McKnight v. State

787 N.E.2d 888, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 684, 2003 WL 1988552
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 25, 2003
Docket89A01-0209-CR-371
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 787 N.E.2d 888 (McKnight 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
McKnight v. State, 787 N.E.2d 888, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 684, 2003 WL 1988552 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Defendant, Matthew McKnight (McKnight), appeals the revocation of his probation for his convictions of *890 burglary, a Class B felony, Ind.Code § 35-43-2-1 and I.C. § 35-41-24, and attempted burglary, a Class B felony, 1.C. § 85-41-5-1, I.C. § 385-48-2-1 and IC. § 85-41-2-4.

We affirm.

ISSUES

McKnight raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as follows:

1. Whether the trial court violated his Fifth Amendment rights when it allowed the State to call him to testify about possible incriminating matters.

2. Whether the trial court properly revoked eighty-four months of his probation.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 7, 1998, the State filed an information against McKnight charging him with Count I, burglary, a Class B felony, and Count II, attempted burglary, a Class B felony. On December 3, 1998, McKnight signed a plea agreement. On December 11, 1998, a joint sentence ree-ommendation was filed.

On February 5, 1999, the trial court accepted McKnight's plea agreement and convicted him of Count I, burglary, a Class B felony, and Count II, attempted burglary, a Class B felony. The trial court sentenced McKnight to ten years with 100 months suspended on Count I and to ten years with 100 months suspended on Count II. The trial court further ordered McKnight to serve these sentences concurrently.

On May 3, 2001, the State filed a Petition to Revoke Probation. The petition alleged the following: McKnight, a minor, consumed aleohol and pled guilty to minor consuming alcoholic beverage, operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated, operated a vehicle without a drivers license, and operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance. Additionally, the petition claimed that McKnight failed to report to his probation officer. Specifically, McKnight attempted to deceive his probation officer, failed to pay his monthly probation fees, failed to perform his community service, and failed to show proof of gainful employment.

On August 21, 2002, a probation revocation hearing was held. The State called on McKnight to testify. McKnight objected on Fifth Amendment grounds. The trial court asked the State what kind of questions it planned on asking McKnight. Specifically, the State represented to the trial court that it intended to elicit testimony from McKnight regarding his prior arrest and conviction for minor consumption of an alcoholic beverage. Additionally, the State intended to ask McKnight about his arrest that led to the following charges: operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating a vehicle without a driver's license, and operating a vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance. The State informed the trial court that it did not intend to question McKnight about his culpability in these offenses. Moreover, the State wanted to ask McKnight about his probation violations. The trial court allowed the State to call McKnight on direct examination. The trial court informed McKnight's counsel that he could object to this testimony based on a Fifth Amendment violation after a question was asked. The trial court would then rule on the admissibility of each specific question.

McKnight testified that he was convicted of minor consumption of an alcoholic beverage, a Class C misdemeanor, on December 8, 2000. He also testified that after his arrest for the minor consumption charge, he informed his probation officer that he had not had any arrests or encounters with law enforcement. McKnight further admitted that he failed to attend meetings with his probation officer. Additionally, McKnight testified that on March *891 28, 2001, he encountered the Wayne County Sheriffs Department and that he was not certain whether he reported the encounter to his probation officer as required within seventy-two hours. He also testified that he failed to pay his probation user fees, to perform his community service, and to provide verification of employment.

Pamela Waters, McKnight's probation officer, also testified at the probation revocation hearing on August 21, 2002. Water testified that McKnight failed to report his December 1, 2000 arrest within the required seventy-two hours. She further testified that McKnight filled out a sheet before their meeting on December 2, 2000 and circled that he did not have any contact with law enforcement in violation of the terms and conditions of his probation. Additionally, Waters stated that McKnight failed to meet with her from March, 2001 through May, 2002 and that McKnight failed to pay his probation user fees during this time.

As a result, the trial court determined that McKnight violated the terms and conditions of his probation. Accordingly, on August 27, 2002, the trial court revoked McKnight's probation. The trial court sentenced McKnight to eighty-four months of the remaining ninety-one months of his sentence. The trial court granted five days credit time.

McKnight now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

L Fifth Amendment Privilege

McKnight argues that his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination was violated. Specifically, McKnight contends that his Fifth Amendment right was violated when the trial court compelled him to testify about possibly incriminating matters, ie. a previous conviction and a pending charge.

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "no person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Packer v. State, 777 N.E.2d 733, 738 (Ind.Ct.App.2002) (quoting U.S. CONST. amend. V). It has long been held that the privilege against self-inerimination applies not only to a defendant in a criminal trial but also applies to parties in any other proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, where the answers might incriminate them in future criminal proceedings. Pitman v. State, 749 N.E.2d 557, 561 (Ind.Ct.App.2001), reh'g denied, trams. denied. The extent of the privilege, however, depends in part upon the type of proceeding in which it is claimed. Id. For example, a probationer is not entitled to the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to the same extent, as is a defendant at a criminal trial; rather, a probationer is protected by the Fifth Amendment from answering any questions where those answers could be used against him or her in any subsequent criminal proceedings. Id. at 561. More specifically, while a probationer may invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination with regard to any questions that may incriminate him in a subsequent criminal prosecution, he is not entitled to invoke the privilege with regard to basic identifying information and any disclosures that are necessary to effectively monitor his probation. Id. at 561.

In the instant case, we find that McKnight's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was not violated when the trial court allowed the State to elicit testimony from McKnight regarding criminal matters.

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Bluebook (online)
787 N.E.2d 888, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 684, 2003 WL 1988552, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcknight-v-state-indctapp-2003.