Kuhfahl v. State

710 N.E.2d 200, 1999 Ind. App. LEXIS 720, 1999 WL 274949
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 6, 1999
Docket3A01-9805-CR-185
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 710 N.E.2d 200 (Kuhfahl 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
Kuhfahl v. State, 710 N.E.2d 200, 1999 Ind. App. LEXIS 720, 1999 WL 274949 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

OPINION

GARRARD, Judge

Case Summary

Christopher Kuhfahl was found guilty of theft and was sentenced to a three year suspended sentence and placed on probation. As a condition of probation, Kuhfahl was placed in a work release program. Some time later, Kuhfahl attempted to enter a courthouse while carrying a knife, in violation of the terms of his probation. The trial court revoked Kuhfahl’s probation and ordered his sentence executed. Kuhfahl appeals and we affirm.

Issues

I. Whether the evidence was sufficient to revoke Kuhfahl’s probation.
II. Whether the trial court properly denied Kuhfahl credit time for pre-trial home detention.
III. Whether the trial court properly denied Kuhfahl credit time for time [201]*201spent on work release as a condition of probation.

Facts and Procedural History

On November 3, 1997, Kuhfahl pled guilty to theft, a Class D felony. The trial court sentenced Kuhfahl to three years, but suspended the sentence and placed him on probation for three years. As a condition of probation, the court placed Kuhfahl in a work release program for the first year of his probation, to be followed by a year of home detention. At sentencing, the trial court ordered Kuhfahl to “refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device or other dangerous weapon” as a condition of his probation. Approximately one month after sentencing, Kuhfahl entered the courthouse carrying a knife. Kuhfahl’s probation officer filed a petition to revoke Kuhfahl’s probation. The trial court revoked the probation and sentenced Kuhfahl to his suspended time. The court also gave Kuhfahl 122 days credit for time served in jail, but denied Kuhfahl credit for time spent on pretrial home detention and on the work release portion of his sentence.

Discussion and Decision

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence on Probation Revocation

A probation revocation hearing is in the nature of a civil proceeding and, therefore, need only be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. King v. State, 642 N.E.2d 1389, 1393 (Ind.Ct.App.1994). This court will neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Rather, we look to the evidence most favorable to the State. If there is substantial evidence of probative value to support the trial court’s decision that the probationer is guilty of a violation, revocation is appropriate. Morgan v. State, 691 N.E.2d 466, 468 (Ind.Ct.App.1998).

Here, Kuhfahl does not dispute the fact that he was carrying a knife. Rather, he argues that the knife possessed should not be considered a deadly weapon because he did not intend to use it as such. Instead, he claims, he was using it in his employment as a maintenance worker and had forgotten to remove it from his person before going to the courthouse to pay fines. While Kuhfahl is correct in asserting that “whether an object is or is not dangerous or a deadly weapon depends upon the manner in which it is used,” Dobbs v. State, 433 N.E.2d 848, 851-52 (Ind.Ct.App.1982), the inquiry here is not whether Kuhfahl’s knife was a deadly weapon, but whether his possession of it violated the terms of his probation. We conclude that it did.

At Kuhfahl’s sentencing hearing, he was informed that, as a condition of his probation, he was to “refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device or other dangerous weapon.” Record at 10 (emphasis added). There is no dispute that Kuhfahl was found in possession of a knife with a blade about four inches long, which can be considered a destructive device or a dangerous weapon. Therefore, the evidence is sufficient to support the trial court’s decision to revoke Kuhfahl’s probation. Kuhfahl argues that he was carrying the knife for work, not to harm anyone. In asking us to adopt this argument, however, Kuhfahl essentially asks us to reweigh the evidence and his credibility, which we decline to do on appeal.

II. Credit Time

A Pre-trial Home Detention

Kuhfahl first argues that the trial court erred by failing to credit him with time served on pre-trial home detention. We disagree. Under Indiana Code Section 35-50-6-3, a person may earn one day of credit time for each day he is imprisoned for a crime or confined awaiting trial or sentencing. However, our supreme court has recently held that a defendant in pre-trial home detention is not entitled to credit for time spent in home detention. Franklin v. State, 685 N.E.2d 1062, 1064 (Ind.1997). Therefore, the trial court did not err in denying Kuhfahl credit for time spent in pre-trial home detention.

B. Post-conviction Community Corrections Program

Kuhfahl also asserts that the trial court erred in denying him credit for time spent in [202]*202a post-conviction work release community corrections program as a condition of his probation. Indiana Code Section 35-38-2.6-3 authorizes the trial court to place an offender in a community corrections program, which may be a program consisting of residential and work release, electronic monitoring, or day reporting. A person who is placed in a community corrections program is entitled to earn credit time under Indiana Code Section 35-50-6 unless the person is placed in the person’s home. Ind.Code § 35-38-2.6-6(a) (emphasis added).1 Kuh-fahl concedes that he is not entitled to credit time under Indiana Code Section 35-50-6, but asserts that he is still entitled to earn credit for time served in the work release program.

Kuhfahl’s argument asks us to draw a distinction between “credit time” and “credit for time served” on his sentence. In determining whether Kuhfahl is entitled to credit for time served, we find Wharff v. State, 691 N.E.2d 205 (Ind.Ct.App.1998), trans. denied, instructive. In Wharff, the defendant Wharff pled guilty to burglary. The trial court sentenced him to five years, with the sentence suspended. Wharff was placed on probation for five years and, as a condition of probation, was placed on electronically monitored home detention. After a subsequent arrest, Wharffs probation was revoked and he was ordered to serve his five year sentence less the time that he had spent in jail before sentencing. Wharff, 691 N.E.2d at 205. Wharff argued that the trial court erred in denying him credit for the time served on home detention. While conceding that Indiana Code Section 35-38-2.6-6 precluded “good time” credit, Wharff asserted that he was entitled to receive credit for the actual time served. Id. at 206.

The Wharff court disagreed and held that Wharff was not entitled to credit for time served on home detention. In so holding, the court stated,

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Kuhfahl v. State
710 N.E.2d 200 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)

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Bluebook (online)
710 N.E.2d 200, 1999 Ind. App. LEXIS 720, 1999 WL 274949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kuhfahl-v-state-indctapp-1999.