Clifford Vance v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 27, 2026
Docket25A-CR-01741
StatusPublished
AuthorJudge Vaidik

This text of Clifford Vance v. State of Indiana (Clifford Vance 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
Clifford Vance v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE

Court of Appeals of Indiana Clifford Vance, FILED May 27 2026, 9:12 am Appellant-Defendant CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals v. and Tax Court

State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

May 27, 2026 Court of Appeals Case No. 25A-CR-1741 Appeal from the Clark Circuit Court The Honorable Bradley Jacobs, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 10C02-2405-F2-14

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1741 | May 27, 2026 Page 1 of 18 Opinion by Judge Vaidik Judge DeBoer concurs. Chief Judge Tavitas concurs in result with separate opinion.

Vaidik, Judge.

Case Summary [1] In the middle of the night, two uniformed police officers knocked on Clifford

Vance’s motel-room door, shone a flashlight on him as he stood at the door

wearing only boxers, and—without telling him why they were there—asked if

they could come inside to talk. Vance said yes and stepped back. Once inside,

the officers observed marijuana and paraphernalia. The officers then told

Vance, with “one hundred percent certainty,” that they would not “lock [him]

up tonight” if he gave them “everything” and asked for his consent to search the

room. Vance consented, and four bags of methamphetamine and other drug

evidence were found. The officers left without arresting Vance that night, and

an arrest warrant was issued several days later. Vance was convicted of several

drug-related offenses, including Level 2 felony dealing in methamphetamine.

[2] Vance now appeals, arguing that the officers’ entry into and subsequent search

of his motel room violated his rights under Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana

Constitution. We agree that the search violated Article 1, Section 11. Applying

the Litchfield factors, we conclude that the degree of concern, suspicion, or

knowledge was low; the intrusion was at least moderate and arguably high; and

the law-enforcement need was at most modest. The State has not shown that Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1741 | May 27, 2026 Page 2 of 18 the search and seizure were reasonable under the totality of the circumstances

and therefore the trial court erred in admitting the drug evidence found in

Vance’s room. The error was not harmless; without the drug evidence, nothing

remains to support Vance’s convictions. We therefore reverse.

Facts and Procedural History [3] Shortly before 3:00 a.m. on May 1, 2024, Jeffersonville Police Department

Sergeant Denver Leverett and his partner went to Room 112 at the Holiday

Motel in Jeffersonville on “a call for service.” Tr. Vol. 2 p. 238. Sergeant

Leverett was in “full uniform,” including a “duty belt” and “a lot of other

equipment,” and his body camera was recording. Id. at 246; Tr. Vol. 3 p. 9.

With a flashlight in his hand, Sergeant Leverett knocked twice on Vance’s

door. 1 After about 30 seconds, Vance cracked open his door wearing only

boxers. Sergeant Leverett shone the flashlight directly on Vance and asked,

“Hey Cliff, how you doing man?” Ex. 11 at 1:17. 2 Vance responded, “I’m

doing okay, sir.” Id. at 1:19. Sergeant Leverett then asked Vance if he could

“holler at [him] real quick inside,” and Vance said “yeah” and stepped back

from the door. Id. at 1:19-1:23. As Sergeant Leverett entered the motel room, he

asked Vance to step back even further. Sergeant Leverett then saw knives and

1 Vance lived at the motel. 2 There are two copies of Exhibit 11; one is redacted (36 minutes long) and the other is unredacted (40 minutes long). At trial, the redacted version was admitted into evidence and played for the jury. See Tr. Vol. 3 p. 31.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1741 | May 27, 2026 Page 3 of 18 asked Vance to sit down. Id. at 1:28. Sergeant Leverett also saw a

methamphetamine pipe on the nightstand and some marijuana on the floor and

“detected the odor of burnt marijuana.” Tr. Vol. 3 p. 12.

