Dix v. State

639 N.E.2d 363, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 1142, 1994 WL 464685
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 30, 1994
DocketNo. 89A01-9312-CR-399
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 639 N.E.2d 363 (Dix 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
Dix v. State, 639 N.E.2d 363, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 1142, 1994 WL 464685 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

ROBERTSON, Judge.

William Dix,; Jr. appeals his convictions of professional gambling and theft, class D felonies. He received concurrent sentences of one and one-half years' imprisonment. We affirm.

On April 3, 1992, Sergeant Max Pratt of the Muncie Police Department and President of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge #87 learned of a bingo operation in the City of Richmond which was being advertised as a fundraiser for the Muncie FOP. As an executive officer of the Muncie FOP, Pratt knew that use of the Muncie FOP bingo permit had not been authorized by the FOP's board, and that traditionally, local FOPs had observed the custom of holding fundraisers only in their own areas. Pratt notified Lieutenant Mark Smith of the Richmond Police Department of his intent to investigate the operation and proceeded to Richmond where he located the game.

When Sergeant Pratt arrived, 20-80 people were playing bingo. Sergeant Pratt met with the manager of the operation, an individual who represented himself to be Luther Ogletree, in a back room of the establishment. Defendant Dix was seated to the right, counting money. Sergeant Pratt told the individuals in the back room that they did not have the Muncie FOP's authority to use its permit, which had expired December 31, 1991, and removed a photocopy of the permit from the wall. Sergeant Pratt left with the photocopy of the expired permit and reported to Lt. Smith that he had taken the Muncie FOP's permit.

Lt. Smith, who was then in charge of special investigations and a member of the Richmond drug task force, decided to go to the establishment to determine whether the operation had any other permits. When he arrived, 200-250 people were playing bingo and other games of chance. When the operators of the games could not produce a valid permit, Lt. Smith shut the games down. Shortly thereafter, Dix was arrested.

Dix alleges in this appeal that:

(1) he was selectively prosecuted;
(2) prosecutorial misconduct deprived him of a fair trial;
(8) the trial court erroneously refused his tendered instruction by which he sought to define the term "control;"
[366]*366(4) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions of professional gambling and theft; and,
(5) the trial court committed reversible error in the denial of his post-trial petition for post-conviction relief.

I

Dix argues the trial court erroneously denied his motion to dismiss in which he alleged that the State of Indiana had engaged in selective prosecution in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Dix relied upon parts of the discovery deposition of Lieutenant Mark A. Smith, a police officer with the City of Richmond, to substantiate his claim. The State responded in writing to the motion but oral argument was not held. The trial court denied Dix's motion without a hearing following the pretrial conference.

A selective prosecution claim is judged according to traditional equal protection standards. Wayte v. United States (1985), 470 U.S. 598, 608, 105 S.Ct. 1524, 1531, 84 LEd.2d 547. These standards require Dix to show that the State's gambling enforcement policy "had a discriminatory effect and was motivated by a discriminatory purpose." Id. When the selection of the defendant for prosecution is not shown to be deliberately based upon an unjustifiable standard such as race, national origin, or religion, or undertaken in an effort to restrict the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights, the conscious exercise of some selectivity within the limits set by the legislature through the constitutionally valid definition of chargeable offenses is not in and of itself a federal constitutional violation. Bordenkircher v. Hayes (1978), 484 U.S. 357, 864, 98 S.Ct. 663, 668, 54 L.Ed.2d 604; Oyler v. Boles (1962), 368 U.S. 448, 456, 82 S.Ct. 501, 505, 7 L.Ed.2d 446.

The lower federal and state courts have read the Supreme Court cases to require proof of three elements by a selective prosecution claimant: (1) that other violators similarly situated are generally not prosecuted; (2) that the selection of the claimant for prosecution was intentional and purposeful; and, (8) that the selection of the claimant was pursuant to an arbitrary classification. See eg. Pruitt v. State (1990), Ind.App., 557 N.E.2d 684, 689, trans denied; United States v. Cyprian (N.D.Ind., 1991), 756 F.Supp. 388, 391. The selective prosecution claimant must set out in a written pretrial motion facts sufficient to demonstrate a pri-ma facie claim. The failure to allege facts to support each element of the claim subjects the motion to a summary dismissal, Pruitt, 557 N.E.2d 684; Albright v. State (1986), Ind.App., 501 N.E.2d 488, because grounds to support a finding of selective prosecution are lacking. Qyler, 368 U.S. at 456, 82 S.Ct. at 505.

Although Dix argues in his brief that certain persons associated with the Richmond Plaza bingo operation were prosecuted because of their non-caucasian races, Dix made no allegation in his motion and offered no evidence tending to establish that he was a member of a cognizable class of such persons, that the State had purposefully prosecuted him because of his race, or even that the State's enforcement behavior had had the discriminatory effect of singling out members of his race. The record tells us only that Dix is not a Caucasian. By failing to allege and prove that he was intentionally and purposefully prosecuted because of his race or some other arbitrary classification, Dix has not met his prima facie burden of proof.

Dix's evidence is also inconclusive as to whether or not other professional gamblers were. being prosecuted and discloses nothing about the nature of these purported gamblers' criminal activities such that a court could discern these violators to be similarly situated. During Lt. Smith's deposition, Dix's attorney did inquire about a number of establishments which he implied were operating illegally. The deposition questions and answers reflect that some of these establishments were under investigation by the Indiana State Police in cooperation with the Richmond Police Department, while others were being investigated solely by the Richmond Police. Lt. Smith declined to say whether charges had been initiated or would be forthcoming as a consequence of these investigations, only that the investigations [367]*367were continuing. No other evidence was offered.

Under traditional equal protection analysis, if a claimant cannot bring himself within a suspect classification, the State need only show that its enforcement criteria are rationally related to legitimate law enforcement objectives. United States v. Cyprian (N.D.Ind., 1991), 756 F.Supp. 388, 394. One such permissible objective is for the government to concentrate upon gross or substantial violations of statute or those violations which are more serious or of legitimate public concern as a means of deterring others. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
639 N.E.2d 363, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 1142, 1994 WL 464685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dix-v-state-indctapp-1994.