Geiger v. State

866 N.E.2d 830, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 1081, 2007 WL 1490476
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 23, 2007
Docket31A01-0610-CR-427
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 866 N.E.2d 830 (Geiger 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
Geiger v. State, 866 N.E.2d 830, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 1081, 2007 WL 1490476 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

BAKER, Chief Judge.

Appellant-defendant Derek Scott Geiger appeals his convictions and sentences for two counts of Impersonating a Public *833 Servant, 1 a class D felony, two counts of Criminal Confinement, 2 a class B felony, two counts of Criminal Recklessness, 3 a class D felony, and one count of Unlawfully Pointing a Firearm, 4 a Class A misdemeanor. Specifically, Geiger argues that (1) the State violated the trial court’s pretrial discovery order, thereby denying him a fair trial, (2) his two convictions for impersonating a public servant were improper, (3) the trial court erred when it ordered his twelve-year sentence to run consecutively to a sentence imposed by the Floyd County trial court, and (4) his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and his character. Concluding that Geiger can only be convicted of one count of impersonating a public servant pursuant to Indiana Code section 35-44-2-3 but finding no other error, we direct the trial court to vacate Geiger’s conviction for Count II and affirm the judgment of the trial court in all other respects.

FACTS 5

On July 22, 2005, James and Beth Skaggs left their home in Harrison County at approximately 5:00 a.m. to drive to work. As they exited them driveway, Beth observed a Land Rover in the distance, which she considered unusual because of the early hour and the couple’s rural location. As the vehicle erratically approached the Skaggses, Beth said, “Honey, pull over and let these idiots pass us.” Tr. p. 314. James and Beth immediately noticed that the vehicle had flashing “small blue and red lights” in the front windshield, and Beth told James, “I bet it’s police officers.” Id. James pulled over to the side of the road and two men with firearms exited the Land Rover, quickly approached the Skaggses’ vehicle, and yelled, “Get out of the f*cking car. Get out of the f*cking car now.” Id. at 315. Two other men remained near the Land Rover.

As the Skaggses exited their vehicle, Geiger approached James, pointed a nine-millimeter Glock handgun at him, told him that the men were with the “narcotics drug force,” and alerted him that he and his wife were under suspicion for “livfing] in a known meth house.” Id. at 330. Geiger, who was wearing a shirt displaying a police logo, proceeded to frisk James. Meanwhile, the man near Beth asked for her identification and bankcard, and both men searched Beth’s bag and the vehicle’s glove box. Suddenly, a man near the Land Rover who appeared to be on a police radio said, “Come on, let’s go. We got a call. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” Id. at 332. The four men immediately returned to the Land Rover and drove away.

Although Beth and James were both distressed, they did not immediately call the police because they believed that the four men had been police officers. However, when Beth told her brother-in-law, Jim Sleucher, about the incident, Sleucher contacted the Harrison County Police Department and learned that there had not been a police stop near the Skaggses’ home that *834 morning. Officer Michael Kurz spoke to the Skaggses, and on July 31, 2005, James selected Geiger’s photograph from a photographic array. James identified Geiger as the man who pointed the gun at him and frisked him during the incident.

As the police began to investigate, they learned that police stops had also been feigned in Floyd County and Clark County that same day. 6 Floyd County Police Department Officer Thad Neafus obtained a search warrant for Geiger’s residence and his vehicle, a Land Rover. A search of Geiger’s residence uncovered red and blue strobe lights and copies of two books commonly read by law enforcement officers at the Indiana State Police Academy. A search of Geiger’s vehicle uncovered a loaded nine-millimeter Glock handgun.

On July 31, 2005, Floyd County Police Department Officer Russell Wyatt conducted an interview with Geiger. After receiving the Miranda 7 warnings and signing a waiver, Geiger admitted that he had been present during the Harrison County incident and that he was the owner of the Glock handgun that had been brandished during the encounter. However, Geiger insisted that he had remained in the backseat of the Land Rover during the incident. Geiger identified the three other men and told Officer Wyatt where he could find the police gear that the men had worn.

On August 22, 2005, the State charged Geiger with Counts I and II — class D felony impersonating a public servant— Counts III and IV — class B felony criminal confinement — Counts V and VI — -class A misdemeanor unlawfully pointing a firearm — and Counts VTI and VIII — class D felony criminal recklessness.

Geiger filed a motion for discovery and production of evidence on November 16, 2005, requesting, among other items, all recorded statements that Geiger had made to the police. The trial court granted Geiger’s motion that same day. The State filed a notice of compliance on December 1, 2005, which stated that if the State found “additional information or facts which are subject to or covered by such order, the State will promptly notify the court and Defense Attorney [of] its existence thereof.” Appellant’s App. p. 31.

On Friday, August 11, 2006 — four days before the jury trial was scheduled to begin — the prosecutor received a videotape of Geiger’s July 31, 2005, statement to the Floyd County Police Department (the videotape). It was the first time that the prosecutor had seen the videotape, and he immediately contacted Geiger’s defense counsel, Nicolas Haverstock, and invited him to view the videotape that afternoon. Haverstock declined the invitation.

On August 11, 2006, Susan Schultz — who had represented Geiger in the Floyd County litigation — entered an appearance as co-counsel for Geiger. On August 15, 2006, the trial court held a hearing regarding pending motions in limine, including Geiger’s motion to exclude the videotape because the State had not produced it earlier. After hearing evidence from both parties, the trial court ruled that the portions of the videotape regarding the Harrison County incident were admissible.

*835 A jury trial was held on August 15, 2006, and the jury acquitted Geiger of the class A misdemeanor unlawfully pointing a firearm at Beth charge but found him guilty of the seven remaining charges. On September 5, 2006, the trial court merged Counts VI, VII, and VIII with Counts I, II, and III, sentenced Geiger to an aggregate term of twelve years imprisonment for the offenses, and ordered that the sentence run consecutively to the sentence imposed by the Floyd County trial court. Geiger now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. The Videotape

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Related

Robertson v. State
871 N.E.2d 280 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
866 N.E.2d 830, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 1081, 2007 WL 1490476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/geiger-v-state-indctapp-2007.