MICHAEL CHARLES THOMAS GAUNT v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 28, 2023
Docket22A-CR-01632
StatusPublished

This text of MICHAEL CHARLES THOMAS GAUNT v. State of Indiana (MICHAEL CHARLES THOMAS GAUNT 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
MICHAEL CHARLES THOMAS GAUNT v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

FILED Apr 28 2023, 8:48 am

CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Darren Bedwell Theodore E. Rokita Marion County Public Defender Attorney General of Indiana Appellate Division Indianapolis, Indiana Jodi Kathryn Stein Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Michael Charles Thomas Gaunt, April 28, 2023 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 22A-CR-1632 v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Cynthia L. Oetjen, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49D30-1912-F1-48422

Opinion by Judge Tavitas Judges Vaidik and Foley concur.

Tavitas, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-1632 | April 28, 2023 Page 1 of 12 Case Summary [1] Michael Gaunt appeals his convictions for aggravated battery, a Level 1 felony,

and neglect of a dependent, a Level 1 felony. Gaunt’s convictions were both

elevated to Level 1 felonies based on the death of the victim. Gaunt argues that

elevating both of his convictions based on the same death constitutes double

jeopardy under one of the common-law rules that were identified in Richardson

v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32 (Ind. 1999), and adopted by our Supreme Court in

Guyton v. State, 771 N.E.2d 1141 (Ind. 2002). Gaunt further argues that the trial

court erred in its calculation of his credit time. We find that: 1) our Supreme

Court supplanted the common-law double jeopardy rules in Wadle v. State, 151

N.E.3d 227 (Ind. 2020); and 2) the trial court erred in calculating Gaunt’s credit

time. We affirm as to Gaunt’s convictions, reverse regarding the trial court’s

credit time calculation, and remand with instructions for the trial court to

correct Gaunt’s credit time.

Issues [2] Gaunt raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as:

I. Whether Wadle supplanted the common-law double jeopardy rules identified in Richardson.

II. Whether the trial court erred in calculating the credit time toward Gaunt’s sentence.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-1632 | April 28, 2023 Page 2 of 12 Facts [3] On December 20, 2019, Gaunt was watching his infant son, L.G., who was

born in November 2019, while L.G.’s mother, Harley Jones, was out of the

house. When Jones returned home, she observed that Gaunt was holding L.G.,

who appeared “naked, lifeless, just blue almost, [and] not breathing.” Tr. Vol.

II p. 72. Gaunt would not let Jones call 911 until approximately forty-five

minutes later.

[4] Emergency responders took L.G. to the hospital, where he was alive but non-

responsive. L.G. was diagnosed with fractures in his right humerus and

clavicle, “massive retinal hemorrhages,” hemorrhages between his brain and

skull and within his brain, and swelling around his neck vertebrae. Id. at 180.

The physicians attributed L.G.’s injuries to “[s]evere physical abuse including

abusive head trauma.” Id. at 194.

[5] Gaunt was arrested on December 21, 2019. On December 23, 2019, L.G. was

pronounced brain dead, and he died hours later.

[6] On December 27, 2019, the State charged Gaunt with two counts: Count I,

aggravated battery to a child less than age fourteen; and Count II, neglect of a

dependent. Regarding Count II, the State alleged that Gaunt neglected L.G. by

“fail[ing] to obtain timely medical care for [L.G.’s] injuries[.]” Appellant’s

App. Vol. II p. 33. Both counts were elevated to Level 1 felonies based on

L.G.’s death.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-1632 | April 28, 2023 Page 3 of 12 [7] On January 28, 2022, Gaunt and the State executed a plea agreement, and the

trial court set a sentencing hearing for February 17, 2022. The pre-sentencing

investigation (“PSI”) report reflects that Gaunt had been in jail since December

21, 2019, and would have served 790 actual jail days by the time the trial court

held the February 17, 2022 sentencing hearing.

[8] At the February 17, 2022 sentencing hearing, Gaunt withdrew his plea

agreement. The trial court held a bench trial on April 25, 2022; found Gaunt

guilty of both counts; and entered judgments of conviction on both counts. The

trial court then set a sentencing hearing for June 23, 2022.

[9] The State filed a second PSI report on June 21, 2022, which reflects that Gaunt

had been in jail since December 21, 2019, and would have served 916 actual

days as of the trial court’s June 23, 2022 sentencing hearing. The trial court

sentenced Gaunt to two concurrent thirty-five-year sentences, each with two

years to be served in community corrections and three years suspended to

probation. The trial court’s sentencing order reflects that Gaunt was in jail

since April 24, 2020, had served 790 actual days, and had earned 263 days of

good time credit. The trial court’s abstract of judgment and order of

commitment to community corrections reflect the same. Gaunt now appeals.

Discussion and Decision I. Double Jeopardy

[10] Gaunt first argues that the trial court erred by elevating both of his convictions

to Level 1 felonies based on L.G.’s death. Gaunt argues that the trial court

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-1632 | April 28, 2023 Page 4 of 12 should have, instead, entered his neglect conviction as a Level 3 felony because

elevating both convictions to Level 1 felonies based on the same death

constitutes double jeopardy. We disagree.

[11] We review double jeopardy violation claims de novo. See Wadle, 151 N.E.3d at

237; Powell v. State, 151 N.E.3d 256, 262 (Ind. 2020).

[12] In Wadle and Powell, the Indiana Supreme Court set forth two new frameworks

for analyzing whether a defendant’s convictions violate principles of substantive

double jeopardy. 1 Wadle, 151 N.E.3d at 247-50; Powell, 151 N.E.3d at 264-65.

These cases explicitly overruled Richardson and held that our substantive double

jeopardy jurisprudence would no longer be governed by the Indiana

Constitution but would, instead, be driven primarily by “statutory rules of

double jeopardy.” Wadle, 151 N.E.3d at 235. Powell set forth a test for “when a

single criminal act or transaction violates a single statute but harms multiple

victims,” and Wadle set forth a test for “when a single criminal act or

transaction violates multiple statutes with common elements and harms one or

more victims.” Id. at 247. Gaunt’s convictions implicate two statutes, and,

thus, the Wadle test is implicated.

1 Substantive double jeopardy refers to “claims concerning multiple convictions in a single prosecution, as opposed to ‘procedural double jeopardy’ claims, which concern convictions for the same offense in successive prosecutions[.]” Carranza v. State, 184 N.E.3d 712, 715 Ind. Ct. App. 2022) (quoting Wadle, 151 N.E.3d at 248-49; Powell, 151 N.E.3d at 263). Our Supreme Court did not alter our analysis of procedural (“constitutional”) double jeopardy claims in either Wadle or Powell.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-1632 | April 28, 2023 Page 5 of 12 [13] Gaunt does not argue that his convictions constitute double jeopardy under

Wadle. Instead, he argues that we should apply the common-law rule that,

when one conviction is elevated “based on the same bodily injury that forms

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Related

Strong v. State
870 N.E.2d 442 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2007)
Guyton v. State
771 N.E.2d 1141 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2002)
Pierce v. State
761 N.E.2d 826 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2002)
Richardson v. State
717 N.E.2d 32 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1999)
Bischoff v. State
704 N.E.2d 129 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1998)
McElroy v. State
864 N.E.2d 392 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)
Hall v. State
944 N.E.2d 538 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)
Steven R. Perry v. State of Indiana
13 N.E.3d 909 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014)
Richard D. Shepard v. State of Indiana
84 N.E.3d 1171 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2017)

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MICHAEL CHARLES THOMAS GAUNT v. State of Indiana, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/michael-charles-thomas-gaunt-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2023.