Debro v. State
| Citation | 784 N.E.2d 1029 |
| Decision Date | 17 March 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 53A04-0208-CR-388.,53A04-0208-CR-388. |
| Parties | Sherman C. DEBRO, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Michael J. Spencer, Deputy Public Defender, Bloomington, IN, Attorney for Appellant. Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Richard C. Webster, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Sherman Debro ("Debro") pled guilty to criminal recklessness,1 as a Class B misdemeanor, in Monroe Circuit Court on September 17, 2001, and entered into a deferred sentencing agreement with the State. The agreement provided that sentencing would be deferred as long as Debro complied with certain conditions specified in the agreement. Approximately two months later, the State filed a Motion to Set for Sentencing alleging that Debro had committed the criminal offense of battery on November 1, 2001. After a hearing was held on the motion, the trial court found that Debro had failed to comply with the terms of the agreement, and sentenced Debro to 180 days in jail, but suspended 150 days of that sentence. Debro appeals arguing that his plea agreement, which was conditioned on the trial court's ability to withhold judgment, was void ab initio.
Finding that Debro's plea agreement was void ab initio, we reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
On March 15, 2001, Debro was charged with battery, as a Class D felony, and domestic battery, as a Class A misdemeanor, in Monroe Circuit Court. An amended information was filed on September 13, 2001, in which Debro was charged with criminal recklessness, as a Class B misdemeanor. On September 17, 2001, Debro entered into a deferred sentencing agreement2 with the State, in which he agreed to plead guilty to the criminal recklessness charge in exchange for dismissal of the two battery charges. The agreement also provided that sentencing would be deferred so long as Debro complied with certain conditions specified in the agreement, which included: 1) that Debro would not commit any criminal offense within one year of the date of the agreement; 2) that Debro would attend and successfully complete the Batterers Treatment Program within forty weeks of the start of the program; and, 3) that Debro would not use any controlled substances or use alcohol while enrolled in the Batterers Treatment Program. Appellant's App. p. 14.
On November 9, 2001, the State filed a Motion to Set for Sentencing alleging that Debro had violated the terms of the agreement by committing the offense of battery on November 1, 2001. A hearing on the motion was scheduled for January 31, 2002; however, on that date the alleged victim failed to appear, and therefore the hearing was continued. The hearing was then continued on two more occasions because, although she had received a subpoena, the victim failed to appear.
A hearing on the motion was finally held on May 1 and May 2, 2002. Once again, the victim failed to appear, and the State proceeded in her absence. At the hearing, the police officer that investigated the alleged battery testified, and the victim's sworn written statements and letter sent to the court were admitted into evidence. After reviewing the evidence submitted by the parties, the trial court found that the "motion to impose the judgment has been proved by a preponderance of the evidence." Appellant's App. p. 137. Therefore, the court sentenced Debro to 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended, and placed him on probation for one year. Debro now appeals.
Debro argues that as a matter of law, a withheld judgment is a nullity, and therefore, the plea agreement was void ab initio, or null and void on its face. As an initial matter, we note that "[a] plea agreement is a contract, `an explicit agreement between the State and the defendant which is binding upon both parties when accepted by the trial court.'" Lighty v. State, 727 N.E.2d 1094, 1096 (Ind.Ct.App. 2000) (citing Smith v. State, 717 N.E.2d 239, 241 (Ind.Ct.App.1999) (quoting State ex rel. Goldsmith v. Marion County Superior Court, 275 Ind. 545, 552, 419 N.E.2d 109, 114 (1981))). It is well settled in Indiana that "contracts made in violation of a statute are void and unenforceable." Id. (citation omitted). The phrase void ab initio literally means "void from the beginning" and "denotes an act or action that never had any legal existence at all because of some infirmity in the action or process." Id. (citation omitted).
In Lighty, the defendant pled guilty to battery and entered into a plea agreement which provided that judgment would be withheld for one year if the defendant was not "arrested based upon probable cause within that period," and if he successfully completed the Batterers Program. Id. at 1095. The defendant enrolled in but was dismissed from the Batterers Program after he was involved in a verbal altercation with a counselor; therefore, the State filed a Motion to Reinstate Judgment. Id. at 1095-96. The trial court found that the defendant had violated the terms of the plea agreement and sentenced him to 180 days in jail to be followed by the balance of his original one year sentence on probation. Id. at 1096.
