Alford v. State

294 N.E.2d 168, 155 Ind. App. 592, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 1260
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 27, 1973
Docket3-672A21
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 294 N.E.2d 168 (Alford 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
Alford v. State, 294 N.E.2d 168, 155 Ind. App. 592, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 1260 (Ind. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

Staton,J.

Nature of the Appeal: Orville Richard Alford, hereinafter referred to as Alford, pled guilty on September 9, 19G8 to the offense of second degree burglary. 1 Before *594 Alford was sentenced by the Allen Circuit Court, he left Indiana for Kentucky where he was convicted for a second offense and sentenced to the Kentucky State Penitentiary. During’ Alford’s incarceration in Kentucky, he filed a motion for speedy trial and motion to dismiss pending charge with the Allen Circuit Court. A writ of mandate for discharge filed with the Supreme Court of Indiana was denied too. After serving three years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary, Alford was returned to Indiana on a detainer warrant and sentenced by the Allen Circuit Court on March 20, 1972 to not less than two (2) nor more than five (5) years. On the day of sentencing, Alford filed a petition for discharge on the grounds that the State of Indiana should have returned him to Indiana for sentencing earlier so that his Indiana and Kentucky sentences would run concurrently. It is from the overruling of this petition that Alford appeals.

We affirm the Allen Circuit Court’s judgment denying Alford’s petition for discharge in our opinion which follows.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS: The record discloses the following detailed sequence of events climaxing in the sentencing of Orville Richard Alford and ultimately in this appeal:

Nov. 18, 1965—Affidavit for second degree burglary filed against Orville Richard Alford.

Aug. 12, 1968—After many continuances at Defendant Alford’s request, arraignment set for Sept. 9, 1968.

Sept. 9, 1968—Alford pleads guilty to second degree burglary ; sentencing set for Oct. 7,1968.

Oct. 4, 1968—Pre-commitment report filed.

Oct. 7, 1968—Sentencing deferred until Jan. 6, 1969 at Alford’s request.

Jan. 6, 1969—Sentencing deferred until Jan. 13, 1969 at Alford’s request.

*595 Jan. 13, 1969—First detainer warrant issued to the State of Kentucky.

Jan. 15, 1969—Alford fails to appear and his bondsman given 10 days to produce him.

Feb. 26, 1970—Alford files motion for speedy trial pro se.

*Mar. 2, 1970—Alford appears in court and cause continued to Mar. 16,1970.

*Mar. 16, 1970—Alford appears in court and cause deferred to Mar. 23,1970 at Alford’s request.

Mar. 31,1970—Alford files motion to dismiss pending charge again pro se.

♦April 6, 1970—Alford appears in court and cause deferred until April 20,1970 at Alford’s request.

April 13, 1970—Alford’s motion to dismiss denied by the Allen Circuit Court.

April 20, 1970—Alford appears by counsel and cause continued until his return to the j urisdiction.

Nov. 9, 1970—Supreme Court of Indiana denies Alford’s writ of mandate for dismissal of charge.

Feb. 22, 1972—Second detainer warrant issued to the State of Kentucky.

Mar. 6, 1972—Alford appears in court and cause continued until Mar. 20,1972 to allow filing of a motion to dismiss.

Mar. 20, 1972—Alford files petition for discharge which is denied; Alford sentenced to not less than 2 nor more than 5 years.

♦Although the record states that Alford appeared in court in person, this is controverted by the fact that he was incarcerated in the Kentucky State Penitentiary from January, 1969 to March, 1972.

Alford timely filed his motion to correct errors on March 27, 1972 which raises the issues discussed below.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES: The sole contention of error is that the trial court erred in overruling Alford’s petition for discharge on the grounds that Alford was entitled to have his Indiana and Kentucky sentences run concurrently; therefore, the delay in sentencing was error. This contention of error raises the following issues for our consideration:

*596 1. Does Alford have a right to serve the sentence for his Indiana criminal offense and the sentence for his Kentucky criminal offense concurrently?
2. Was sentencing without delay mandatory upon the Allen Circuit Court?

We find that the petition for discharge was properly denied for the reasons set out in our STATEMENT ON THE LAW section below, and we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

STATEMENT OF THE LAW: We preface our discussion of the above issues by noting that Alford contends that Rules CR. 4(A) and (B) of the Indiana Rules of Criminal Procedure and cases relating to a right to speedy trial are applicable to sentencing. We reject this contention. Rules 4(A) and (B) refer only to defendants who are in jail awaiting trial and who are, therefore, presumed innocent. Alford had pled guilty. The trial court had accepted his plea and found him guilty. Alford stood convicted of second degree burglary. He was only awaiting sentencing when he was convicted of a second offense in Kentucky and sentenced to the Kentucky State Penitentiary. In the recently decided Hart v. State (1973), 260 Ind. 137, 141, 292 N.E.2d 814, 816, our Supreme Court expressed the necessity for speedy trial and the resultant prejudice to defendant as follows:

“. . . It is often impossible to clearly specify exactly the prejudice resulting from the denial of a speedy trial. Memories fade and evidence may be lost, but if the accused’s investigation does not begin until months or years after the crime, he may never know what was lost. Such a procedure also acts as an incentive for the State to prosecute its case promptly. . . .”

Once the defendant has pled guilty and is convicted of the offense, the possibility of lost evidence or fading memories of witnesses is no longer a factor. Although Alford had not been sentenced, his right to file a motion to withdraw liis guilty plea or to file a petition for post conviction relief under *597 PC. 1 of the Indiana Rules of Procedure were in no way impaired.

ISSUE ONE:

Does Alford have a right to serve the sentence for his Indiana criminal offense and the sentence for his Kentucky criminal offense concurrently ?

There is no constitutional right to serve concurrent sentences for different crimes in Indiana. The Indiana Supreme Court in Bewley v. State (1966), 247 Ind. 652, 654, 220 N.E.2d 612, 613, held that:

“. . . [T]here is no constitutional right on the part of a criminal to serve his sentences concurrently for various crimes. To so hold would minimize the penalty for the commission of additional crimes, since the sentences could all be served more or less concurrently.”

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Bluebook (online)
294 N.E.2d 168, 155 Ind. App. 592, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 1260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alford-v-state-indctapp-1973.