Alex Jordon Lyons v. State of Indiana

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: October 2, 2024
• Docket: 23A-CR-02958
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILED Oct 02 2024, 8:59 am

CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court

IN THE

Court of Appeals of Indiana Alex Jordon Lyons, Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

October 2, 2024

Court of Appeals Case No. 23A-CR-2958

Appeal from the Tippecanoe Superior Court

The Honorable Randy J. Williams, Judge

The Honorable Sarah M. Wyatt, Magistrate

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 23A-CR-2958 | October 2, 2024 Page 1 of 6 Trial Court Cause No. 79D01-2304-F5-67

Opinion by Senior Judge Baker Judges Brown and Tavitas concur.

Baker, Senior Judge.

Statement of the Case [1] Alex Lyons appeals his adjudication as an habitual offender, contending the

evidence was insufficient. We find the evidence sufficient and affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] In 2023, while in jail, Lyons punched a corrections officer. The State charged

him with battery as a Level 5 felony and alleged he is an habitual offender. A

jury found Lyons guilty of battery, and he agreed to a bench trial on the

habitual offender enhancement. The trial court determined the State proved

Lyons is an habitual offender. Lyons now appeals.

Discussion and Decision [3] When we review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we neither

reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Sandleben v.

State, 29 N.E.3d 126, 131 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015), trans. denied. Instead, we

consider only the evidence most favorable to the judgment and any reasonable

inferences drawn therefrom. Id. If there is substantial evidence of probative

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 23A-CR-2958 | October 2, 2024 Page 2 of 6 value from which a reasonable fact-finder could have found the defendant

guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the judgment will not be disturbed. Labarr v.

State, 36 N.E.3d 501, 502 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

[4] To adjudicate Lyons an habitual offender, the State had to prove beyond a

reasonable doubt that he had been convicted of two prior unrelated felonies, at

least one of the prior felonies is not a Level 6 or Class D felony, and not more

than ten years have elapsed between the time he was released from

imprisonment, probation, or parole for at least one of the two prior felonies and

the time he committed the current offense. See Ind. Code § 35-50-2-8(c) (2017);

see also Appellant’s App. Vol. 2, p. 10.

[5] Here, Lyons alleges the State’s evidence was insufficient as to only one of the

two prior convictions. With regard to that conviction, he contends the State’s

identity evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he

was the offender.

[6] To adjudicate a defendant an habitual offender, the State must sufficiently

connect the defendant to the prior felony convictions alleged in the information.

The prior conviction at issue here is for Level 6 felony criminal trespass under

the cause number of 79D05-2009-F6-1005. Lyons claims the State’s evidence

should have included a photo, DNA evidence, fingerprints, or live testimony in

addition to the certified court records it presented containing the full name, date

of birth, and driver’s license number of the offender.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 23A-CR-2958 | October 2, 2024 Page 3 of 6 [7] Concerning the proof utilized to connect a particular defendant to a prior

conviction, our courts have stated that

[c]ertified copies of judgments or commitments containing a defendant’s name or a similar name may be introduced to prove the commission of prior felonies. However, there must be supporting evidence to identify the defendant as the person named in the documents. This proof of identity may be in the form of circumstantial evidence. If the evidence yields logical and reasonable inferences from which the finder of fact may determine beyond a reasonable doubt that it was [the] defendant who was convicted of the prior felony, then a sufficient connection has been shown.

Payne v. State, 96 N.E.3d 606, 611-12 (Ind. Ct. App.) (internal citations and

quotations omitted), trans. granted, 102 N.E.3d 287, and trans. vacated, 99 N.E.3d

624 (Ind. 2018).

[8] To establish the prior conviction of criminal trespass in F6-1005 at issue here,

the State presented Exhibit 5, which the court admitted into evidence. Exhibit

5 consists of several documents, including certified copies of the charging

information, affidavit of probable cause, arrest report, and police department

incident report suspect list, all of which contain the name of Alex Jordon Lyons

with a date of birth of 1/23/2000 and an Indiana driver’s license number of

9370-08-0588. See Ex. Vol. 1, pp. 10-13, 16. Also included in Exhibit 5 are

certified copies of the plea agreement and the abstract of judgment for F6-1005,

which contain the name of Alex Lyons and Alex Jordon Lyons, respectively.

See id. at 20-27.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 23A-CR-2958 | October 2, 2024 Page 4 of 6 [9] With regard to the prior conviction of attempted robbery in cause number

79D01-2103-F5-52, which Lyons does not challenge in this appeal, the State

presented Exhibit 6 containing certified copies of the charging information and

affidavit of probable cause that contain the name Alex Jordon Lyons, a date of

birth of 1/23/2000, and an Indiana driver’s license number of 9370-08-0588.

See id. at 29-32. Exhibit 6 also contains certified copies of the plea agreement,

order on plea hearing, and sentencing order under that cause number and

bearing the name Alex Lyons or Alex Jordon Lyons. See id. at 34-46. Exhibit 6

was admitted into evidence. In addition, the State presented supporting

testimony from Corrections Officer Kade Osborn, who is the victim of the

battery in the present case. Osborn testified that at the time Lyons battered

him, Lyons was being held on the charges in cause F5-52. Tr. Vol. 2, p. 126.

[10] The State provided additional evidence by incorporating, without objection by

Lyons, all the evidence from the first phase of the trial. In his testimony at trial,

Officer Osborn identified Lyons in court as being the Alex Jordon Lyons that

assaulted him and identified his date of birth as 1/23/2000. Id. at 83, 87, 97.

He also affirmed that Lyons’ Indiana driver’s license number is 9370-08-0588.

Id. at 88.

[11] In summary, Officer Osborn identified Lyons both physically and by cause

number F5-52 as the same Alex Jordon Lyons convicted of that attempted

robbery. The documents from cause F5-52 identify Lyons with the birth date of

1/23/2000 and Indiana driver’s license number of 9370-08-0588, and Officer

Osborn confirmed this data in his testimony. The documents of Exhibit 5 for

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 23A-CR-2958 | October 2, 2024 Page 5 of 6 cause F6-1005 contain identical data. We therefore conclude the State

demonstrated a sufficient connection between the documents in Exhibit 5 and

Lyons to yield a logical reasonable inference from which the trier of fact could

determine it was Lyons who was convicted of criminal trespass in F6-1005.

Conclusion [12] In light of the foregoing, we conclude the State presented evidence sufficient to

sustain Lyons’ adjudication as an habitual offender.

[13] Affirmed.

Brown, J., and Tavitas, J., concur.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Brian A. Karle Ball Eggleston PC Lafayette, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Theodore E. Rokita Attorney General of Indiana

Daylon L. Welliver Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 23A-CR-2958 | October 2, 2024 Page 6 of 6