On appeal, our court sua sponte raised the issue of whether the plea agreement was void ab initio. Relying on King v. State, 720 N.E.2d 1232 (Ind.Ct.App. 1999), Chissell v. State, 705 N.E.2d 501 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), trans. denied, and Robison v. State, 172 Ind.App. 205, 359 N.E.2d 924 (1977), we noted that pursuant to statute and previous Indiana case law, our court has concluded that trial courts may not withhold judgment.
We are aware that some trial courts withhold judgment as a case management device for various purposes. While it may be useful, this informal practice finds no sanction in the law. Trial courts may not withhold judgment nor indefinitely postpone sentencing. Robison v. State, 172 Ind.App. 205, 359 N.E.2d 924 (Ind.Ct.App.1977); see IND. CODE § 35-38-1-1(a) (). As a matter of law, a "withheld judgment" or "judgment withheld" (also commonly known as a "JW") is a nullity.3
Id. (quoting Chissell, 705 N.E.2d at 506). Therefore, we held that conditioning a plea agreement on the trial court's ability to withhold judgment, a legal nullity, rendered the agreement void ab initio. Id. at 1097. We also concluded that our court was not required to consider the terms of the void plea agreement, nor the defendant's compliance or noncompliance with those terms. Id.
Debro argues that the facts and circumstances in this case are analogous to those in Lighty, and therefore, the plea agreement he entered into was null and void on its face. The State argues that a trial court that withholds judgment for a certain period of time does not violate Indiana law. Specifically, it contends that our holding in Lighty is erroneous because Robison, Chissell, and King, "the cases that served as the basis of the Lighty holding do not support that holding. Those cases were factually and legally distinct from the situation in Lighty; "therefore, Debro's reliance on Lighty is misplaced. Br. of Appellee at 4.
In Robison, the defendant was charged with theft, and at the conclusion of trial, the trial court made an entry stating that the defendant was guilty as charged and judgment by the court was withheld. 172 Ind.App. at 206, 359 N.E.2d at 924. Our court acknowledged that while some trial courts utilize that form of entry in certain cases, it was not authorized by statute or rule and a defendant could elect to compel a court to discharge its duty by promptly pronouncing judgment and sentence.4 Id.
In Chissell, after a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty of operating while intoxicated, operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .10 percent or greater, and public intoxication; however, the trial court only entered judgment on the operating while intoxicated conviction, and withheld judgment on the others. 705 N.E.2d at 503. On appeal, our court denied the State's request that we remand the case to the trial court to enter judgment on the operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .10 percent or greater and public intoxication convictions. Id. at 505. Once again, our court noted that while some courts withhold judgments as a case management device, that informal practice finds no sanction in the law and a withheld judgment is a nullity. Id. at 506.
Finally, in King, the defendant was charged with criminal recklessness, as a Class D felony. 720 N.E.2d at 1233. The defendant pled guilty and the trial court entered a judgment of conviction for criminal recklessness, as a Class A misdemeanor, but told the defendant that if he violated the terms of his probation, the court would vacate its judgment as a Class A misdemeanor and enter judgment as a Class D felony, sentencing the defendant accordingly. Id. at 1234. A petition to revoke the defendant's probation was filed, and the trial court found that he had committed a crime while on probation; therefore, the court re-entered judgment on the charge of criminal recklessness, as a Class D felony and ordered the defendant to serve the remainder of his original sentence. Id. On appeal, our court determined that the trial court's action taken in the case was the functional equivalent of a withheld judgment, a practice which is not sanctioned by law, and the court could not "both enter judgment as a Class A misdemeanor, and in effect, withhold judgment as a Class D felony on the same offense." Id. at 1236.
Although the facts and issues raised in Robison, Chissell, and King are distinct from those in Lighty, we disagree with the State's argument that our court "erroneously relied upon" those decisions in reaching our conclusion in Lighty. In all three of those cases, our court clearly held that the practice of withholding...
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