Green v. State

403 N.E.2d 897, 75 Ind. Dec. 589, 1980 Ind. App. LEXIS 1429
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 29, 1980
DocketNo. 1-1179A310
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 403 N.E.2d 897 (Green 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
Green v. State, 403 N.E.2d 897, 75 Ind. Dec. 589, 1980 Ind. App. LEXIS 1429 (Ind. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

RATLIFF, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Thomas J. Green was convicted of the offense of operating a motor vehicle when adjudged an habitual traffic offender under Ind.Code 9-4-13-131 and received a sentence of two (2) years with all but one hundred eighty (180) days suspended. He appeals said conviction. We affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The facts most favorable to the State as disclosed by the evidence are that Green was adjudged an habitual traffic offender by the Rush Circuit Court on October 5, 1976, pursuant to a written order entered by the court reading as follows:

“ORDER OF SUSPENSION

Comes now the State of Indiana, Ex. Rel., Ralph W. Vannatta, Commissioner of Bureau of Motor Vehicles of the State of Indiana, by William B. Keaton, Prosecuting Attorney, and comes now the respondent, Thomas J. Green, in person. This matter having been set for hearing and the Court having heard evidence on the petition heretofore, filed now finds that the allegations of the petition are true. The Court further finds that on the date of the filing of the petition herein the respondent was a resident of Rush County, Indiana. The Court further finds that the respondent, Thomas J. Greene, is an habitual traffic offender as defined by I.C: § 9-4-13-1 et seq.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the Court that the driving privileges of Thomas J.
Green be and hereby are suspended for a period of ten (10) years. It is further ordered that the Clerk of the Rush Circuit Court deliver a certified copy of this order to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles of the State of Indiana, and a copy of this order to William B. Keaton, Prosecuting Attorney, 65th Judicial Circuit, and the respondent herein.”

A certified copy of the order was introduced in evidence through testimony of the Clerk of the Rush Circuit Court, and the official court reporter of that court testified that Green, the defendant in this case, was the same person as the one who was subject to the said order.

On May 30, 1978, Green’s next-door neighbor, Shaw, who was also a special deputy sheriff in Rush.County, saw Green get into his pickup truck and drive away. Shaw notified the Rushville police. Thereafter, Captain Sheehan of the Rushville police department saw Green driving his truck on the city streets in Rushville, followed him over streets and an alley to Green’s place of business, and observed Green, the sole occupant of the truck, emerge from the truck and go to the building. Sheehan asked Green what he was doing driving, and Green responded that he was tired of walking. Sheehan knew that Green had been adjudged an habitual traffic offender and arrested Green for the offense which is the subject of this action. Green testified in his own behalf, and, on cross-examination, admitted that the order adjudging him to be an habitual traffic offender was still in effect.

ISSUES

1. Whether the evidence to support the conviction is insufficient in that the State did not establish by any evidence that Green, having been adjudged an habitual traffic offender, operated a motor vehicle [899]*899required to be registered, on a public thoroughfare while the order of the court prohibiting such operation remained in effect.

2. Whether the judgment is contrary to law in that there was no evidence that there was in effect an order directing Green not to operate a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of this state for a period of ten (10) years.

DECISION

Issues One and Two

Green raises essentially the same question by both specifications of error, namely that the judgment is not supported by sufficient evidence and is contrary to law because there is no evidence that there was in effect any court order directing Green not to operate a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of this state for a period of ten (10) years. We disagree.

The statute upon which this prosecution is based (IC 9 — 4-13-13), makes it a crime for any person who has been adjudged an habitual traffic offender under IC 9-4-13-1 to 9-4-13-18 to operate any motor vehicle, which is required to be registered, on public thoroughfares or certain designated private property while the order of the court prohibiting such operation remains in effect. The order of court prohibiting such operation is required by IC 9 — 4-13-102 which reads, insofar as applicable, as follows:

“At the time and place designated in the order, the court shall hold a hearing upon the show cause order. If the court finds that the defendant is not the person named in the abstracts, or that he is not an habitual traffic offender as defined in section 3(a) [9-4-13-3(a)], the proceeding shall be dismissed. If the court finds that the defendant is the same person named in the abstracts and that the defendant is an habitual traffic offender as defined in section 3(a), the court shall so find and adjudge the defendant an habitual traffic offender, and shall by appropriate order direct the person so adjudged to surrender to the court his license to operate a motor vehicle, and by further order direct the person so adjudged not to operate a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of this state for a period of ten [10] years . . . .” (Emphasis added.)

As pointed out in our statement of facts the order in this case provides “that the driving privileges of Thomas J. Green be and hereby are suspended for a period of ten (10) years.” (Emphasis added.) Green contends that this is not an order prohibiting him from operating a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of this state for a period of ten (10) years, and, consequently, there being no such order of prohibition, there can be no conviction in this case. For reasons which we shall state, we cannot accept Green’s interpretation of the court’s order.

The order in question suspended Green’s driving privileges for a period of ten (10) years. While we have not found or been directed to any Indiana case in which the meaning of such suspension is declared, courts in other jurisdictions have dealt with this precise issue. The Appellate Court of Illinois in People v. Dillingham, (1969) 111 Ill.App. 161, 249 N.E.2d 294, has held that a person whose operator’s license has been suspended is under a mandatory duty to cease driving. At 249 N.E.2d 296, that court said:

“While a mandatory duty to cease driving when confronted by police is a realistic standard for a unit of the offense of eluding police, it is irrelevant to the violation of driving on a suspended license as the defendant was under a mandatory duty to cease driving during the entire time he was operating his automobile regardless of any intervention of the police.” (Emphasis added.)

In holding that a person whose driver’s license was suspended was not a “qualified licensed driver” within the meaning of that term as used in an automobile rental con[900]*900tract, the Court of Appeals of Ohio in Hadden v. Curry Ford, Inc., (1970) 27 Ohio App.2d 132, 272 N.E.2d 901, 903, stated:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Boyles v. State
800 N.E.2d 616 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)
Guidry v. State
650 N.E.2d 63 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1995)
Weaver v. State
404 N.E.2d 1180 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
403 N.E.2d 897, 75 Ind. Dec. 589, 1980 Ind. App. LEXIS 1429, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-state-indctapp-1980.