Finnegan v. State

• Decision Date: 20 January 2023
• Docket Number: Court of Appeals Case No. 22A-CR-1131
• Parties: Russell G. FINNEGAN, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

201 N.E.3d 1186

Russell G. FINNEGAN, Appellant-Defendant,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

Court of Appeals Case No. 22A-CR-1131

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

Filed January 20, 2023

Attorney for Appellant: Lisa Diane Manning, Plainfield, Indiana

Attorneys for Appellee: Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana, George P. Sherman, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana

May, Judge.

[1] Russell G. Finnegan appeals following his conviction of Level 5 felony intimidation of a judicial officer.¹ Finnegan raises two issues on appeal, which we revise and restate as:

1. Whether the trial court erred by denying Finnegan's motions for discharge pursuant to Criminal Rule 4 when he was held in pretrial detention for longer than seventy days and he was brought to trial more than a year after the State filed charges against him; and

2. Whether the State violated Finnegan's right to a speedy trial, guaranteed by both the Indiana Constitution and the United States Constitution.

We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On April 9, 2020, Finnegan, an inmate in the Pulaski County Jail, sent a letter to the Honorable Mary Welker, judge of the Pulaski Circuit Court. At the time, Finnegan was the defendant in a criminal case pending before Judge Welker. In his letter, Finnegan stated: "You put this letter in a court file and I will nail your ass for contempt. You are already going to get fucked up for criminal confinement." (State's Ex. 1.) Finnegan also wrote: "Send me your goddamn address so I can do business with you personally, appropriately." (Id. ) On April 21, 2020, Sergeant Frederick Rogers of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office met with Judge Welker at the Pulaski Circuit Court. Judge Welker showed Sergeant Rogers the letter Finnegan sent her. Sergeant Rogers described Judge Welker's demeanor during this meeting as "intimidated and threatened" and "very concerned[.]" (Tr. Vol. II at 158.) Sergeant Rogers then forwarded a copy of the letter along with his report of his meeting with Judge Welker to the Pulaski County Prosecutor's Office.

[3] On May 29, 2020, the State charged Finnegan with Level 5 felony intimidation of a judicial officer. On June 3, 2020, officers arrested Finnegan, and Finnegan posted bond. As a condition of his bond, Finnegan was to have no contact with Judge Welker. Several judges recused themselves, and a special judge was appointed to preside over the case. Judge Kim Hall took the oath to preside as special judge on July 2, 2020. Finnegan's initial hearing occurred on July 16, 2020. Finnegan retained private counsel, but his attorney filed a motion to withdraw on July 29, 2020, after Finnegan "command[ed]" him to withdraw. (App. Vol. II at 71.) Finnegan then filed a notice of his intent to proceed pro se, but at a status conference on November 23, 2020, Finnegan asked the court to appoint a public defender for him. The trial court appointed Attorney Richard Ballard to act as Finnegan's attorney. Finnegan subsequently hired Attorney Andrew Achey and Attorney Ballard withdrew.

[4] On December 14, 2020, our Indiana Supreme Court issued an order prohibiting all in-person jury trials until March 1, 2021. In the Matter of Admin. Rule 17 Emergency Relief for Ind. Trial Courts Relating to 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) , No. 20S-CB-123 (Ind. Dec. 14, 2020). The order also tolled the period from December 14, 2020, until March 1, 2021, for Criminal Rule 4 purposes. Id . On December 21, 2020, Finnegan's bond was revoked because he communicated additional threats against Judge Welker and other members of Pulaski County justice system.² On December 29, 2020, Finnegan was arrested and taken into custody.

[5] On February 15, 2021, Finnegan filed a motion for competency evaluation. On February 16, 2021, the trial court granted Finnegan's motion for a competency evaluation and stayed the proceedings in the instant case. Finnegan filed a pro se fast and speedy trial demand on February 23, 2021. On March 2, 2021, the trial court issued an order striking the documents Finnegan had filed pro se because Finnegan was represented by counsel when the documents were filed. On March 4, 2021, Attorney Achey filed a motion to withdraw as Finnegan's attorney, and the trial court granted the motion. The independent evaluators conducting the competency evaluation each concluded Finnegan was competent to stand trial, and the last of the two evaluations was filed on April 21, 2021. The trial court found Finnegan competent to stand trial on April 28, 2021.³