[4] Sergeant Leverett asked Vance if he had been smoking marijuana, and Vance

replied, “I’m not gonna lie to you.” Ex. 11 at 1:45-1:51. Sergeant Leverett told

Vance that he “can’t be smoking marijuana” because it is illegal, and that they

had received a “complaint,” although Sergeant Leverett didn’t say what the

complaint was. Id. at 2:15-2:18, 2:53. Sergeant Leverett told Vance that he

wanted to do “everything in [his] power” to help Vance, but he couldn’t make

any “promises.” Id. at 3:26-3:32. Sergeant Leverett stated that if Vance didn’t lie

and was “honest about everything,” there was a “ninety-nine percent chance

[he was] going to walk out of here, and [Vance was] going to stay in here.” Id.

at 3:40-3:51. Sergeant Leverett said it didn’t matter to him if Vance had “ten

pounds of weed or five kilos of cocaine.” Id. at 3:59-4:02.

[5] Sergeant Leverett told Vance that he wasn’t free to leave because of the

marijuana and paraphernalia and advised Vance of his Miranda rights. When

Vance asked if he was “in custody,” Sergeant Leverett responded, “Well, you’re

not free to leave.” Id. at 5:02-5:03. He then emphasized that he didn’t “plan on

taking” Vance to jail because he didn’t “want to.” Id. at 5:08. Sergeant Leverett

reiterated that if Vance lied, things would go “downhill” because he had “a

police dog in the car” and “[a]ll he does is find drugs.” Id. at 5:50-5:56. He said

he didn’t want to get the dog out, but he would if Vance “ma[d]e” him. Id. at

5:57-6:01. Sergeant Leverett repeated that he didn’t care if Vance had “a pound

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1741 | May 27, 2026 Page 4 of 18 of cocaine,” “ten pounds of weed,” or “a couple ounces of meth.” Id. at 6:05-

6:11. After Vance said he was “scared to death” of going to jail, Sergeant

Leverett increased his promise: “I tell you what. I’ll tell you [with] one hundred

percent certainty. You give me everything right now, I won’t lock you up

tonight. Promise ya. Hand to God, on body cam, I won’t lock you up tonight.”

Id. at 6:26, 6:39-6:51 (emphases added).

[6] Sergeant Leverett asked Vance for his consent to search the motel room, and

Vance consented. See Tr. Vol. 3 p. 13. 3 Sergeant Leverett confirmed with Vance

that he hadn’t “promised or coerced” him and that he had treated him “with

respect,” and Vance responded that Sergeant Leverett had been “decent.” Ex.

11 at 8:22-8:31. Sergeant Leverett again told Vance that if he gave him

“everything”—even if it was a “pound of meth”—he wouldn’t lock him up

“tonight.” Id. at 9:15-9:22. Vance asked Sergeant Leverett if he would lock him

up “tomorrow,” and Sergeant Leverett responded that he wouldn’t lock him up

“tomorrow either.” Id. at 9:24-9:26. Before Vance could ask any further

3 Officer Leverett read aloud to Vance a written consent-to-search form, which advised Vance that they were looking for drugs and paraphernalia and that Vance had the right to refuse consent and speak with an attorney before consenting. Vance then signed the form. These events are contained in the unredacted version of the body-cam footage, which the jury did not see. Before trial, the trial court granted Vance’s motion in limine, ruling that the signed consent form was inadmissible because it was irrelevant under Indiana Evidence Rule 401. See Tr. Vol. 2 pp. 195-201; Appellant’s App. Vol. 2 pp. 117-18. Right before trial started, the State asked the trial court to reconsider its ruling about the signed consent form, which the court denied.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Schneckloth v. Bustamonte
412 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Shotts v. State
925 N.E.2d 719 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2010)
Litchfield v. State
824 N.E.2d 356 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2005)
Joyner v. State
736 N.E.2d 232 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2000)
Brown v. State
653 N.E.2d 77 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1995)
Patrick Austin v. State of Indiana
997 N.E.2d 1027 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2013)
Nick McIlquham v. State of Indiana
10 N.E.3d 506 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2014)
Duane Crocker v. State of Indiana
989 N.E.2d 812 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013)
State of Indiana v. Michael E. Cunningham
26 N.E.3d 21 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2015)
Will Thomas v. State of Indiana
81 N.E.3d 621 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2017)
Mario Watkins v. State of Indiana
85 N.E.3d 597 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2017)
Campos v. State
885 N.E.2d 590 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Clifford Vance v. State of Indiana, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clifford-vance-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2026.