Andrew Abbott v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 8, 2013
Docket33A01-1201-CR-16
StatusUnpublished

This text of Andrew Abbott v. State of Indiana (Andrew Abbott v. State of Indiana) 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
Andrew Abbott v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of Mar 08 2013, 9:23 am establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

JOHN T. WILSON GREGORY F. ZOELLER Anderson, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

MONIKA PREKOPA TALBOT Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

ANDREW ABBOTT, ) ) Appellant-Defendant, ) ) vs. ) No. 33A01-1201-CR-16 ) STATE OF INDIANA, ) ) Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE HENRY CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable Bob A. Witham, Judge Cause Nos. 33C03-1109-FD-245, 33D02-1105-FD-132

March 8, 2013

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BROWN, Judge Andrew Abbott appeals his conviction for receiving stolen property as a class D

felony.1 Abbott raises three issues, which we revise and restate as:

I. Whether the court committed fundamental error in permitting the State to refile the charge against him;

II. Whether the evidence is sufficient to support his conviction; and

III. Whether the trial court erred in denying pre-trial detention credit.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

In August 2010, Matt Huffman, a real estate agent, was hired to help sell a house

owned by the father of Mike McKown. Huffman initially placed a key to the house in a

realtor lock box. At some point in November 2010, Huffman made a copy of the key in

the lock box, placed one of the keys without a tag back in the lock box, and gave the

other key with a tag on it to Mike McKown so that he could have access to the house.

McKown placed the key in his truck, which he parked at his house near the north side of

New Castle, Indiana, and near State Road 3.

A short time after midnight on December 28, 2010, Nancy Weesner, who lived

along State Road 3 outside the city limits of and to the north of New Castle, Indiana,

observed Abbott outside her home on the other side of State Road 3 who “periodically

would stop and turn around and look the opposite way, like maybe someone was going to

come and get him.” Transcript at 65. Weesner observed that Abbott walked around the

house across the street a couple of times, stood behind some bushes at an adjacent

property, walked around the garage a couple of times, and eventually “just laid down on

1 Ind. Code § 35-43-4-2 (Supp. 2009). 2 the ground and there was snow on the ground.” Id. Weesner called the police and

described her observations.

Henry County Deputy Sheriff Landon J. Dean arrived at the location and Deputy

Sheriff Jordan Pruett eventually joined him in searching the area. The officers observed

footprints in the snow which led around a residence and garage, located Abbott “against

the garage and/or bushes” or “leaning up against the garage,” and observed a baseball bat

on the ground next to Abbott. Id. at 94. The officers conducted a pat down search of

Abbott and discovered a “labeled key,” which had a tag attached to it which contained the

address of the house owned by McKown’s father, and a yellow Stanley tape measure. Id.

at 83. The officers arrested Abbott. The police contacted the owner of the residence

where Abbott was arrested, and the owner did not personally know Abbott and had not

given him permission to be on the property.

On December 29, 2010, McKown met at his father’s house with police, Huffman,

and McKown’s property manager. McKown and Huffman opened the lock box and

observed that the key was still in the box. McKown and his property manager searched

the house to make sure that everything was still there. McKown’s truck was parked at his

residence and so he traveled to his home to check the truck for the key. McKown noticed

that the truck, which he had not locked, “had been opened,” that “[t]here was some

paperwork laying on the floor of the truck,” that he did not see his garage door opener or

boat keys, and that a yellow tape measure was missing. Id. at 112. McKown later

identified the key with the tag and the yellow tape measure discovered in Abbott’s

possession as belonging to him. At some point, Abbott sent a letter to McKown stating

3 that he had found the key in a Walmart parking lot and had planned to return the key to

the address on the key.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 18, 2011, the State charged Abbott with receiving stolen property as a

class D felony and with being an habitual offender under cause number 33D02-1105-FD-

132 (“Cause No. 132”). Specifically, the information alleged that Abbott “did knowingly

retain the property, to-wit: one (1) house key of another person, to-wit: Mike McKown,

said property having been the subject of a theft, to-wit: said property having been

removed from a realtors key box, without the authorization of Mike McKown.”

Appellant’s Appendix at 5. An entry in the chronological case summary (“CCS”) on

May 23, 2011, indicates that a jury trial was scheduled for August 17, 2011.

On August 17, 2011, the State filed a motion to amend information providing that

it desired to change the wording from “said property having been removed from a realtors

key box” to the wording “said property having been removed from his vehicle.” Id. at

12. The court heard arguments on the motion and found that the State’s requested

amendment appeared to be “more than just kind of a minor change” and that the change

“certainly could affect the defendant’s ability to be prepared to proceed with trial today.”

August 17, 2011 Transcript at 13. The court asked the State if it wished for the court to

dismiss the case without prejudice and to refile the case or for the court to grant the

motion to amend and grant a continuance to the defense in order to prepare for the trial.

Abbott did not object. After a recess, the State asked the court to dismiss the case

without prejudice, and the court granted the motion to dismiss.

4 On September 7, 2011, the State filed a charging information under cause number

33C03-1109-FD-245 (“Cause No. 245”), alleging that Abbott committed the offense of

receiving stolen property as a class D felony and was an habitual offender. Specifically,

the information alleged that Abbott “did knowingly retain the property, to-wit: one (1)

house key of another person, to-wit: Mike McKown, said property having been the

subject of a theft, in that said property had been removed from his truck, a 1997 burgundy

Chevy truck, without the authorization of Mike McKown.” Appellant’s Appendix at 26.

A jury trial was held on November 16, 2011, and the jury found Abbott guilty of

receiving stolen property as a class D felony.

Abbott admitted to two prior felony convictions, and the court found him to be an

habitual offender. The court sentenced Abbott to two and one-half years for the

conviction for receiving stolen property as a class D felony and enhanced the sentence by

three and one-half years for being an habitual offender, to be served in the Department of

Correction (“DOC”). The court ordered Abbott’s sentence under Cause No. 245 to be

served consecutively to his sentence under cause number 33C01-0005-CF-12 (“Cause

No. 12”). The court then stated:

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