DeWeese v. State

296 N.E.2d 128, 156 Ind. App. 277, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 1116
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 21, 1973
DocketNo. 1-1272A118
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 296 N.E.2d 128 (DeWeese 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
DeWeese v. State, 296 N.E.2d 128, 156 Ind. App. 277, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 1116 (Ind. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

Lowdermilk, J.

Defendant-appellant was convicted by jury of the offense of armed robbery and the trial court entered a judgment on the jury’s verdict and passed sentence on the defendant, fixing his punishment for a period of not less than ten (10) years nor more than twenty-five (25) years.

[278]*278Motion to correct errors was timely filed and the appeal was perfected and is reported in 282 N.E.2d at page 828 in an opinion by Justice Givan. In that opinion Justice Givan stated that the defendant was entitled to the benefit of the 1969 amendment to the statute under which defendant-appellant had been charged and tried and that under the 1969 amendment the penalty as provided by statute was lowered from ten (10) to twenty-five (25) years to not less than five (5) nor more than twenty-five (25) years. MacTate v. State (1971), 256 Ind. 55, 267 N.E.2d 76.

Our Supreme Court then remanded the cause to the trial court for correction of appellant’s sentence to a term of not less than five (5) nor more than twenty-five (25) years and further held: “The trial court is in all other things affirmed.”

The trial judge, in compliance with the mandate of our Supreme Court, on June 30, 1972, entered a new judgment in the first trial of the cause, showing that the defendant was committed “. . . for a period of not less than five (5) years nor more than twenty-five (25) years and that defendant satisfy the costs and charges herein.”

The same judgment discloses that the court advised the defendant, under Supreme Court Criminal Rule 11 as to his rights for a new trial and that the defendant stated he desired to file a motion to correct errors after which the court immediately instructed trial counsel for the defendant that it was his duty to file a timely motion to correct errors.

The court went further and informed the defendant that he had been found guilty of robbery on February 23,1971, and sentenced on March 9,1971, to not less than 10 years nor more than 25 years in the Indiana Youth Center. He further instructed the defendant that sentence had been modified and corrected pursuant to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Indiana and that sentence was then not less than five nor more than twenty-five years. He further instructed defendant the law was not completely clear as to whether or not defendant had a right of appeal of a corrected sentence but should there [279]*279be such a right as might be disclosed by research, then the defendant had the right to pursue the further remedy by filing a motion to correct errors and appealing to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Indiana.

On interrogation by his counsel defendant informed counsel and the court that he wanted an appeal and requested counsel to file motion to correct errors.

Mr. John D. Clouse, attorney for the defendant, very graciously informed the court that if the defendant desired an appeal he would, as his attorney, perfect the appeal and requested the record to show that although he would willingly perfect the appeal he did not expect to be paid therefor and was waiving any fee to which he might later be entitled.

Defendant’s counsel timely filed motion to correct errors, to which the State filed an affidavit in opposition. Hearing was had thereon, and the defendant called the bailiff of the Vanderburgh Superior Court as a witness to prove charges in the motion to correct errors and the supporting affidavit that the bailiff had, while the jury was deliberating, taken the jury on a tour of the Vanderburgh County Jail, which action of the bailiff is now charged by the defendant as being prejudicial to the defendant in the trial of his cause.

The motion to correct errors was overruled, defendant filed a petition for pauper appeal and the same was granted, with defendant’s counsel accepting the appointment as pauper attorney to perfect the appeal and restating that he would do so without compensation.

Defendant-appellant now contends that he is entitled to a second appeal after the modification of his sentence by the trial court, and for the further reason that when the bailiff took the jury on a tour of the Vanderburgh County Jail during the progress of defendant’s trial, it was. a clear violation of the defendant’s statutory and constitutional rights and he is entitled to a new trial.

This question was passed upon by our Supreme Court in the first appeal in DeWeese v. State (1972), 258 Ind. 520, 282 [280]*280N.E.2d 828, with the court ruling against the defendant-appellant and we shall not attempt to change the well reasoned opinion of our Supreme Court.

This appeal concerns itself with one question only and that is whether defendant is entitled to a review of the issue presented in the motion to correct errors which he filed on August 24, 1972, which motion sets forth an issue identical to the issue presented in the original motion to correct errors of April 20,1971, as reported in DeWeese v. State, supra.

The State contends that this issue having been considered and determined by our Supreme Court is now res judicata as to that issue.

The State further contends that under Rule AP. 4(A) an appeal can only be taken from a final judgment; that the first judgment was final and resolved all issues between the parties and represented final judgment of defendant’s guilt and that the modification of the judgment in no way altered the prior adjudication of the issues in the case.

Defendant-appellant contends there is a right to appeal from a modified or corrected sentence or judgment and there is a right to appeal in such circumstances as exist in the case at bar. He relies on the case of Cleavenger v. Rueth (1968), 144 Ind. App. 1, 242 N.E.2d 379.

The first appeal in Cleavenger v. Rueth (1962), 134 Ind. App. 18, 185 N.E.2d 305, shows, in an opinion by Judge Ryan, that the record was in such condition this court could not determine the issues and contentions. However, this court offered the trial court an opportunity to more adequately express its conclusions and remanded to the trial court with instructions to set aside the judgment appealed from and render its judgment as the court may deem appropriate to definitely and explicitly state its ultimate judicial conclusions. It appears to us that in Cleavenger the great difficulty was in the amount of the judgment which would necessarily have been changed on the remand, as we understand in reading the opinion.

[281]*281In Cleavenger the action was instituted in 1954 on a contract, was tried and appealed to this court and remanded to the trial court in 1962 with no further action taken until 1968, when this court received a transcript of the record filed in this court on March 29, 1968, and dated March 28, 1965. The transcript was fraught with defects and this court could not pass on the case and dismissed the second appeal.

Cleavenger, as contended by defendant-appellant, does bear implication that there is a right to appeal under such circumstances as exist in the case at bar.

We can and do distinguish Cleavenger

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Related

Harris v. State
643 N.E.2d 309 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
296 N.E.2d 128, 156 Ind. App. 277, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 1116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deweese-v-state-indctapp-1973.