Ingram v. State
| Decision Date | 20 December 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A02-0105-CR-286.,49A02-0105-CR-286. |
| Citation | 760 N.E.2d 615 |
| Parties | Frank INGRAM, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
John F. Kautzman, Ruckelshaus Roland Kautzman Blackwell & Hasbrook, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Cynthia L. Ploughe, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Frank Ingram brings an interlocutory appeal from the denial of his motion to dismiss. Ingram raises one issue which we revise and restate as whether the trial court abused its discretion by finding that the State rebutted the presumption of prejudice to Ingram resulting from the police videotaping and audiotaping private conversations between Ingram and his attorney.1 We affirm and remand.
The evidence most favorable to the trial court's denial of the motion to dismiss follows. In early 2000, the Indianapolis Police Department's Internal Affairs Division began investigating complaints against Ingram, an Indianapolis Police Department Officer. In March 2000, the investigation was turned over to the Sex Crimes Division of the Indianapolis Police Department and detectives of that division began investigating.
Ingram's attorney, John Kautzman, and detectives arranged an interview for March 20, 2000. At the interview, Ingram was represented by Kautzman. The interview was both videotaped and audiotaped. However, the parties dispute whether the interview was taped with Ingram's and Kautzman's knowledge.2
Kautzman requested that the interview be "off the record." However, the detectives requested a formal interview. The detectives left the room to discuss the issue with their superiors. Although Kautzman and Ingram were alone in the room, the videotape and audiotape continued to record their conversation. During that consultation, Ingram and Kautzman discussed whether Ingram should talk to the detectives if a formal interview was required. Ingram insisted that he wanted to talk to the detectives, discover the allegations made against him, and give his version of the story. When the detectives returned, they advised Ingram and Kautzman that they could not take his interview "off the record." The detectives proceeded to advise Ingram of his Miranda rights.
Later in the interview, the detectives informed Ingram that they did not believe that he had been truthful with them. The detectives said they would give Ingram a chance to discuss the matter with Kautzman. Ingram announced that he was not finished with the interview yet because he had not told his side of the story. The detectives then left the room.
Although Ingram and Kautzman were again left alone in the room, the audiotape continued to record their conversation. However, the videotape recorded only the beginning of their conversation and was then turned off. Ingram and his attorney again discussed Ingram's desire to provide the detectives with information regarding his belief that he was being framed.
The detectives then returned to the room and the interview continued. After answering more questions from the detectives, Ingram told the detectives that he was being framed by a local strip club and provided details of his allegation. The detectives said that they would investigate his allegation, and the interview ended.
The detectives continued to investigate the charges. They investigated leads that had been obtained prior to the interview with Ingram. They also investigated Ingram's theory that he was being framed. However, on April 17, 2000, Ingram was charged with criminal confinement, a class D felony,3 sexual battery, a class D felony,4 and four counts of bribery, a class C felony.5
When the prosecution learned of the videotape and audiotape containing the attorney-client conferences, the original recordings were turned over to Kautzman. On January 10, 2001, Ingram filed a motion requesting suppression of the videotape and audiotape and all evidence discovered after the interview. Further, Ingram requested that the charges be dismissed for investigatory misconduct. Ingram argued that taping the interview and the private attorney-client conferences violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The State conceded that a violation of Ingram's Sixth Amendment rights had occurred.
The trial court concluded that a Sixth Amendment violation had occurred. However, the trial court determined that "the majority of courts have required a showing of actual prejudice to the defendant before any sanction was appropriate." Appellant's Appendix at 44. The trial court presumed prejudice to Ingram and ordered a hearing to allow the State to rebut the presumption of prejudice. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered the following written order: Appellant's Appendix at 63-64.
The sole issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion by finding that the State rebutted the presumption of prejudice to Ingram resulting from the police videotaping and audiotaping private conversations between Ingram and his attorney. We review a trial court's denial of a motion to dismiss for an abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Sivels v. State, 741 N.E.2d 1197, 1202 (Ind.2001); Johnston v. State, 530 N.E.2d 1179, 1180 (Ind.1988). In reviewing a trial court's decision for an abuse of discretion, we reverse only where the decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances. Joyner v. State, 678 N.E.2d 386, 390 (Ind. 1997), reh'g denied.
Because Ingram and the State argued at the trial court level and on appeal that the Sixth Amendment was applicable and was violated, we proceed as if a violation of Ingram's Sixth Amendment right to counsel has occurred.6 However, the parties disagree about whether Ingram was prejudiced by this violation of his constitutional rights. In this case, the trial court presumed that Ingram was prejudiced by the violation of his Sixth Amendment rights. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing and required the State to rebut the presumption of prejudice.
In U.S. v. Morrison, the defendant had been indicted and retained counsel. U.S. v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 362, 101 S.Ct. 665, 666, 66 L.Ed.2d 564 (1981), reh'g denied, 450 U.S. 960, 101 S.Ct. 1420, 67 L.Ed.2d 385 (1981). Despite their knowledge that the defendant had retained counsel, the police met with the defendant without the knowledge or permission of her counsel. Id. The defendant "moved to dismiss the indictment with prejudice on the ground that the conduct of the agents had violated her Sixth Amendment right to counsel." Id. Although the district court denied the motion to dismiss, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed and dismissed the indictment. Id. at 363, 101 S.Ct. at 667.
The Supreme Court assumed that the Sixth Amendment was violated, id. at 364, 101 S.Ct. at 667, and noted that:
Id. at 364-367, 101 S.Ct. at 667-669 (citations omitted) (footnote omitted). Thus, the Supreme Court required a showing of prejudice resulting from the constitutional violation. However, the Supreme Court held that the defendant "demonstrated no prejudice of any kind" and reversed the dismissal of the indictment. Id. at 366-367, 101 S.Ct. at 669.
Following Morrison, courts are split regarding which party bears the burden of persuasion for showing or rebutting prejudice in cases of Sixth Amendment violations. See Cutillo v. Cinelli, 485 U.S. 1037, 1037-1038, 108 S.Ct. 1600, 1601, 99 L.Ed.2d 915 (1988) (). See also State v. Quattlebaum, 338 S.C. 441, 527 S.E.2d 105, 108-109 (2000). However, in this case, we need not decide whether the trial court applied the appropriate burden of persuasion. Even assuming arguendo that requiring the State to rebut the presumption of prejudice was the appropriate burden of persuasion, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Ingram's motion to dismiss.
Ingram contends that, as a result of the interview, the detectives learned his defense strategy and learned of his notebooks and his tape recorder in his police car. Ingram argues that the trial court erred because much of the investigation occurred after the interview. He points out that fifteen of twenty-five witnesses were not interviewed until after the interview at issue. Many of the witnesses related specifically to Ingram's defense strategy that he was being framed. Moreover, Ingram's notebooks were seized after the interview pursuant to a search warrant. Thus, Ingram argues that he was prejudiced and was entitled to a dismissal of the charges for the Sixth Amendment violation.
By contrast, the State argues that the...
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Thompson v. State
...recorded statement was made, charges had not yet been filed against Thompson. Here, unlike the situation presented in Ingram v. State, 760 N.E.2d 615 (Ind.Ct.App.2001), a case relied upon by Thompson, the State has not conceded applicability. Additionally, the record reveals that Thompson w......
- Dixon v. State, 49A02-0008-PC-543.