Freeman v. State

658 N.E.2d 68, 1995 Ind. LEXIS 166, 1995 WL 689769
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 22, 1995
Docket02S03-9511-CR-1307
StatusPublished
Cited by65 cases

This text of 658 N.E.2d 68 (Freeman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Freeman v. State, 658 N.E.2d 68, 1995 Ind. LEXIS 166, 1995 WL 689769 (Ind. 1995).

Opinions

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

Appellant Todd E. Freeman was convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. His offense normally would have been a class A misdemeanor, but the trial court enhanced it to a class D felony based on his prior similar convictions. The court enhanced his sentence a second time after adjudging him a habitual substance offender. He claims this was error. We agree.

I. Statement of Facts

In December 1989 the police arrested Freeman for driving his automobile while intoxicated. The State charged Freeman in a single count, with three contentions. First, the State alleged that Freeman operated his vehicle while intoxicated, Ind.Code Ann. § 9-

[69]*6911-22 (West Supp.1988),1 a class A misdemeanor. Second, the State alleged Freeman's offense should be enhanced to a class D felony because he had previously been convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, citing Ind.Code Ann. § 9-11-2-3 (West Supp.1988)2 Third, the State asserted Freeman was a habitual substance offender in violation of Ind.Code Ann. § 35-50-2-10 (West Supp.1994).3

Freeman subsequently entered into a plea agreement under which he pled guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a class D felony. In exchange the State agreed to a sentence of three years, with two years suspended. It also agreed to defer conditionally any proceedings on the habitual substance offender charge for four years, during which Freeman was to complete an aleohol abuse program. The court approved this agreement and entered judgment in accordance with it. The court also suspended Freeman's driving privileges for one year.

In July 1993, the court revoked Freeman's probation after he violated its terms. Accordingly, the court ordered the original three year sentence to be served and resumed proceedings on the habitual offender claim. After finding Freeman to be a habitual substance offender, the court enhanced his sentence by one year.

Freeman appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed his conviction but found the habitual substance offender enhancement was improper. Freeman v. State (1995), Ind. App., 647 N.E.2d 1134. We grant the State's petition for transfer.

We consolidate the issues as follows: (1) Whether the trial court erred in enhancing Freeman's sentence a second time after finding him a habitual substance offender4 and (2) whether there was a factual basis for Freeman's guilty plea to the charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

We hold that the trial court erred in enhancing Freeman's sentence on the grounds he was a habitual substance offender. We agree with the Court of Appeals on the see-ond issue-that a factual basis did exist for Freeman's plea-and thus summarily affirm their determination. - Ind.Appellate Rule 11(B)(8).

II. Double Enhancement of Freeman's Penalty

Freeman claims the trial court twice enhanced his operating a vehicle while intoxicated ("O.W.I.") conviction: first, when it convicted him of the O.W.I. charge as a class D felony instead of a class A misdemeanor and, second, when it enhanced his sentence by adjudicating him a habitual substance offender. He contends the legislature did not intend the habitual substance offender enhancement to apply to O.W.I. convictions and alleges the second enhancement was therefore improper.5 We agree.

A. Overlapping Statutes

The General Assembly imposed a progressive punishment scheme for repeat offenses involving controlled substances when it enacted Ind.Code Ann. § 85-50-2-10 (West Supp.1994). A defendant who commits two unrelated substance offenses is subject to a sentence enhancement of up to eight years upon conviction for his third unrelated substance offense. Id. The statute broadly defines a "substance offense" as any "Class A misdemeanor or Class D felony involving the possession, use, abuse, delivery, transporta[70]*70tion, or manufacture of alcohol or drugs." Id. Based on the plain language of this statute, one who commits three unrelated substance offenses, such as operating a vehicle while intoxicated, is a habitual substance offender whose sentence the court may enhance. Id.

The habitual substance offender statute is not, however, the only code section in which the legislature prescribes progressive punishment. The General Assembly created a scheme with a similar result for defendants convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Ind.Code Ann. ch. 911-2 (West Supp.1988).6 This chapter provides that one who is convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and then is convicted again within five years, is guilty of a class D felony. Id. Without Section 9-11-2-8, a defendant would be convicted of a mere class A misdemeanor for both his first and subsequent offenses.7 Ind.Code Aun. § 9-11-2-8 (West Supp.1988).

As the language of Section 35-50-2-10 and Chapter 9-11-2 reveals, a person convicted of repeat offenses may be subject to the progressively severe punishments of both statutes. The question is whether the legislature intended such a result.

B. Legislative Intent

We have long held that when construing a statute, our primary goal is to determine and effect legislative intent. Park 100 Dev. Co. v. Indiana Dept of State Rev. (1981), Ind., 429 N.E.2d 220, 222 ("[The foremost objective of the rules of statutory construction is to determine and effect the true intent of the legislature."); State v. Gilbert (1966), 247 Ind. 544, 219 N.E.2d 892 (court must determine legislative intent in construing statutes). Moreover, where two statutes address the same subject, they are in pari materia, and we strive to harmonize them where possible. Schrenker v. Clifford (1979), 270 Ind. 525, 387 N.E.2d 59.

The legislature is presumed to have existing statutes in mind when it adopts a new law. See, eg., McClarnon v. Stage (19839), 215 Ind. 157, 19 N.E.2d 252. When the statutes cannot be harmonized, however, and the legislature dealt with a subject in a detailed manner in one statute and in a general manner in the other, the detailed statute will supersede the general one. Sanders v. State (1984), Ind., 466 N.E.2d 424.

The two statutes at issue are difficult to harmonize. Both constitute a progressive scheme of justice which attaches at the defendant's first O.W.I. conviction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
658 N.E.2d 68, 1995 Ind. LEXIS 166, 1995 WL 689769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/freeman-v-state-ind-1995.