Horne v. State

572 N.E.2d 1333, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 945, 1991 WL 101657
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 12, 1991
Docket20A03-9001-CR-00021
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 572 N.E.2d 1333 (Horne 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
Horne v. State, 572 N.E.2d 1333, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 945, 1991 WL 101657 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

RUCKER, Judge.

Appellant-Defendant Michael B. Horne received a traffic citation for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, a Class C infraction.2 At Horne's request the cause was tried to a jury which found him liable and assessed judgment in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400.00). Horne appeals the jury's verdict raising four issues for our review, which we restate as follows:

1. Whether the trial court erred in permitting the jury to determine the monetary judgment entered against Horne.

2. Whether the evidence is sufficient to support the monetary judgment of $400.00.

3. Whether the trial court erred in refusing Horne's tendered instructions concerning the standard of care owed by the driver of an emergency vehicle.

4. Whether the evidence is sufficient to support the jury verdict.

We affirm.

On May 12, 1989, at approximately 11:80 p.m., Martin McCloskey, a patrolman with the Elkhart city Police Department, received a dispatch of a burglary in progress. In response to the dispatch, Officer McCloskey activated his red lights, and proceeded southbound on Main Street.

Officer McCloskey was traveling between 20 and 25 miles per hour when he approached the intersection of Main Street and Lexington. He checked for cross traf-fie and then entered the intersection. Horne, who was driving eastbound on Lexington, also entered the intersection. AL though Officer McCloskey tried to avoid a collision, he struck the rear panel, passenger side, of Horne's vehicle.

At the scene Horne was cited for disregarding an automatic signal and for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

[1335]*1335At trial, the jury found Horne not liable for disregarding an automatic signal, but liable for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. The jury assessed judgment in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400.00).

I.

Horne first contends that it is the function of the trial court and not the jury to impose fines for infractions. Therefore, Horne asserts, the trial court erred by permitting the jury to assess judgment against him.

In support of his argument, Horne relies on Ind.Code § 35-50-1-1 which dictates "'The court shall fix the penalty of and sentence a person convicted of an offense," and Ind.Code § 88-1-13-1 which states in part that "offense means a felony, a misdemeanor, an infraction or a violation of a penal ordinance." - Horne's contention therefore is that the foregoing statutes dictate the trial court should fix the penalties for an infraction.

Horne acknowledges the legislature amended the traffic code in 1981, and in so doing decriminalized violations of traffic offenses. Horne argues, however, that Ind.Code § 33-1-13-1 has neither been repealed nor amended and therefore infractions are still intended to be criminal in nature, at least as to sentencing. Horne contends that the legislature, in decriminalizing traffic offenses, did not anticipate allowing juries to determine the penalty for infractions.

Horne shores up his argument with citation to Indiana case law which precludes jury sentencing. Prior to 1977, the jury was empowered to assess the amount of fine and punishment upon a criminal conviction. See Kocher v. State (1979), 270 Ind. 661, 389 N.E.2d 18, rek. den. This authority was removed from the jury with the enactment of Ind.Code § 85-50-1-1. Consistent with that statutory mandate, our supreme court determined that since juries no longer fulfill any function regarding sentencing, the amount of penalty prescribed by the legislature is irrelevant. Debose v. State (1979), 270 Ind. 675, 389 N.E.2d 272. The rule in Debose was affirmed in Burgess v. State (1983), Ind., 444 N.E.2d 1193, where the supreme court held that the penalty prescribed by the legislature for a crime is irrelevant to jurors in performance of their duty to assess guilt and they should be oblivious to the legislature's punishment scheme since judges rather than juries fix sentences. Id.

While Horne's argument is seductive, we are nonetheless compelled to reject it. Pri- or to September 1, 1981, all traffic offenses were criminal in nature and therefore subject to the prohibition against juries being advised of the punishment scheme for violations of criminal offenses. However, certain traffic offenses have been reclassified as infractions and their enforcement is no longer conducted in accordance with the Rules of Criminal Procedure but rather their enforcement is conducted in accordance with Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. See Ind.Code § 34-4-32-1. By permitting the jury to assess the fine in this case, the trial court's actions were consistent with the rules of civil procedure.

Further, in 1983, the legislature enacted Ind.Code § 35-41-1-19 which dictates "[olffense means a crime. The term does not include an infraction." Although Ind. Code § 838-1-18-1, on which Horne relies, includes "infraction" as a part of its definition of "offense", this statute does not control our determination of the case before us.

In construing a statute, this court must give effect to the legislative intent. Barr v. State (1980), Ind.App., 400 N.E.2d 1149, trans. den. Statutes dealing with the same subject matter will be construed as being harmonious, if possible; but when there is an irreconcilable conflict, the statute which is more recent and specific will control over the statute which is older and more general. State v. Souder (1983), 444 N.E.2d 891; Connell v. City of Logansport (1979), Ind.App., 397 N.E.2d 1058.

Indiana Code § 338-1-13-1 was enacted in 1977, and by its very terms is a definitional statute of "General Applicability". On the other hand, Ind.Code § 85-41-1-19, also a definitional statute, was enacted in 1983 [1336]*1336and is specifically applicable throughout Title 35 and "all other statutes relating to penal offenses". See Ind.Code § 35-41-1-3. Hence, the more recent definition of "offense" controls in this case and accordingly an infraction is not an "offense".

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

Related

Robert E. Dunham v. State of Indiana
119 N.E.3d 117 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019)
Schumm v. State
866 N.E.2d 781 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)
Lepucki v. Lake County Sheriff's Department
801 N.E.2d 636 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2004)
Turner v. Sheriff of Marion County
94 F. Supp. 2d 966 (S.D. Indiana, 2000)
Hendrickson v. Peabody Coal Co.
37 F. Supp. 2d 947 (W.D. Kentucky, 1997)
State v. Hurst
674 N.E.2d 622 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1996)
Hellyer Communications, Inc. v. WRC Properties, Inc.
888 F. Supp. 94 (S.D. Indiana, 1995)
Pannarale v. State
627 N.E.2d 828 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1994)
In Re Wardship of RB
615 N.E.2d 494 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1993)
In re Wardship of R.B., S.B., M.Q.B., M.K.B., & J.B.
615 N.E.2d 494 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1993)
Horne v. State
572 N.E.2d 1333 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
572 N.E.2d 1333, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 945, 1991 WL 101657, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/horne-v-state-indctapp-1991.