Ashfaque v. State

25 N.E.3d 183, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 36, 2015 WL 381418
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 27, 2015
DocketNo. 49A02-1404-CR-286
StatusPublished

This text of 25 N.E.3d 183 (Ashfaque 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
Ashfaque v. State, 25 N.E.3d 183, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 36, 2015 WL 381418 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

MAY, Judge.

[1] Aadil Ashfaque appeals the denial of his motion to dismiss Count I, Class D felony dealing in a synthetic drug1 and [185]*185Count II, Class D felony possession of a synthetic drug.2 He presents multiple issues for our review, one of which we find dispositive: whether, at the time of Ash-faque’s alleged offenses, Ind.Code § 35-48-4-10(a), which prohibited dealing in a synthetic drug, and Ind.Code § 35-48-4-11, which prohibited possession of a synthetic drug, were unconstitutionally vague when the synthetic drug alleged to have been dealt in or possessed was not listed in the relevant provisions of the Indiana Code and could be found only in the Pharmacy Board Regulations?

[2] We reverse and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

[3] On May 8, 2013, the State charged Ashfaque with offenses including Class D felony dealing in a synthetic drug and Class D felony possession of a synthetic drug following a traffic stop during which XLR11 was discovered in Ashfaque’s possession. On June 4, Ashfaque filed a motion to dismiss the dealing and possession counts. The trial court denied Ashfaque’s motion. The trial court certified the issue for interlocutory appeal and we accepted jurisdiction.

Discussion and Decision

[4] Generally, we review the denial of a motion to dismiss for an abuse of discretion, McCown v. State, 890 N.E.2d 752, 756 (Ind.Ct.App.2008), while taking the facts stated in the charging information as true. Delagrange v. State, 951 N.E.2d 593, 594 (Ind.Ct.App.2011). However, when, as here, the denial rests on the trial court’s interpretation of a statute, we review the decision de novo. McCown, 890 N.E.2d at 756. The trial court denied Ashfaque’s motion to dismiss without findings of fact or conclusions of law.

[5] Our Indiana Supreme Court stated in Broum v. State:

A challenge to the validity of a statute • must overcome a presumption that the statute is constitutional. State v. Lombardo, 738 N.E.2d 653, 655 (Ind.2000). The party challenging the statute has the burden of proving otherwise. Brady v. State, 575 N.E.2d 981, 984 (Ind.1991). Due process principles advise that a penal statute is void for vagueness if it does not clearly define its prohibitions. Klein v. State, 698 N.E.2d 296, 299 (Ind.1998) (citing Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972)). A criminal statute may be invalidated for vagueness for either of two independent reasons: (1) for failing to provide notice enabling ordinary people to understand the conduct that it prohibits, and (2) for the possibility that it authorizes or encourages arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement. City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 56, 119 S.Ct. 1849, 1859, 144 L.Ed.2d 67, 79-80 (1999); Healthscript, Inc. v. State, 770 N.E.2d 810, 815-16 (Ind.2002). A related consideration is the requirement that a penal statute give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contemplated conduct is forbidden so that “no man shall be held criminally responsible for conduct which he could not reasonably understand to be proscribed.” Healthscript, Inc., 770 N.E.2d at 816 (quoting United States v. Harriss, 347 U.S. 612, 617, 74 S.Ct. 808, 812, 98 L.Ed. 989, 996 (1954)). In State v. Downey, 476 N.E.2d 121, 123 (Ind.1985), this Court emphasized that “there must be something in a criminal statute to indicate where the line is to be drawn between trivial and substantial things so that erratic arrests and convictions for trivial acts and omissions will not occur. [186]*186It cannot be left to juries, judges, and prosecutors to draw such lines.” Accordingly, the statutory language must “convey sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding.” Rhinehardt v. State, 477 N.E.2d 89, 93 (Ind.1985).
But a statute “is not void for vagueness if individuals of ordinary intelligence could comprehend it to the extent that it would fairly inform them of the generally proscribed conduct.” Klein, 698 N.E.2d at 299; accord Lombardo, 738 N.E.2d at 656. And the statute does not have to list specifically all items of prohibited conduct; rather, it must inform the individual of the conduct generally proscribed. Lombardo, 738 N.E.2d at 656. The examination of a vagueness challenge is performed in light of the facts and circumstances of each individual case. Id.

[6]868 N.E.2d 464, 467 (Ind.2007). Ash-faque was charged with Class D felony dealing in a synthetic drug and Class D felony possession of a synthetic drug. By the standard articulated in Brown, the 2012 versions of Ind.Code §§ 35 — 48-4-10(a) and 11 effective at the time of Ash-faque’s alleged offenses3 were unconstitutionally vague to the extent they rely on the term “synthetic drug”4 as defined by Ind.Code § 35-31.5-2-321(9).

[7]At the time Ashfaque allegedly committed the offenses, Ind.Code § 35-31.5-2-321 listed over sixty specific chemical compounds, and it included eleven sections regarding compounds “structurally derived” from other chemicals. Ind.Code § 35-31.5-2-321(1) — (8) (2012). It also stated a synthetic drug is “[a]ny compound determined to be a synthetic drug by rule adopted under IC 25-26-13-4.1.” Ind.Code § 35-31.5-2-321(9) (2012). Ind.Code § 25-26-13-4.1 (2012),5 which outlines the duties of the Pharmacy Board, states:

[8] (a) The board may adopt an emergency rule to declare that a substance is a synthetic drug.

[9] (b) The board may adopt an emergency rule declaring a substance to be a synthetic drug if the board finds that the substance:

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Related

United States v. Harriss
347 U.S. 612 (Supreme Court, 1954)
Grayned v. City of Rockford
408 U.S. 104 (Supreme Court, 1972)
City of Chicago v. Morales
527 U.S. 41 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Brown v. State
868 N.E.2d 464 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2007)
Healthscript, Inc. v. State
770 N.E.2d 810 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2002)
Klein v. State
698 N.E.2d 296 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1998)
State v. Lombardo
738 N.E.2d 653 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2000)
State v. Downey
476 N.E.2d 121 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1985)
McCown v. State
890 N.E.2d 752 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2008)
Rhinehardt v. State
477 N.E.2d 89 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1985)
Brady v. State
575 N.E.2d 981 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1991)
Delagrange v. State
951 N.E.2d 593 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)
Love Jeet Kaur v. State of Indiana
987 N.E.2d 164 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013)
Gary Elvers v. State of Indiana
22 N.E.3d 824 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014)
Tiplick v. State
25 N.E.3d 190 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Grayned v. City of Rockford
408 U.S. 104 (Supreme Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
25 N.E.3d 183, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 36, 2015 WL 381418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ashfaque-v-state-indctapp-2015.