Ervin v. State

303 N.E.2d 835, 158 Ind. App. 594, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 954
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 28, 1973
Docket2-673A130
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 303 N.E.2d 835 (Ervin 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
Ervin v. State, 303 N.E.2d 835, 158 Ind. App. 594, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 954 (Ind. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinions

Hoffman,

C.J.—This is an appeal from a judgment entered upon the verdict of a jury finding appellant guilty of entering to commit a felony.

The facts most favorable to the State show that when Charles Monger, Jr. (Monger) returned to his home from a weekend out of the city he discovered it had been burglarized. He called the police, and described the missing articles to them when they arrived shortly thereafter.

The officers who answered the call notified a task force that was in the area, and joined the task force in searching the area for suspects. One team of officers noticed an improperly parked car during the search, and stopped to investigate. Defendant-appellant Glenn Maxwell Ervin (Ervin) was standing next to the car, and two juveniles were in the car.

As the officers approached Ervin, he dropped a butcher knife to the ground which was later discovered to have been taken from Monger’s residence. In talking with the officers, Ervin admitted he owned the car. The officers then discovered items in the car which had been taken in the burglary. Monger was brought to the arrest scene, identified the items as his possessions, and also identified a brown jump suit and black leather coat worn by Ervin as belonging to him.

Acting upon information obtained from Ervin’s companions at the time of his arrest, the officers later recovered a television taken from Monger’s residence. Since Ervin and his companions had sold the television the previous night, Monger’s residence had apparently been burglarized on two consecutive nights. Ervin was 19 years of age at the time of the burglary.

Appellant-Ervin first assigns as error a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction in the trial court. This issue was not raised at trial, but may properly be considered herein.

[597]*597“Under the * Rules of Civil Procedure adopted January 1, 1970, the question of jurisdiction over the subject matter is usually raised either in a consolidated motion before answer or by the answer itself if no such motion is used. See Rule TR. 12. [Ind. Rules of Procedure.] However, this defense is available at any time before final decision and in any manner, and if not raised by a party it is our duty, sua sponte, to raise and determine it. Bohannan v. Bohannan (1961), 132 Ind. App. 504, 167 N.E.2d 717; State ex rel. Ayer v. Ewing, Judge (1952), 231 Ind. 1, 106 N.E.2d 441; Harvey’s Indiana Practice, Vol. 1, pp. 604-608. Unlike jurisdiction over the particular case, subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be imposed by mutual consent or waived. Indiana Real Estate Commission v. Blue (1963), 135 Ind. App. 121, 190 N.E.2d 32; State ex rel. Standard Oil Co. v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Sec. Div. (1951), 230 Ind. 1, 101 N.E.2d 60.” Decatur County R. E. Mem. Corp. v. Public Service Co. (1971), 150 Ind. App. 193, 275 N.E.2d 857, at 860, 28 Ind. Dec. 128 (transfer denied).

The primary jurisdictional issue Ervin presents is whether a criminal court should transfer jurisdiction over any minor who has been charged with an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult to the juvenile court. This question has been decided by our Supreme Court in State ex rel. Neel v. Criminal Court (1947), 225 Ind. 306, at 308, 74 N.E.2d 918, at 919, where it stated:

“The governing section of the act * * * makes it the duty of the court to transfer a pending criminal cause only when it is shown that the child involved was under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of the act of delinquency.” (Emphasis supplied.)

A secondary jurisdictional issue presented by Ervin is whether an act normally criminal in nature becomes for all purposes an act of delinquency when participated in by a juvenile and an adult, subjecting all persons involved in the act to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court until waived to criminal jurisdiction.

The statute setting out the pertinent portion of the jurisdiction of the juvenile court provides that,

[598]*598“A 'person subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court under this act * * * may be brought before it by either of the following means and no other:
“(a) By petition praying that the person be adjudged delinquent or dependent or neglected;
“(b) Certification and transfer from any other court before which any such person is brought charged with the commission of a crime.” (Emphasis supplied.) IC 1971, 31-5-7-7 (Burns Code Edition).

The jurisdiction of the juvenile court is couched in terms of “persons” and not “acts.” Clearly, the jurisdiction of such court cannot extend to a person over 18 years of age solely because that person co-acted with another person subject to its jurisdiction.

Such differential treatment for persons older and younger than 18 years of age raises no constitutional issues, even where the persons receiving differential treatment are co-participants.

Ervin next raises several issues which he denominates as “plain error.” Issues inherently revealed by the record in a criminal case may be considered on appeal even when not raised below, especially where a juvenile’s rights are involved. Summers v. State (1967), 248 Ind. 551, 230 N.E.2d 320; Ford v. State (1967), 248 Ind. 438, 229 N.E.2d 634; Wilson v. State (1943), 222 Ind. 63, 51 N.E.2d 848. However, the court may consider such issues only “when * * * they are clearly and adequately presented in appellant’s brief with supporting bill of exceptions.” Wilson v. State, supra, at 78 of 222 Ind., at 854 of 51 N.E.2d. However, not every case where a defendant’s attorney carelessly or ignorantly fails to preserve error for appeal calls for review. A substantial infringement of a defendant’s right to due process must be shown to invoke the plain error principle. Wilson v. State, supra.

[599]*599[598]*598Ervin first asserts as plain error the lack of a waiver of jurisdiction from juvenile court in the record. This constitutes [599]*599plain error, he contends, because it is conspicuous by reason of its absence. No waiver was necessary since Ervin was over 18 years of age and not subject to juvenile court jurisdiction for the offense charged.

Ervin next contends that several of the court’s instructions to the jury are improper on their face, and alludes that they constitute plain error.

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325 N.E.2d 214 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1975)
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317 N.E.2d 800 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1974)
Branan v. State
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Bailey v. State
314 N.E.2d 755 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1974)
Ervin v. State
303 N.E.2d 835 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
303 N.E.2d 835, 158 Ind. App. 594, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 954, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ervin-v-state-indctapp-1973.