Daniel J. Hollen v. State of Indiana

994 N.E.2d 1166, 2013 WL 3191720, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 301
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 25, 2013
Docket62A04-1211-MI-636
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 994 N.E.2d 1166 (Daniel J. Hollen 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
Daniel J. Hollen v. State of Indiana, 994 N.E.2d 1166, 2013 WL 3191720, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 301 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Daniel J. Hollen appeals the trial court’s denial of his Petition to Remove Registration Act, Sexual Violent Predator Status, and Global Positioning Satellite. Hollen raises nine issues which we consolidate and restate as whether the court erred in denying his petition. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 18, 2000, by an Amended Information, the State charged Hollen with four counts of child molesting as class B felonies. 1 The charging information alleged that the offenses occurred between July 4, 1994, and September 30, 1995. On January 21, 2000, a jury found Hollen guilty of two counts of child molesting. 2 The Knox Circuit Court sentenced Hollen to fifteen years for each count and ordered the sentences to be served consecutive to each other for an aggregate sentence of thirty years. Hollen v. State, No. 42A01-0005-CR-150, slip op. at 2-3, 741 N.E.2d 811 (Ind.Ct.App. January 23, 2001). On direct appeal, Hollen argued that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions for child molesting and that the trial court abused its discretion in imposing enhanced and consecutive sentences, and this court affirmed. Id. at 2.

On July 11, 2012, Hollen, pro se, filed a “Petition to Remove Registration Act, Sexual Violent Predator Status, and Global Positioning Satellite” in the Perry Circuit Court. Appellant’s Appendix at 95. Hol-len argued in part that his classification as a sexually violent predator (“SVP”) was contrary to the ex post facto clause of the Indiana Constitution and the United States Constitution. Hollen contended that “[t]he IDOC is retroactively punishing [him] by *1168 requiring him to register as [an] SVP or to register at all for the rest of his life” and that “at the time of [the] offense: (‘Sometime in the summer of 1994[’]) the Zachary Law I.C. 11-8-8-22 was not enacted [and] thus cannot be applied to [him] now under ex-post factor [sic] laws.” Id. at 96. Hollen also cited Ind.Code § 35-38-1-7.5(c) and stated that the trial court did not determine whether he was an SVP by consulting with a board of experts consisting of two board certified psychologists or psychiatrists who had expertise in criminal behavioral disorders. Hollen also argued that the “IDOC classification of [him] as [an] SVP was made without affording him a hearing to determine] whether he posed a future danger, thereby denying him procedural due process.” Id. at 97. He asserted that he was “being restricted from areas which are legal and [had] been approved by Parole Agent Gina Boyer, because IDOC equipment is failing to function with satellite^] violating [his] basic rights under Indiana Laws.” Id. Hollen also alleged that the State was without authority to argue this action because the prosecutor did not file an appearance.

The Perry Circuit Court entered an order on Hollen’s petition which stated that “the relief requested by [Hollen] is an attack on the judgments entered” in Cause Number 42C01-9707-CF-008 (“Cause No. 8”), that “pursuant to Rule PCl(c), this matter should be transferred to the Knox Circuit Court,” and ordered that further proceedings on the petition be transferred to the Knox Circuit Court under Cause No. 8. Id. at 92. In a letter dated August 30, 2012, the Knox Circuit Court informed the Perry Circuit Court that petitions for removal from the registry must first be filed in the county in which the individual resides and that the Knox Circuit Court was “sending venue of this matter back to Perry County” because Hollen lives in Perry County. Id. at 62. The letter also attached a document from the Division of State Court Administration which discussed Ind.Code § 11-8-8-22.

On October 8, 2012, the case was transferred back to the Perry Circuit Court. Hollen filed a “Motion for Default Judgment and Summary Judgment is Issued as a Matter of Law” in the Perry Circuit Court. Id. at 49. Hollen requested that the court “find the State Of Indiana in Default on the Petition to Remove Registration Act, Sexual Violent Predator Status, and Global Positioning Satellite, and to issue a Default Judgment / Summary Judgment on the motion as granted.” Id. On October 30, 2012, the court denied Hol-len’s earlier petition filed on July 11, 2012. Id. at 52. On November 2, 2012, Hollen filed a motion to correct error, which the trial court denied on November 8, 2012.

DISCUSSION

The issue is whether the court erred in denying Hollen’s “Petition to Remove Registration Act, Sexual Violent Predator Status, and Global Positioning Satellite.” Id. at 95. Before discussing Hollen’s allegations of error, we note that although he is proceeding pro se, such litigants are held to the same standard as trained counsel and are required to follow procedural rules. Evans v. State, 809 N.E.2d 338, 344 (Ind.Ct.App.2004), trans. denied. Hollen’s arguments are scattered throughout his statement of issues and statement of the case. Indeed, the section of his brief labeled “Argument” consists of only two pages of his thirty-eight page appellant’s brief. 3 See Appellant’s Brief at 33-35. While Hollen raises nine issues in his statement of issues, he has only four arguments in the argument section of his brief. To the extent that he fails to put forth a cogent argument, cite to authority, or cite to the record, we conclude that *1169 most of Hollen’s arguments are waived. 4 See, e.g., Cooper v. State, 854 N.E.2d 831, 834 n. 1 (Ind.2006) (holding that the defendant’s contention was waived because it was “supported neither by cogent argument nor citation to authority”); Shane v. State, 716 N.E.2d 391, 398 n. 3 (Ind.1999) (holding that the defendant waived argument on appeal by failing to develop a cogent argument).

To the extent that Hollen develops cogent arguments, we will address them on the merits. He appears to argue that the requirement that he register as an SVP constitutes an ex post facto law because he committed the offenses prior to the effective date of the Sex Offender Registration Act. Specifically, he asserts that “all amendments to P.L. 11-19% are illegal to the appellant, because no notice was given to [him] in 1994 for acts that was in violation of laws, Ind. Const, art. I sect. 28, because no notice was posted and [he] was not aware such acts were punishable under the law, and they are ex post facto to [him] U.S. CONST. ART. I SECT. 10, and IND. CONST. ART. I, SECT. ⅝” Appellant’s Brief at 10.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
994 N.E.2d 1166, 2013 WL 3191720, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 301, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniel-j-hollen-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2013.