Debro v. State
| Decision Date | 27 January 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 53S04-0308-CR-388.,53S04-0308-CR-388. |
| Citation | 821 N.E.2d 367 |
| Parties | Sherman C. DEBRO, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme 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.
We grant transfer in this case to address the question of whether a plea agreement based on a withheld judgment is a nullity per se and thus void ab initio. We conclude it is not.
On March 10, 2001, after consuming some amount of alcohol, Sherman C. Debro became involved in a physical altercation with T.M., his live-in girlfriend, causing T.M. to sustain bodily injury. Apparently the parties' twelve-year-old daughter attempted to intervene and she too was injured. As a consequence, Debro was arrested and charged with battery as a Class D felony for the conduct resulting in injuries to his daughter and domestic battery as a Class A misdemeanor for the conduct resulting in injuries to T.M. Plea negotiations between Debro and the State ensued thereafter. As a member of the Indiana National Guard, Debro was concerned that if he proceeded to trial and was found guilty of either offense, then he "could not possess a firearm" which would interfere with his military service.1 Appellant's App. at 25. In any event, on September 13, 2001, the State filed an amended charge of criminal recklessness as a Class B misdemeanor for Debro's conduct resulting in injuries to T.M.2
The agreement reached between Debro and the State required Debro to plead guilty to criminal recklessness and in exchange the State would dismiss the battery charges. As for sentencing, Debro and the State executed a document in open court on September 17, 2001, entitled "Deferred Sentencing Agreement." Id. at 14. Among other things the agreement provided in relevant part that Debro would: (1) commit no criminal offenses for a period of one year from the date of the agreement; (2) attend and successfully complete the Batterer's Treatment Program; and (3) not use any illicit, mood altering, or controlled substances and not use alcohol while enrolled in the Program. The trial court explained to Debro the consequences of pleading guilty and advised him that under the terms of the agreement, Id. at 27-28. After making several inquires of the trial court, Debro pleaded guilty to the amended charge and provided the trial court with a factual basis for the plea. The trial court accepted Debro's plea of guilty declaring, "I'm going to find that there is a basis of fact for the plea, and I'm going to withhold the imposition of judgment on the terms and conditions set out in the Agreed Deferred Sentencing Agreement." Id. at 35.
Six weeks later Debro was alleged to have again physically assaulted T.M., which required a visit to the hospital where she was diagnosed as suffering a "left orbital blowout fracture." Id. at 106. As a result, the State moved to impose judgment on the ground that Debro had violated the terms of the agreement by committing battery, a criminal offense. After conducting a hearing, which was continued several times because T.M. failed to appear, the trial court concluded that the "motion to impose the judgment has been proved by a preponderance of the evidence...." Id. at 137. The trial court then sentenced Debro to 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended, and placed Debro on probation for one year. Id. at 143.
Debro appealed raising three issues for review, which we consolidate as two and restate as follows: (1) whether the trial court erred in enforcing the plea agreement, and (2) whether the trial court erred in the admission of hearsay evidence. Addressing the first issue only, a divided panel of the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court on the ground that "Debro's plea agreement was void ab initio...." Debro v. State, 784 N.E.2d 1029, 1030 (Ind.Ct.App.2003). Having previously granted transfer, we now affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In Lighty v. State, 727 N.E.2d 1094 (Ind.Ct.App.2000), trans. not sought, the defendant pleaded guilty to battery and entered 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 Batterer's Program. Id. at 1095. The defendant enrolled in the program but was dismissed after he got into an altercation with a counselor. Consequently, the State filed a motion to reinstate judgment. Id. at 1095-96. The trial court determined 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 review, the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court holding:
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. As a matter of law, a "withheld judgment" or "judgment withheld" (also commonly known as a "JW") is a nullity.
Id. at 1096 (citations omitted). The Court of Appeals in this case also relied on Lighty for the proposition that "conditioning a plea agreement upon the trial court's ability to withhold judgment rendered that agreement void ab initio." Debro, 784 N.E.2d at 1033.
Underlying Lighty as well as the instant case is the general rule that a plea agreement entered in violation of a statute is void and unenforceable. See Tolliver v. Mathas, 512 N.E.2d 187, 189 (Ind.Ct.App.1987),trans. denied. Indiana Code § 35-38-1-1(a) provides, "[A]fter a verdict, finding, or plea of guilty, if a new trial is not granted, the court shall enter a judgment of conviction." (Emphasis added). Debro acknowledges that the statute does not explicitly set a time limit. He argues however that it nonetheless forbids trial courts from withholding judgment. Implicit in Debros argument is that his plea agreement was in violation of I.C. XX-XX-X-X(a) and thus is void. The State counters that the statute mandates only the entry of judgment of conviction, but does not say when judgment must be entered. Thus, according to the State, there is no specific time limit within which a trial court is required to enter judgment.
We first observe that although the plea agreement in this case provided for a "deferred sentence" as opposed to a "withheld judgment" the end result is the same. The judgment of conviction on which the sentence was to be based was not entered immediately. In fact, the way in which such agreements are customarily used by trial courts throughout this State, no judgment of conviction is ever entered provided the defendant carries his or her end of the bargain. This is a tremendous benefit to the defendant because, provided the defendant faithfully observes the terms of the agreement, there is no conviction on the defendants record. See, e.g., Carter v. State, 750 N.E.2d 778, 780 (Ind.2001) () The same was intended here. As the trial court explained, "If you comply with the Agreement, that will be the end of it." Appellant's App. at 28. In any event the statute is indeed silent on the question of timing. However that is not to say the statute anticipates that the entry of judgment of conviction can be withheld indefinitely. Eight decades ago, addressing a statute similar to I.C. § 35-38-1-1, this Court held:
[T]he rule is well settled that it is the duty of the court upon a plea of guilty or upon a finding or verdict of guilty, to impose sentence at that time unless there is reasonable excuse for delay ... and that an indefinite postponement of rendering judgment or pronouncing sentence will deprive the court of jurisdiction of the person of the defendant, from which it follows that a subsequent sentence is void.
Warner v. State, 194 Ind. 426, 143 N.E. 288, 290 (1924) (). In like fashion, addressing a predecessor to I.C. XX-XX-X-X, this Court has held, "[C]ourts may defer temporarily final action upon a plea of guilty or upon a conviction to a subsequent day or term, when it appears that the interest of justice demands it or as said for cause shown...." Smeltzer v. State, 243 Ind. 437, 185 N.E.2d 428, 431 (1962) (quotation omitted) ( Section 9-2201, Burns 1956, which provided, "After a finding or verdict of guilty, against the defendant, if a new trial be not granted, or the judgment be not arrested, the court must pronounce judgment.").
Generally at issue in these early cases was an alleged untimely sentencing as opposed to an alleged untimely entry of judgment. And in that regard there have been various statutory enactments over the years as well as the adoption of procedural rules that provide further guidance on the trial courts authority to delay sentence on a plea or verdict of guilty. See, e.g., I.C. XX-XX-X-X(b) (requiring trial court to set a sentencing date within thirty days after entering a conviction, unless for good cause shown an extension is granted); accord Ind.Crim. Rule 11 (...
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