AC v. State

929 N.E.2d 907, 2010 WL 2677704
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 7, 2010
Docket49A04-0912-JV-682
StatusPublished

This text of 929 N.E.2d 907 (AC v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AC v. State, 929 N.E.2d 907, 2010 WL 2677704 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

929 N.E.2d 907 (2010)

A.C., Appellant-Respondent,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Petitioner.

No. 49A04-0912-JV-682.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

July 7, 2010.

Ruth Johnson, Marion County Public Defender, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

CRONE, Judge.

A.C. appeals his adjudication as a delinquent child for committing an act that would be considered class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement if he were an adult. He argues that there is insufficient *908 evidence to support the true finding that he committed resisting law enforcement. We agree and reverse his adjudication.

The facts most favorable to the adjudication show that on September 21, 2009, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Richard Stratman was dispatched to the lobby of the IMPD North District Headquarters regarding the recovery of a runaway juvenile. When Officer Stratman arrived in the lobby, A.C. was present with his mother. Officer Stratman asked A.C. some questions, but A.C. was unresponsive. Officer Stratman told A.C. to stand up, but "he refused to stand up. By just maintaining silence, not saying anything, not looking at [Officer Stratman]. So, [Officer Stratman] grabbed him by his ... right arm, lifted him up and placed him into handcuffs." Tr. at 3. Officer Stratman noticed that A.C.'s pants were "sagging down below his waist, almost to his knees." Id. Officer Stratman then uncuffed A.C. and asked him to pull his pants up. A.C. stood silent. Officer Stratman took a belt loop on the right side of A.C.'s pants and made an attempt to lift his pants up. A.C. "began to pull away a little bit and then with his left hand, suddenly pulled his left part of his pants back down[.]" Id. As Officer Stratman described it,

[A.C.] shifted his body weight away from me and more towards the chairs and his mother..... [A.C.] started to pull his weight and his body, kind of suddenly over to his left side, away from me and I grabbed [A.C.] by his arm and he kind of continued to lean his weight and at which time I then put [A.C.] in the handcuffs and secured him. And I then walked [A.C.] over to his mother and she pulled his pants up for him.

Id. at 4. As Officer Stratman led A.C. to see the medics for treatment of an arm injury, A.C. said, "Get off of me," and "just kind of leaned his weight and kinda pull[ed] away from [Officer Stratman's] grasp." Id. at 5. "At no time did [A.C.] push, hit, kick, or slap the Officer. Further, [A.C.] never displayed any intent to do any violence toward the officer." Appellant's Br. at 5 (citing Tr. at 7).

On September 22, 2009, the State submitted a delinquency petition to the juvenile court, alleging that A.C. committed what would be class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement if committed by an adult. The juvenile court approved the delinquency petition and ordered its filing the same day. On October 19, 2009, the juvenile court held a denial hearing. A.C. moved to have the matter involuntarily dismissed. See Ind. Trial Rule 41(B) (providing that, after party with burden of proof has completed presentation of evidence, opposing party may move for dismissal on ground that upon the weight of the evidence and the law there has been shown no right to relief). The trial court denied the motion and entered a true finding against A.C. for class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement if committed by an adult. On October 21, 2009, A.C. filed a motion to reconsider, upon which the juvenile court did not rule.

On November 12, 2009, the juvenile court held the disposition hearing. The juvenile court committed A.C. to the Department of Correction, but suspended the commitment and placed A.C. on probation with special conditions.[1] A.C. appeals.

A.C. argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his delinquency adjudication for committing what would be considered class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement if he were an adult. When the State seeks to have a juvenile adjudicated as a delinquent child for committing *909 an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult, the State must prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. J.S. v. State, 843 N.E.2d 1013, 1016 (Ind.Ct.App.2006), trans. denied. In reviewing a juvenile adjudication, this court will consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the judgment and will neither reweigh evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Id. If there is substantial evidence of probative value from which a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the juvenile was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, we will affirm the adjudication. Id.

To obtain an adjudication for resisting law enforcement, the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that A.C. did knowingly or intentionally "[f]orcibly resist, obstruct, or interfere with a law enforcement officer ... while the officer [was] engaged in the execution of his duties as an officer." Ind.Code § 35-44-3-3; Appellant's App. at 14. A.C. asserts that the evidence is insufficient to establish the element of forcible resistance.

For the last seventeen years, Indiana courts have cited Spangler v. State, 607 N.E.2d 720 (Ind.1993) for the following definition of forcible resistance: "One `forcibly resists' law enforcement when strong, powerful, violent means are used to evade a law enforcement official's rightful exercise of his or her duties." Id. at 723 (emphasis added). Recently in Lopez v. State, 926 N.E.2d 1090 (Ind.Ct.App.2010), trans. pending, we recognized that the definition of forcible resistance as set forth in Spangler and its actual application in subsequent cases are not in perfect harmony:

We observe that "forcibly" modifies "resists, obstructs, and interferes," which at first blush would seem to require that a person use some force beyond that which would be required if "forcibly" did not modify "resists, obstructs, and interferes." Indeed, our supreme court has stated,
A correct interpretation of [Indiana Code Section 35-44-3-3] requires us to give meaning to the word "forcibly," because the legislature included the word in the statute. In order to sustain the conviction, the State must have proven not only that [the defendant] resisted, but that he forcibly resisted, because the modifying word "forcibly" is within that section of the statute. "Forcibly" is a required element of the crime[.]
[Spangler, 607 N.E.2d at 723.] According to the Spangler court, the "appropriate meaning" of "forcibly" as used in Indiana Code Section 35-44-3-3 is as follows: "One `forcibly resists' law enforcement when strong, powerful, violent means are used to evade a law enforcement official's rightful exercise of his or her duties." Id. (emphasis added).
Nevertheless, Indiana jurisprudence indicates that the amount of force required to convict a person of resisting law enforcement is not as great as one would expect under the language in Spangler. In

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A.C. v. State
929 N.E.2d 907 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
929 N.E.2d 907, 2010 WL 2677704, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ac-v-state-indctapp-2010.