Beldon v. State

906 N.E.2d 895, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 833, 2009 WL 1424616
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 21, 2009
Docket43A05-0805-CR-302
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 906 N.E.2d 895 (Beldon 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
Beldon v. State, 906 N.E.2d 895, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 833, 2009 WL 1424616 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Defendant, Clint Beldon (Bel-don), appeals his conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, as a Class D felony, Ind.Code § 9-30-5-3, and the trial court's finding that he is a habitual substance offender for sentencing purposes under I.C. § 35-50-2-10.

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

ISSUES

Beldon raises three issues for our review, which we restate as follows:

(1) Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting a physician's videotaped deposition at trial in lieu of live testimony;
(2) Whether the State properly requested blood and urine test results pursuant to L.C. § 9-30-6-6; and
(3) Whether the trial court erred in sentencing Beldon when it used the same prior conviction: (1) to elevate a Class A misdemeanor charge to a Class D felony; (2) to support a habitual substance offender finding; and (8) as an aggravating factor to support the imposition of a maximum sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On the afternoon of April 24, 2007, Vie-tor Staton (Staton) and his wife were driving their vehicle on County Road 1350 in Kosciusko County, Indiana. As they approached the intersection of County Road 1350 North and County Road 700 West, Staton noticed Beldon's vehicle approach *898 ing a stop sign. Staton slowed his vehicle down to make sure that Beldon would stop. Staton saw Beldon slow down and look to his right. Believing that Beldon would look left and come to a complete stop after seeing Staton's vehicle approaching, Staton put his foot back on the accelerator and sped up. However, Bel-don never looked to his left. Instead, Bel-don rolled through the stop sign and pulled his vehicle out into the intersection. Both Staton and Beldon tried to avoid impact, but a collision nevertheless occurred.

Minutes later, Sergeant Terry Chanley (Sergeant Chanley) and Officer Matthew Tice (Officer Tice) of the Nappanee Police Department arrived at the scene of the collision. Sergeant Chanley and Officer Tice approached Beldon's vehicle and saw Beldon slumped over across the passenger seat with his head against the passenger side door. When Sergeant Chanley and Officer Tice asked Beldon if he was okay, Beldon was unresponsive. Sergeant Chanley and Officer Tice detected the smell of alcohol coming from Beldon's vehicle.

Shortly thereafter, an ambulance arrived at the seene of the accident. Paramedics removed Beldon from his vehicle and transported him to the Elkhart General Hospital. While the ambulance was en route to the hospital, Beldon became semiconscious and combative with paramedics. Paramedic Monte Flowers (Paramedic Flowers) wrote in his report that Beldon appeared to be intoxicated.

After arriving at the hospital, Beldon was placed in a trauma room. Dr. Michelle Bache (Dr. Bache), an emergency room physician, treated Beldon upon his arrival. During the course of her treatment, and absent any request by law enforcement to do so, Dr. Bache ordered that samples of Beldon's blood and urine be collected and tested. Linda Rothenbubler (Rothenbuhbhler), a phlebotomist, took a blood sample from Beldon. William Scott Sullivan (Sullivan), an emergency room technician, took a urine sample from Bel-don. Following the chain of custody, Rothenbubhler and Sullivan delivered the samples to Yashanait Chore die (Chored-ie), a medical laboratory technician. Choredie, in turn, passed the samples to Elizabeth Rowell (Rowell), a support technician, for testing. The test results revealed that Beldon's blood alcohol content was 0.27.

On August 3, 2007, the State filed an Information charging Beldon with: Count I, operating a motor vehicle with at least 0.08 hundredths gram of alcohol but less than 0.15 hundredths grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or 210 milliliters of breath, a Class C misdemeanor, I.C. § 9-30-5-1; Count II, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in a manner that endangers a person, a Class A misdemeanor, 1.C. § 9-380-5-2; Count III, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, L.C. § 9-80-5-2; and Count IV, operating a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to at least fifteen-hundredths grams of alcohol per one hundred millimeters of his blood, a Class A misdemeanor, I.C. § 9-30-5-1. The State also filed four elevated charges based on Beldon's prior conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, Counts IA, IIA, IIIA, and IVA. On March 11 through 12, 2008, the trial court conducted a trifurcated jury trial. During the first phase of the trial, the State presented several witnesses, including Sergeant Chanley, Officer Tice, Paramedic Flowers, Rothenbuhler, Choredie, and Rowell. Dr. Bache was unavailable to testify at trial because of her "extensive patient responsibilities and work schedule." (Appellant's Appendix p. 21). Over Beldon's objection, *899 the trial court allowed the State to present Dr. Bache's video deposition into evidence for the jury to watch. At the conclusion of the evidence, the trial court found Beldon guilty of Counts I, II, III and IV.

During the second phase of the trial, the State presented evidence that Beldon had a previous conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class D felony, in November 10, 2003. The jury found that Beldon had a previous conviction for purposes of the elevated charges, and found Beldon guilty of Counts IA, IIA, IIIA and IVA.

During the third phase of the trifurcated trial, the State argued that Beldon had two prior substance offense convictions, and was therefore eligible to be sentenced under the habitual substance offender statute. The State relied upon Beldon's conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class D felony, from February 1992, and his conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class D felony, from November 10, 2003. The jury found that Beldon was a habitual substance offender.

On April 10, 2008, the trial court merged Counts I, II, III, IV and Counts IA, IIA, IIIA, IVA for purposes of sentencing, and entered a single conviction for Count IIA, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in a manner that endangers a person with a prior conviction, a Class D felony, I.C. § 9-30-5-8. The trial court applied Bel-don's criminal history, including four previous convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a conviction for child molesting, and a conviction for possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, as an aggravating factor to support a three-year sentence, the maximum sentence available for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, as a Class D felony. Additionally, the trial court enhanced Beldon's sentence by six years for being a habitual substance offender.

Beldon now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Admission of VideoTaped Deposition

Beldon argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it permitted the State to present Dr. Bache's videotaped deposition in lieu of live testimony.

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Related

Beldon v. State
926 N.E.2d 480 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
906 N.E.2d 895, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 833, 2009 WL 1424616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beldon-v-state-indctapp-2009.