ind. Code § 35-50-2-8(b).
2
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-1.1(e).
3
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-6.1(d).
4
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-6.1(c).
5
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-6(a).
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[3] On December 3-4, 2019, the trial court held a jury trial, and the jury returned
guilty verdicts for all three felony charges. In the second phase of the trial, the
jury was asked to decide whether Dilden was a habitual offender. In the
charging information, the State alleged Dilden was a habitual offender because
he had “accumulated at least two (2) prior unrelated felony convictions, and at
least one (1) of the prior unrelated felonies is not a Level 6 felony or a Class D
felony[.]” (App. Vol. II at 130.) At trial, the State attempted to admit Exhibit
17, which was a certified copy of Dilden’s conviction of Class C felony
operating a motor vehicle while his driving privileges were forfeited for life.
Dilden objected, arguing the State had not laid a proper foundation and the
State had not provided Dilden with copies of the documents as part of
discovery. The trial court sustained Dilden’s objection, telling the State, “but
you still have your witness.” (Tr. Vol. II at 124.)
[4] The State then presented testimony from Christopher Brophy, who had
supervised Dilden while he was on probation for the Class C felony conviction.
Brophy testified he was aware that Dilden’s criminal history included a
conviction for “operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic violator” and Class D
felony theft. (Id. at 129.) Based thereon, the jury found Dilden to be a habitual
offender and the trial court adjudicated him as such. After a sentencing
hearing, the trial court sentenced Dilden to eighteen years for dealing in
methamphetamine and one year for possession of methamphetamine, to be
served consecutive to each other. The trial court then enhanced Dilden’s
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sentence by six years based on his habitual offender adjudication, for an
aggregate sentence of twenty-five years.
Discussion and Decision
[5] When presenting evidence to prove a habitual offender adjudication, the State
must provide certified records of the prior convictions, “in the absence of a
showing of the unavailability of the proper certified records.” Morgan v. State,
440 N.E.2d 1087, 1090 (Ind. 1982). Parol evidence, such as testimony from a
party with knowledge of the records’ existence or the defendant’s criminal
history, by itself is insufficient. Davis v. State, 493 N.E.2d 167, 168 (Ind. 1986).
The State concedes it did not prove Dilden was a habitual offender because it
did not present sufficient evidence of his past convictions.
[6] At issue is whether we should vacate Dilden’s habitual offender adjudication or
remand for Dilden to be retried as to the habitual offender charge. Dilden
argues we should vacate his habitual offender adjudication and not allow the
State to retry him. Dilden relies on Nunley v. State, 995 N.E.2d 718 (Ind. Ct.
App. 2013), clarified on reh’g 4 N.E.3d 669 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013), trans. denied, in
which a panel of our court vacated Nunley’s habitual offender adjudication and
did not remand for retrial. In Nunley, the State failed to allege Nunley was a
habitual offender within the time limit required by Indiana Code section 35-34-
1-5 for an amendment to the charging information. Thus, our Court reasoned
on rehearing:
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Because the State’s original habitual offender allegation failed to
list appropriate predicate offenses, there would be nothing to
address on remand without an amendment to the allegation.
Were we to remand now and allow the State to amend its
original allegation, Indiana Code section 35-34-1-5 and its timing
requirements would be rendered pointless.
Id. at 670. 6 Nunley is inapposite, because the issue in Nunley was not the
sufficiency of the evidence to prove Nunley was a habitual offender, it was the
fact that Nunley had not been given sufficient notice that the State was pursuing
a habitual offender allegation against him.
[7] Instead, we rely on Dexter v. State, 959 N.E.2d 235, 240 (Ind. 2012), which has
facts almost identical to those before us. In Dexter, the State did not provide
certified documentary evidence of one of Dexter’s prior convictions to support
his adjudication as a habitual offender. Id. at 237. Our Indiana Supreme Court
held such evidence was insufficient to prove Dexter was a habitual offender:
For almost 30 years, this Court has held that the State must
introduce into evidence proper certified and authenticated
records of the defendant’s prior felony convictions in order to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of those prior
6
Dilden also argues that, since the State did not comply with the trial court’s discovery order and attempted
to admit evidence that the defense had not yet seen, we should not remand because doing so “would
undermine the trial court’s inherent authority to control trial proceedings and, where appropriate, to issue
reasonable sanctions.” (Br. of Appellant at 11.) To support his argument, Dilden cites Allied Prop. & Cas. Ins.
v. Good, 919 N.E.2d 144 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009), reh’g denied, trans. denied, in which a panel of our court held
sanctions were appropriate when Allied violated a motion in limine, which prompted a mistrial. Id. at 156.
Dilden does not indicate how the facts in Allied are aligned with the facts here. While we agree that the State
should be more careful to ensure that the defense is given all documents required through discovery, Dexter v.
State, 959 N.E.2d 235 (Ind. 2012), dictates the appropriate remedy here, which as we explain further herein is
remand for a new trial on the State’s allegation that Dilden is a habitual offender.
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convictions. In the absence of a showing by the State that such
records are unavailable, parol evidence alone is not sufficient to
prove the fact of prior convictions. Even though additional
supporting evidence is required to prove the identity of the
defendant and may be required to prove the proper sequence of
the felony convictions, proper[ly] certified and authenticated
documentary evidence is required to establish that the prior
convictions in fact occurred.
Id. at 238 (internal citations omitted).
[8] Our Indiana Supreme Court then moved to Dexter’s argument that “the State
may not seek to have him sentenced as a habitual offender because it presented
insufficient evidence the first time around.” Id. at 240. The Court disagreed,
concluding Double Jeopardy did not prohibit the State from retrying Dexter for
the habitual offender enhancement:
[R]etrial on a sentencing enhancement based on a prior
conviction is permitted even where the enhancement is reversed
because of insufficient evidence. See Monge v. California, 524 U.S.
721, 727-34, 118 S. Ct. 2246, 141 L. Ed. 2d 615 (1998); Jaramillo v.
State, 823 N.E.2d 1187, 1191 (Ind. 2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S.
1030, 126 S. Ct. 730, 163 L. Ed. 2d 568 (2005). In Jaramillo, we
acknowledged that Justice Scalia’s dissent in Monge
foreshadowed the Supreme Court’s watershed decision in
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147
L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), yet we rejected the defendant’s argument
that Apprendi implicitly overruled Monge. Jaramillo, 823 N.E.2d
at 1189-90. In Apprendi, the Court discussed Monge without
suggesting that it was no longer good law, id. at 1189 (citing
Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 488 n.14, 120 S. Ct. 2348), and, since
Apprendi, the Court has cited Monge for the principle “that the
‘Double Jeopardy Clause does not preclude retrial on a prior
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conviction used to support recidivist enhancement,’” id. (quoting
Dretke v. Haley, 541 U.S. 386, 395, 124 S. Ct. 1847, 158 L. Ed. 2d
659 (2004)). We see no reason to revisit our holding in Jaramillo
at this time.
Id.
[9] The facts here are virtually identical. The State concedes it did not present
sufficient documentary evidence of Dilden’s prior convictions. Thus, based on
the holding in Dexter, the State may retry Dilden regarding whether the habitual
offender enhancement should apply to him.
Conclusion
[10] The State concedes it did not present sufficient evidence that Dilden was a
habitual offender and therefore we vacate Dilden’s habitual offender
adjudication. However, the State may retry Dilden as a habitual offender and
thus we remand. Should the trial court adjudicate Dilden as a habitual
offender, we remind the court to explicitly state which conviction’s sentence is
being enhanced.
[11] Reversed and remanded.
Robb, J., and Vaidik, J., concur.
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