Barnes v. Clayton

624 N.E.2d 24, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 1416, 1993 WL 476376
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 22, 1993
DocketNo. 45A05-9303-CV-91
StatusPublished

This text of 624 N.E.2d 24 (Barnes v. Clayton) 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
Barnes v. Clayton, 624 N.E.2d 24, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 1416, 1993 WL 476376 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

BARTEAU, Judge.

Thomas Barnes, Mayor of the City of Gary, along with the City of Gary, the Board of Public Works and Safety, and others (collectively “Barnes”) appeal the trial court’s finding that David Staples is fit to serve as a Commissioner of the Gary Police Civil Service Commission. Barnes contends that Staples is not fit to serve in [25]*25this position because he has been convicted of obstruction of justice and that the trial court’s order did not comply with this court’s decision in Barnes v. Clayton (1992), Ind.App., 590 N.E.2d 1112 (Barnes I).

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This is the second appeal to this court in this dispute. The facts as reported by this court in Barnes I are as follows:

David L. Staples was a commissioner for the Gary Police Civil Service Commission. At some time during his tenure his nephew was arrested for driving while intoxicated, and Staples took items of evidence to be used for the case. [Staples] was convicted of obstruction of justice, a Class D felony, on September 20, 1990. As a result of his conviction, Staples resigned his commissioner’s position “with prejudice” on October 12, 1990. Pursuant to Indiana Code 35-50-2-7, Staples was sentenced as a Class A misde-meanant on October 19, 1990.
Due to Staples’ resignation, his position on the Commission was vacant and an election was held in the police department to obtain a nomination for the vacancy. On October 30, 1990, Staples was again elected to the position, but Mayor Barnes refused to appoint him to the position, citing his lack of faith in Staples’ moral character. By memo, the Board of Public Works informed the department that another election was to be held, and another election was scheduled.
Clayton [president of the Gary Fraternal Order of Police and member of the Gary Police Department and David Staples (“Clayton”)] brought this action, ■seeking an injunction restraining Barnes from causing further meetings in the police department for nominations to fill the vacancy and an order causing Barnes to appoint Staples to the Commission. The trial court granted the Commission’s motion to intervene, and the Commission filed its complaint seeking declaratory relief as to Staples’ status. Barnes filed a third-party complaint seeking an injunction enjoining Staples from participating in Commission business and a declaratory judgment as to whether obstruction of justice is a crime of moral turpitude which disqualified Staples from serving as a commissioner. Staples was named as a third-party defendant. Motions for summary judgment were filed and the trial court entered judgment for Clayton and Staples.

590 N.E.2d at 1113-14 (footnote omitted).1

The Barnes I court reversed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Clayton and Staples, finding genuine issues of material fact remained as to Staples’ moral character. On remand, the trial court considered additional evidence of the circumstances surrounding Staples’ conviction as well as evidence of Staples’ character in general. The trial court determined that Staples is eligible to serve as a commissioner.

As in every dispute, the evidence is conflicting. However, we must consider the evidence most favorable to the trial court’s judgment, which is as follows: In December, 1988, Gary Police Officer Edward Irons investigated a personal injury accident in which Lanell Chambers, Staples’ nephew, was involved. Irons removed several beer cans, empty and full, from Chambers’ car. He then took Chambers to the hospital for a blood alcohol test. Chambers’ BAC was “over the limit to be classified as intoxicated.” (R. 207). Irons placed Chambers under arrest at the hospital and then transported Chambers, along with the beer cans and a print-out of the blood alcohol test results, back to the police station. Irons took Chambers to the “traffic room” to write up a report.

Upon learning that his nephew had been arrested, Staples went to the police station. The desk sergeant on duty at the time gave Staples permission to go back to the traffic room, an area usually restricted to police [26]*26officers. Staples testified that Irons told him he had no use for the beer cans and that Chambers could be released to Staples’ care that evening.2 Staples then left the station with his nephew and the cans; however, he returned the cans to the police after being requested to do so by the prosecuting attorney. Chambers was later convicted.3

James Fleming, a former Gary police officer, testified without objection that Staples was a person of “extremely high” good moral character. Fleming also testified that the police department usually destroyed cans found in cars because of space constraints in the evidence room. Robert Thomas, who has known Staples for about forty years, testified, again without objection, that Staples was of good moral character.4

DISCUSSION

The trial court sua sponte entered findings of fact and conclusions of law. Therefore, we will treat the judgment as a general judgment with the findings and conclusions controlling only as to the issues they cover. Quebe v. Davis (1992), Ind.App., 586 N.E.2d 914, 917. A general judgment will be affirmed upon any legal theory consistent with the evidence. Id. This court may neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

The Gary Police Civil Service Commission is the merit commission for the Gary Police Department and is responsible for, among other things, police disciplinary matters. One of the requirements for the commissioners is that they must be of “good moral character.” I.C. 36-8-3.5-6(b). This dispute began when Staples was elected by police officers to fill the vacancy on the Commission created by his resignation and the mayor of Gary refused to appoint him due to what the mayor believed was a lack of good moral character on Staples’ part.

As noted in Barnes I, the phrase “good moral character” is not defined in the statute. 590 N.E.2d at 1115. However, the Barnes I court, analogizing the phrase to the context of attorney discipline, gleaned the following meaning of the phrase:

While a public officer who has been convicted of a felony cannot retain his office, this does not mean that one who is convicted of a misdemeanor or is sentenced as a misdemeanant automatically remains qualified to serve as a commissioner. The relevant inquiry looks to the candidate’s character, regardless of labels which the law has placed on his conduct. Indeed, conduct which is not the subject of a conviction may yet be relevant for the purpose of examining the candidate’s moral character, and conduct which has earned a criminal penalty may not be indicative of bad moral character. The inquiry is fact-sensitive and [27]*27should be conducted in light of the office which the candidate seeks.

Id. (emphasis supplied, footnote omitted). Thus, one cannot say that a misdemeanant is, as a matter of law, of bad moral character and therefore not qualified to serve as a commissioner.

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Related

Matter of Oliver
493 N.E.2d 1237 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1986)
Quebe v. Davis
586 N.E.2d 914 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1992)
Barnes v. Clayton
590 N.E.2d 1112 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
624 N.E.2d 24, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 1416, 1993 WL 476376, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnes-v-clayton-indctapp-1993.