Jamal R. Smith v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided January 28, 2020·No. 19A-CR-881·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED

regarded as precedent or cited before any Jan 28 2020, 10:56 am

court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK Indiana Supreme Court

the defense of res judicata, collateral Court of Appeals and Tax Court

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Stephen Gerald Gray Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Ian McLean

Supervising Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Jamal R. Smith, January 28, 2020 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

19A-CR-881

v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court

State of Indiana, The Honorable Appellee-Plaintiff Alicia Gooden, Judge The Honorable

Richard Hagenmaier, Magistrate Trial Court Cause No.

49G21-1710-F2-42053

Vaidik, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-881 | January 28, 2020 Page 1 of 19

Case Summary

[1] Jamal R. Smith appeals his convictions and sentence for Level 2 felony dealing

in a narcotic drug and Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Specifically, Smith contends that (1) the trial court erred by admitting evidence from searches he claims violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, (2) the trial court erred by admitting a recording of his on-scene interview in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, (3) the trial court erred in finding him to be a habitual offender when he did not personally waive his right to a jury trial for the habitual- offender charge, and (4) his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and his character. We affirm the convictions but reverse the trial court’s habitual-offender finding and the twenty-year enhancement imposed as a result and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings.

Facts and Procedural History [2] In 2010, Smith was convicted of Class B felony dealing in cocaine and

sentenced to ten years executed in the Department of Correction. In March 2017, the trial court modified Smith’s sentence so that he would be released on parole. As part of his parole, Smith agreed to abide by several conditions, including that he would obtain written permission from his parole officer before changing his residence, that he would not possess controlled substances, and that he would not engage in conduct prohibited by federal or state law or local ordinance. See Suppression Hr’g Ex. 1. Smith also agreed Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-881 | January 28, 2020 Page 2 of 19 that my person and residence or property under my control may be subject to reasonable search by my supervising officer or authorized official of the Department of Correction if the officer or official has reasonable cause to believe that the parolee is violating or is in imminent danger of violating a condition to remaining on parole.

Id.

[3] Initially, Smith requested to live at a house on White Avenue in Indianapolis, but his parole officer denied that request. Instead, Smith’s parole officer approved him to live only at a house on Goodlet Avenue. In October 2017, Smith’s parole officer received hospital-discharge documents showing that Smith’s address was on White Avenue. Thereafter, Smith’s parole officer requested a compliance check of the White Avenue address, suspecting that Smith was in violation of his parole by living at an unapproved address.

[4] On October 27, four parole officers went to the house on White Avenue. When they arrived, they knocked on the door and identified themselves as parole officers. After about five minutes, Smith came to the door. When he opened the door, the parole officers immediately smelled marijuana. Smith was dressed only in his underwear and told the parole officers that he had just woken up. The parole officers explained why they were there, and Smith let them inside. Once inside, the parole officers went through the house to see if anyone else was inside. During this sweep, one of the parole officers saw marijuana and paraphernalia on a table in one of the rooms. After they completed their sweep and found that no one else was inside the home, the Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-881 | January 28, 2020 Page 3 of 19 parole officers called the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to report their discovery of marijuana and paraphernalia.

[5] Detective Christopher Cooper responded, and once he arrived, the parole officers took him to the room where they had seen the marijuana and paraphernalia. Detective Cooper then went to his police car and began applying for a search warrant. As Detective Cooper was completing the application for a search warrant, other IMPD officers arrived and waited outside the house. Once the search warrant was granted, Detective Cooper went back inside, turned on his recording device, and read the search warrant and Smith’s Miranda rights to him. After he finished, the following exchange occurred:

Detective Cooper: Okay, alright, want to talk to me about anything in this house right now?

Smith: No.

Detective Cooper: Alright, I’ll come talk to you here in a minute, if you have any questions just ask me.

Ex. 25, Int. 3 at 1:24-1:27 (recorded on scene). Detective Cooper then searched Smith, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, and his chair. Inside the wheelchair’s cushion, Detective Cooper found $2,960. Another IMPD officer felt a large lump inside a different seat cushion in a laundry basket. He opened the cushion and found bundles of cash totaling approximately $50,000. A third

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-881 | January 28, 2020 Page 4 of 19

IMPD officer searched the front closet. While he was searching, a bag of white powder, a sock, and a scale fell out of the closet. The powder was later analyzed and found to be 176.30 grams of heroin and fentanyl. IMPD officers also found numerous documents belonging to Smith, including a certificate of title to his car, a bank statement addressed to Smith, his birth certificate, and his Social Security card. See Exs. 19-22. Throughout the search, Smith told the officers that the money and marijuana belonged to his brother, Jamil Buchanan, and that the heroin and fentanyl was not his.

[6] At some point during the search, Buchanan arrived and told the officers that his mother (who is also Smith’s mother) owns the White Avenue house and that Buchanan rented it from her. As Buchanan arrived, one of the officers remarked, in Smith’s presence, “I say you snatch his brother up too since he said it’s his brother’s weed.” Ex. 25, Int. 4 at 43:25. When Smith again claimed that the marijuana was his brother’s, the same IMPD officer said, “so it’s your brother’s? Where’s he at, snatch his ass up.” Id. at 44:49. Detective Cooper then interviewed Buchanan. After reading him his Miranda rights, Detective Cooper told him what they had found inside the house. Detective Cooper also told Buchanan that Smith claimed that neither the drugs nor the money belonged to Smith. Thereafter, Buchanan and Smith got into an argument over why Smith did not change his address and, eventually, Smith admitted that “all the drugs” belonged to him. Ex. 25, Int. 5 at 30:03.

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