Rene Tlatoa-Lara v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: August 31, 2020
• Docket: 20A-CR-792
• Status: Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Aug 31 2020, 9:23 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Anne Medlin Lowe Curtis T. Hill, Jr. James A. Piatt Attorney General Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC Tina L. Mann Indianapolis, Indiana Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

René Tlatoa-Lara, August 31, 2020 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 20A-CR-792 v. Appeal from the Hamilton Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable David K. Najjar, Appellee-Plaintiff Judge Trial Court Cause No. 29D05-1912-CM-10455

Crone, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-792| August 31, 2020 Page 1 of 5 Case Summary [1] Following a bench trial, René Tlatoa-Lara challenges the sufficiency of the

evidence supporting his conviction for class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle

while intoxicated (OWI) endangering a person. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] The facts most favorable to the trial court’s judgment are that shortly after 4:00

p.m. on December 19, 2019, Pastor Daniel Shelton of Venture Christian

Church in Carmel was working in the church when he saw Tlatoa-Lara

“stumbling” through the church’s “office complex.” Tr. Vol. 2 at 7. Shelton

asked if he could help. Tlatoa-Lara, whose speech was slurred, “said that a

friend had told him [they] might be able to help him with a flat tire that he had

in the vehicle in the [church] parking lot.” Id. at 8. Shelton replied, “Well, let’s

go look at your tire,” and asked a colleague to accompany them. Id. Tlatoa-

Lara “struggle[d] to walk […] without leaning against the wall a couple times

and just seemed to struggle to stay on his feet.” Id. Both passenger-side tires on

Tlatoa-Lara’s pickup truck “were shredded. Tread completely gone.” Id. at 9.

Shelton asked if Tlatoa-Lara had driven the truck to the parking lot, and he said

that he had. Suspecting that Tlatoa-Lara was intoxicated and wanting to “keep

him from getting in the vehicle and driving off[,]” the pastor called 911 at

approximately 4:19 p.m. Id. at 10.

[3] Several Carmel Police Department officers responded to the call. Sergeant Ben

Fisher arrived at 4:26 p.m. He noticed that the truck’s tires were “shredded”

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-792| August 31, 2020 Page 2 of 5 and that “there was a pretty significant odor of alcohol coming from” Tlatoa-

Lara. Id. at 15. The sergeant asked Tlatoa-Lara “where he’d been coming from

prior to ending up at this location.” Id. at 23. Tlatoa-Lara replied that “he had

been at a winery and brewery” with friends and coworkers. Id. The sergeant

asked Tlatoa-Lara “if he knew what he hit. When asked if he had struck […]

another vehicle, he said ‘Oh, God, I hope not.’” Id. Tlatoa-Lara “was very,

very confused on exactly how the damage occurred to […] the two tires on the

passenger side. He seemed to have no recollection of exactly how that

happened and could not offer anything.” Id. at 23-24.

[4] Officer Brian Babczak also questioned Tlatoa-Lara, who said that “he had been

coming from Urban Vines Winery in Westfield[,]” which is approximately five

miles from the church, and had consumed wine and “very strong beer.” Id. at

28. The officer administered several field sobriety tests to Tlatoa-Lara and

determined “[t]hat he was impaired above the legal limit.” Id. at 32. Tlatoa-

Lara consented to a chemical breath test and was transported to the Hamilton

County Jail, where he registered .180.

[5] The State charged Tlatoa-Lara with class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle

with an alcohol concentration equivalent of .15 or more and class A

misdemeanor OWI endangering a person. After a bench trial, the trial court

found him guilty as charged, entered judgment of conviction on the latter

charge, and sentenced him to 365 days, all suspended except for time served.

Tlatoa-Lara now appeals.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-792| August 31, 2020 Page 3 of 5 Discussion and Decision [6] Tlatoa-Lara challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his

conviction. In reviewing a sufficiency claim, we neither reweigh the evidence

nor assess the credibility of witnesses. Cannon v. State, 142 N.E.3d 1039, 1042

(Ind. Ct. App. 2020). We consider only the evidence most favorable to the

judgment and the reasonable inferences supporting it. Id. Circumstantial

evidence alone is sufficient to support a conviction and need not overcome

every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Ward v. State, 138 N.E.3d 268, 277

(Ind. Ct. App. 2019). “[W]e will affirm the conviction unless no reasonable

trier of fact could have found the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable

doubt.” Cannon, 142 N.E.2d at 1042 (alteration in Cannon) (quoting Gray v.

State, 957 N.E.2d 171, 174 (Ind. 2011)).

[7] To convict Tlatoa-Lara of class A OWI endangering a person, the State had to

prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he operated a vehicle while intoxicated in

a manner that endangered a person. Ind. Code § 9-30-5-2(b). Indiana Code

Section 9-13-2-117.5 defines “operate” as “to navigate or otherwise be in actual

physical control of a vehicle[.]” Indiana Code Section 9-13-2-86 defines

“intoxicated” in pertinent part as under the influence of alcohol “so that there is

an impaired condition of thought and action and the loss of normal control of a

person's faculties.” “The element of endangerment can be established by

evidence showing that the defendant’s condition or operating manner could

have endangered any person, including the public, the police, or the

defendant.” Outlaw v. State, 918 N.E.2d 379, 381 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009), adopted

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-792| August 31, 2020 Page 4 of 5 by 929 N.E.2d 196 (Ind. 2010). But “the State is required to present evidence

beyond mere intoxication in order to prove the element of endangerment and

support a conviction of OWI as a Class A misdemeanor.” Temperly v. State, 933

N.E.2d 558, 567 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010), trans. denied (2011), cert. denied.

[8] Tlatoa-Lara asserts that the State failed to prove that he operated his truck while

he was intoxicated and that his condition or operating manner could have

endangered any person. We disagree. His admission to Sergeant Fisher that he

had no idea how he shredded his tires supports a reasonable inference that he

was intoxicated while he was operating his truck, and his driving on the

shredded tires could have endangered other members of the public or himself.

Tlatoa-Lara’s arguments to the contrary are simply invitations to reweigh the

evidence in his favor, which we must decline. Therefore, we affirm his

conviction.

[9] Affirmed.

Robb, J., and Brown, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-792| August 31, 2020 Page 5 of 5