Harris v. State

555 N.E.2d 495, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 676, 1990 WL 80787
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 14, 1990
DocketNo. 90A02-8810-CR-399
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 555 N.E.2d 495 (Harris 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
Harris v. State, 555 N.E.2d 495, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 676, 1990 WL 80787 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Robert K. Harris (Harris) appeals his conviction of operating a motor vehicle after suspension pursuant to I.C. 9-12-3-1(a)(1), a class D felony.

We reverse.

On June 8, 1987, a police officer stopped Harris for driving an all-terrain cycle on South Jefferson Street, also known as State Road One, in Ossian. The officer recognized that the driver of the vehicle was Harris. The officer asked Harris to produce his driver's license. Harris could not do so. The officer informed Harris that he could not operate an all-terrain cycle on the highway. Harris was subsequently charged with unlawfully operating a vehicle while his license was suspended pursuant to a determination by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMW) that Harris was an Habitual Traffic Violator.

The dispositive issue is whether the evidence was sufficient to establish that Harris had notice that he had been adjudged to be an habitual traffic violator, and that as a result, his driver's license was suspended.

In State v. Keihn (1989) Ind., 542 N.E.2d 963, our Supreme Court held that the State is required to prove that a defendant had actual knowledge that his license was suspended in order to be convicted of driving while suspended under I.C. 9-1-4-52.1 In so doing, the Court resolved the conflict among and between Burdine v. State (1989) 1st Dist. Ind.App., 510 N.E.2d [497]*4971385, Grogan v. State (1985) 1st Dist. Ind. App., 482 N.E.2d 300, Sewell v. State (1983) 3d Dist. Ind.App., 452 N.E.2d 1018, and Roberts v. State (1979) 4th Dist., 182 Ind.App. 430, 395 N.E.2d 802.

Burdine held that, before a defendant could be convicted under IL.C. 9-12-3-1 of driving after having been adjudged an habitual traffic offender, the State must prove that "the defendant knew or reasonably could have known that his driving privileges had been suspended as a result of having been determined to be an habit ual traffic offender." Burdine, supra, 510 N.E.2d at 1389.

Grogan, Sewell and Roberts all held that knowledge by the defendant of the suspension of his license was not an element of driving while suspended because the statute does not provide any mental state.

The Supreme Court, in Keikn re solved the conflict in favor of a modified Burdine approach.2

"We conclude, therefore, that in a prosecution under Ind.Code § 9-1-4-52 the State must prove the defendant's knowledge of the suspension of his license. To the extent that they are inconsistent with this opinion, Roberts, Sewell, and Grogan are overruled." Keihn, supra, 542 N.E.2d at 968.

In the present case, the State, following the Burdine holding, attempted to prove that Harris had knowledge that his license was suspended as a result of being adjudged to be an habitual traffic offender through the introduction of State's Exhibit 1. Exhibit 1 contains four parts: a letter from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles entitled "Habitual Traffic Violator Notice of Suspension" addressed to Robert K. Harris, Box 29, Ossian IN 46777; a "Certification of Mailing" signed by Kathy Webb; the top portion of defendant's driving record containing descriptive information; and a certification by Charles E. Layton, Commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, that the records comprising Exhibit 1 are "full, true and complete" copies of the records as they appear in the files of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Record at 180. A defendant's knowledge that his license has been suspended may be inferred from proof of notice mailed by the BMV. Keikn, supra, 542 N.E.2d 963, 968.

At trial, the State sought to introduce Exhibit 1 as a self-authenticated, certified document. Counsel for Harris objected on the basis that the foundation for the doe-ument was insufficient.

The State argued at trial and argues here that Exhibit 1 was admissible as an official record under I.C. 84-1-17-7 and Ind.Trial Rule 44 because the exhibit was certified by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. However, in Kin-kade v. State (1989) 2d Dist. Ind.App., 537 N.E.2d 541, we discussed the official records exception to the hearsay rule and its application to BMV records which show mailing of notice of suspension of license. There we noted that the official records exception applies only when there is a duty to record official doings. Such a duty may be provided by statute or necessarily implied, "i.e., when a record is essential to the purpose of the office." Kinkade, 537 N.E.2d at 548. However, with respect to notice of suspension by BMV,

"there is no statute imposing the duty to maintain records of mailing of notice. Neither is such a record essential to the purpose or operation of the office. The relevant duty here is the duty to suspend licenses of habitual traffic offenders. That duty requires notice; it is not dependent upon a record being maintained that notice was mailed. Rather, a record of mailing, if maintained, is for the con- ° venience of the BMV in leaving a paper trail to establish the fact of mailing should that act be relevant as, for example, if the act of mailing is disputed. As such, the record, if maintained, is more [498]*498properly a business record, and, indeed, is admissible as such if the proper foundation is made." Kinkade, 587 N.E.2d at 548.

Therefore, under Kinkade, neither the letter containing notice to Harris of his suspension, nor the "certification" of mailing by Kathy Webb qualify as an official record. They were therefore not admissible under the official records exception to the hearsay rule merely because they were certified by the BMV to be true and accurate copies.3

We next turn to whether the letter and certification of mailing were admissible under the business record exception to the hearsay rule. Under the business exception,

"documentary evidence is admissible if identified by its entrant or one under whose supervision it is kept and shown to be an original or first permanent entry, made in the routine course of business, at or near the time of the recorded transaction, by one having both a duty to so record and personal knowledge of the transaction represented by the entry." Baker v. Wagers (1984) 2d Dist. Ind. App., 472 N.E.2d 218, 221, quoting American United Life Ins. Co. v. Peffley (1973) 2d Dist., 158 Ind.App. 29, 36-37, 301 N.E.2d 651, 656.

See also, Perkins v. State (1985) Ind., 483 N.E.2d 1379. In the present case, Exhibit 1 was admitted as a self-authenticated document without testimony from a sponsoring witness. The State later called Mr. Marty Miller, Director of Safety Responsibility and Driver Improvement of the BMV. Mr. Miller's name appears on the bottom of the notice letter. Mr.

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Related

Okuly v. State
574 N.E.2d 315 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1991)
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Bluebook (online)
555 N.E.2d 495, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 676, 1990 WL 80787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-state-indctapp-1990.