[6] On June 4, 2021, Finnegan filed a "Motion for Discharge Pursuant to Criminal Rule 4(C) and Demand for Immediate Release," (App. Vol. III at 30), which the trial court subsequently denied. On June 17, 2021, Finnegan filed a "Demand for Fast and Speedy Trial by Jury CR4(B)." On June 28, 2021, Finnegan filed a notice stating: "I have been held six months without a trial date being set ... Help, Help, Help, somebody please prosecute me." (App. Vol. III at 104.) On July 2, 2021, Finnegan filed a demand for immediate release pursuant to Criminal Rule 4(A). On August 3, 2021, Finnegan filed another motion for a fast and speedy trial. On August 19, 2021, the trial court appointed Attorney Paul Stanko to represent Finnegan. However, even after Attorney Stanko was appointed to represent him, Finnegan continued to file documents pro se. Many of Finnegan's pro se filings included gratuitous profanity and insults. Finnegan also continued to send letters to Judge Welker and her court staff during the summer of 2021. In one of the letters, Finnegan wrote to Judge Welker: "As soon as I get out I am walking across the street with my handcuffs and cuffing your dumb bitch ass up[.]" (State's Ex. 5.) In another letter, Finnegan described a necrophiliac fantasy involving Judge Welker's corpse.

[7] On September 28, 2021, the trial court entered an abusive pro se litigant order. The order noted: "Once counsel is appointed or hired a defendant speaks to the Court through counsel." (App. Vol. III at 158.) The order also stated the trial court would not review any pro se filings from Finnegan if Finnegan was represented by counsel and placed restrictions on Finnegan's filings if he chose to proceed as a self-represented litigant.

[8] On September 29, 2021, Attorney Stanko filed a motion to withdraw his appearance because Finnegan invoked his right to self-representation, and the trial court granted Attorney Stanko's motion to withdraw. On October 18, 2021, Finnegan filed a "Motion for Discharge" and a "Demand for Immediate Release pursuant to Criminal Rule 4(A) and Covid-19 Outbreak in Pulaski Co. Jail." (Id. at 168-175.) On October 19, 2021, the trial court struck Finnegan's motions because Finnegan failed to comply with the terms of the trial court's September 28, 2021, order. Finnegan then filed another demand for immediate release and motion for discharge on October 22, 2021. On November 5, 2021, Finnegan filed a "Demand for Fast and Speedy Trial by Jury C.R. 4(B)." (Id. at 190.) On November 22, 2021, the trial court issued an order granting Finnegan's motion for a speedy trial. The trial court noted that court congestion prevented it from holding a trial within seventy days, but the trial court scheduled Finnegan's trial to begin on February 2, 2022.

[9] On December 28, 2021, the trial court issued an order directing the State to file a report "regarding whether the Defendant should remain incarcerated or be released from incarceration." (Id. at 204.) The State filed its report on January 7, 2022. The State detailed the chronology of the case and argued that the delays that occurred as the result of the need to appoint a special judge and to conduct a competency evaluation tolled the Criminal Rule 4(C) period. On January 24, 2022, the trial court issued an order releasing Finnegan on his own recognizance in the instant case, but Finnegan remained in the Pulaski County Jail because he was being held on other matters. On January 26, 2022, the trial court entered an order continuing Finnegan's jury trial due to a public health emergency.

[10] On March 8, 2022, the trial court held Finnegan's jury trial. Finnegan proceeded pro se, but the trial court reappointed Attorney Ballard to act as standby counsel. Before voir dire, Finnegan asserted his right to a speedy trial had been violated, and he objected to the trial court proceeding with trial. The trial court overruled Finnegan's objection and the trial proceeded. During trial, the State moved to amend the charging information in order to expand the time period over which it alleged Finnegan committed the crime of intimidation to include the summer of 2021. Finnegan did not object to the State's motion, and the trial court granted the motion. The jury returned a guilty verdict, and on April 5, 2022, the trial court sentenced Finnegan to six years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

Discussion and Decision

1. Criminal Rule 4

[11] Finnegan contends the delay between the date he was arrested and the date his trial began exceeded the period allowed for bringing a defendant to trial by Indiana Rule of Criminal Procedure 4. Therefore, Finnegan argues he was entitled to discharge under both Criminal Rule 4(B) and 4(C). "In reviewing Criminal Rule 4 claims, we review questions of law de novo, and we review factual findings under the clearly erroneous standard." State v. Harper , 135 N.E.3d 962, 972 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019), trans. denied. Rule 4 "was adopted to implement a defendant's right to a speedy trial." State v. Lindauer , 105 N.E.3d 211, 214 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018), trans. denied. Its purpose "is to promote early trials, not to discharge defendants." Harper , 135 N.E.3d at 972.

1.1 Criminal Rule 4(B)

[12] Finnegan asserts the trial court failed to try Finnegan in accordance with the time period provided in Criminal Rule 4(B), and therefore, the trial court should have discharged him. Rule 4(B)(1) states:

If any

...