Patrick Austin v. State of Indiana

980 N.E.2d 429, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 634, 2012 WL 6641664
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 21, 2012
Docket20A03-1112-CR-588
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 980 N.E.2d 429 (Patrick Austin 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
Patrick Austin v. State of Indiana, 980 N.E.2d 429, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 634, 2012 WL 6641664 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Patrick Austin appeals his conviction of and sentence for two counts of possession of cocaine as Class A felonies. 1 Austin argues: the trial court erred by denying his motion for discharge under Criminal Rule 4; the trial court abused its discretion by admitting contested evidence; the trial court abused its discretion by rejecting his tendered jury instruction regarding constructive possession; and the sentence assigned by the trial court was both an abuse of discretion and inappropriate based on Austin’s character and offenses. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 28, 2011, State trooper Joseph White stopped Austin on the Indiana Toll Road. Austin was driving a semi-tractor and trailer, and Trooper White stopped Austin because he thought a trailer like Austin’s would normally be pulled by a pickup truck and not a semi-tractor. 2 When Trooper White inspected Austin’s logbooks and shipping papers, he noted Austin had been off duty for the past seven days. That made Trooper White suspicious, because he believed truck drivers do not make money if they are not working. There were some errors in Austin’s paperwork, and although Austin said he was headed for a trailer parts store in Elkhart, Austin did not know the name and address of the store. Nor was Elk-hart listed as a destination in Austin’s logbooks.

Because of his suspicions, Trooper White called the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) and learned Austin “had been involved in a bulk cash seizure” (Tr. at 17) in Michigan. 3 Trooper White finished his inspection of Austin’s records, then asked for Austin’s consent to search the truck. Austin declined and Trooper White told Austin he was free to go.

Trooper White contacted a state police detective, who asked Trooper Mick Dock-ery to go to the Toll Road and wait for Austin’s vehicle. “Surveillance officers” (id. at 734) were following Austin and were in contact with Trooper Dockery. Trooper Dockery stopped Austin after he saw two traffic violations. 4 He obtained Austin’s logbook and shipping documents, and noted Austin had not logged the prior stop by *433 Trooper White; “therefore, his logbook was not current.” (Id. at 739.) He characterized Austin as “nervous,” {id.), and was concerned because a shipping document for a car Austin was hauling indicated the vehicle was not to be picked up until the following month. Austin’s bill of lading was handwritten, and typically such forms from “businesses that are conducting legitimate business” will be typed. {Id. at 742,) Austin’s truck had “a very high DOT number,” {id.), which could indicate the trucking company was new or could indicate “it could be a company that has been in trouble before; and they switch names now, they are carrying a new DOT number.” (Id. at 744.)

Trooper Dockery had a drug-sniffing dog with him, and the dog indicated it detected the odor of illegal drugs in Austin’s trailer. There were two cars inside the trailer, a Mercedes and a Rolls-Royce, and the police obtained a warrant to search them. They found a number of vacuum-sealed “bricks” in both cars, some of which were tested and found to be cocaine. Documents in the cars listed fictitious names for the owner of the Mercedes and the lessor of the Rolls-Royce. GPS data from the Rolls-Royce showed that car and Austin had been at the same hotel on a number of occasions and that the Rolls-Royce had been at Austin’s residence in March of 2011.

The State charged Austin with two counts of Class A felony dealing in cocaine. On June 6, 2011, Austin asked for a speedy trial, so the seventy-day period during which the State was obliged to bring him to trial ended August 15, 2011. His case was set for trial August 8, but on July 27 the State moved to continue the trial due to court congestion. The trial court granted the motion and rescheduled Austin’s trial to September 26. On August 17, Austin filed a motion for discharge, which the trial court denied.

The congestion on which the trial court premised its continuance from August 8 to September 26 was a trial for another incarcerated criminal defendant, Harmon, whose case was older than Austin’s. Harmon had also asked for a speedy trial, but his request was made later than was Austin’s.

Austin’s trial commenced September 26, and he was found guilty of both Class A felony counts. He was sentenced to forty years on each count, to be served concurrently.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1. Speedy Trial

The right of an accused to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and by Article I, Section 12 of the Indiana Constitution. Otte v. State, 967 N.E.2d 540, 544-5 (Ind.Ct.App.2012), trans. denied. Indiana Criminal Rule 4 implements the defendant’s speedy trial right. Id. at 545. Rule 4(B)(1) provides:

If any defendant held in jail on an indictment or an affidavit shall move for an early trial, he shall be discharged if not brought to trial within seventy (70) calendar days from the date of such motion, except where a continuance within said period is had on his motion, or the delay is otherwise caused by his act, or where there was not sufficient time to try him during such seventy (70) calendar days because of the congestion of the court calendar. Provided, however, that in the last-mentioned circumstance, the prosecuting attorney shall file a timely motion for continuance as set forth in subdivision (A) of this rule. Provided further, that a trial court may take note of congestion or an emergency *434 without the necessity of a motion, and upon so finding may order a continuance. Any continuance granted due to a congested calendar or emergency shall be reduced to an order, which order shall also set the case for trial within a reasonable time.

The Rule requires that, on a motion for a speedy trial, a defendant must be tried within seventy days unless the defendant caused the delay or the court’s calendar is congested. Otte, 967 N.E.2d at 545. Austin asked for a speedy trial on June 6, 2011, and the seventy-day period ended August 15. Austin was not tried until September 26.

Criminal Rule 4(D) provides:
If when application is made for discharge of a defendant under this rule, the court be satisfied that there is evidence for the state, which cannot then be had, that reasonable effort has been made to procure the same and there is just ground to believe that such evidence can be had within ninety (90) days, the cause may be continued, and the prisoner remanded or admitted to bail; and if he be not brought to trial by the state within such additional ninety (90) days, he shall then be discharged.

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Related

Patrick Austin v. State of Indiana
997 N.E.2d 1027 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
980 N.E.2d 429, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 634, 2012 WL 6641664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patrick-austin-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2012.