Jason Dean Hubbell v. State of Indiana

58 N.E.3d 268, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 283, 2016 WL 4168752
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 5, 2016
Docket03A01-1511-PC-1927
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 58 N.E.3d 268 (Jason Dean Hubbell v. State of Indiana) 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
Jason Dean Hubbell v. State of Indiana, 58 N.E.3d 268, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 283, 2016 WL 4168752 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

BROWN, Judge.

[1] Jason Dean Hubbell appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. Hubbell raises three issues which we consolidate and restate as whether the trial court abused its discretion when it declined to take judicial notice of the record and whether the court denied Hubbell a fair hearing by refusing to obtain his direct appeal record from the Supreme Court Clerk. We reverse and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] The relevant facts as discussed in Hubbell’s direct appeal follow:

Sharon Myers left for work at the Arvin plant early on the morning of May 13, 1997. She never arrived. Another employee of Arvin, Sherry Young, saw a man and a woman leaving the Arvin plant as she arrived at work that same morning. The woman looked similar to Myers. The man had one hand on the woman’s neck or back, and the two entered a white van and drove away.
*270 The police came to the plant later that morning to look for Myers. Young had “mentally” made note of the license plate number and gave the police the number and a description of the van. The police traced the license plate number to a white van owned by Hubbell. Hubbell worked at the Arvin plant with Myers and had called in sick on May 13. Young then identified a picture of the van as the one she had seen that morning, and later that day identified Hub-bell when police presented him to her. In November 1997, skeletal remains were found in a marsh area in Johnson County and identified as Myers’ through dental records. An autopsy showed a fracture in the hyoid bone which, together with the size of a ligature found around Myers’ neck, indicated that the cause of death was manual strangulation.
Acrylic fibers found near the body were consistent with fibers found in Hubbell’s van. Grass fragments found in the search of the van were consistent with grass samples from the marsh. The FBI obtained fingerprints from the van and also shot several rolls of film of fingerprints that might or might not be different from the fingerprints taken. No prints from Myers were identified, and the authorities lost the rolls of film. On August 31, 1998, Hubbell was indicted by a grand jury on the charges of murder and criminal confinement. On September 28, Hubbell filed a notice of alibi, which he amended on October 15. The State did not respond. At trial, the State introduced parts of Hubbell’s statements made following a polygraph examination. The State also introduced testimony from a jail inmate that Hub-bell admitted the killing to him. Hub-bell was convicted of both charges after a four-week jury trial in October and November of 1999. The trial court sentenced him to sixty-five years for murder and ten years for confinement, to be served consecutively.

Hubbell v. State, 754 N.E.2d 884, 887-888 (Ind.2001) (footnote omitted). On direct appeal, Hubbell raised ten issues, and the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. Id. at 887.

[3] On May 24, 2002, Hubbell filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief under cause number 03C01-1504-PC-1915 (“Cause No. 1915”). On May 28, 2002, the court forwarded a copy of the petition to the State Public Defender. The public defender filed an appearance on behalf of Hubbell and later filed a motion to withdraw appearance. In February 2004, Daniel M. Grove filed an appearance on behalf of Hubbell.

[4] Meanwhile, an entry dated September 22, 2003, under the direct appeal cause number indicates that the transcript was released to the public defender’s office per request, and an entry dated March 9,2004, indicates that the transcript was returned. An entry dated March 22, 2006, indicates that Hubbell filed a petition to withdraw the record of proceedings. In an entry dated March 30, 2006, the Indiana Supreme Court issued an order that stated:

The Court finds it is not presently in need of the Record, accordingly, the Court grants the petition and directs the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Tax Court (“Clerk”) to release the Record to attorney Daniel M. Grove. Unless and until admitted as an exhibit in post-conviction proceedings, the Record is to remain under the attorney’s control at all times. Even if admitted as an exhibit in post-conviction proceedings, the Record shall be maintained intact. The attorney shall return the Record to the Clerk ... within six months from the date of this order or *271 sixty (60) days from the entry of the final post-conviction judgment, whichever occurs first. If the Record is not returned within six months from the date -of this order, the attorney shall petition the Court for additional time to return the Record, explaining why additional time is needed. In the event the Record is admitted as an exhibit in post-conviction proceedings and an appeal is taken from the post-conviction judgment, the Record shall be returned to the Clerk.... The Court grants leave for the Clerk to then transfer the Record to the Court of Appeals for use as a separately filed exhibit in that appeal. Once the decision in the post-conviction appeal has been certified as final, the Record shall return to the custodial care of the Clerk for handling consistent with usual practice.

Chronological Case Summary, Case No. 03S00-9912-CR-00714, Hubbell v. State, entry dated 03/30/2006 (capitalization removed).

[5] In May 2013, Hubbell sent a pro se motion to the Indiana Supreme Court requesting a copy of the Record of Proceedings from his direct appeal. Id., entry dated 05/22/2013. In response, the Supreme Court issued the following letter:

This letter is sent pursuant to the Supreme Court’s “Standing Order Governing the Release of Appellate Records for Copying” issued March 8, 2001. See, Cause No. 94S00-0103-MS-152. This letter pertains to the cause and moving party noted above, in accordance with the procedures prescribed in the standing order, please file-mark this letter, make an entry on the chronological case summary, and forward file-marked copies of this letter to the Indiana Public Defender, the Indiana Attorney General, to the moving party, and to any counsel of record. As further provided in the Standing Order, you are authorized to release the Appellate Record of Proceedings or Record on Appeal (“Record”) to representatives of the Indiana Public Defender who shall be responsible for returning it to you intact within 18 '■ weeks of the date of this letter. Within that time period, the Public Defender’s Office will make arrangements to provide a copy of the record to the moving party. However as the Standing Order further provides, if the Office of the Public Defender has agreed to serve as Appellant’s Counsel and Appellant wishes that representation to continue, then the Appellant is not entitled to a copy of the.Record, notwithstanding any language in this letter to .the- contrary.

Id., entry dated 06/03/2013 (capitalization removed).

[6] The “Standing Order” to which the Court referred provides:

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58 N.E.3d 268, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 283, 2016 WL 4168752, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jason-dean-hubbell-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2016.