Schaaf v. State

54 N.E.3d 1041, 2016 WL 2899460, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 157
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 18, 2016
DocketNo. 85A04-1506-CR-796
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 54 N.E.3d 1041 (Schaaf 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
Schaaf v. State, 54 N.E.3d 1041, 2016 WL 2899460, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 157 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

Case Summary

VAIDIK, Chief Judge.

[1] Joshua Schaaf appeals his convictions and sentence for two counts of dealing heroin. We conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence to support Schaafs convictions. However, we find that his forty-year sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of his offenses. Therefore, we remand this matter to the trial court with instructions to impose a sentence of thirty years.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] The basic facts are undisputed. The charges against Schaaf arose from his role in two controlled drug buys. In April 2014, Schaaf drove Randall Conliff to a gas station, where a confidential informant entered Schaafs pickup and, while Schaaf looked on, gave Conliff $50.00 in exchange for 10/100ths of a gram of heroin. Based on that transaction, the State charged Schaaf with dealing in a narcotic drug as a Class B felony (Count I). See Ind.Code Ann. § 35~48-4-l(a)(l) (West 2012). The next month, the same confidential informant went to Conliff s house to buy more heroin from Conliff. However, Conliff turned him away, and he ended up buying 8/100ths of a gram of heroin for $50.00 from Schaaf, who also happened to be present. Because Conliffs house was within 1000 feet of a public park (actually, two public parks), the dealing charge for this second transaction was enhanced to a [1043]*1043Class A felony (Count II). See id. at (b)(3)(B)(ii). A jury found Schaaf guilty on both counts.

[3] In sentencing Schaaf, the trial court found no mitigating circumstances but three aggravating circumstances: (1) Schaaf s criminal history; (2) the fact that a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old male (possibly Conliffs cousin) was present during the second transaction; and (3) the fact that Schaaf had not succeeded on probation in the past. The trial court imposed sentences of fifteen years on Count I and forty years on Count II and ordered them to run concurrently, for a total sentence of forty years.

Discussion and Decision

[4] Schaaf argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his two convictions. He also contends that, even if his convictions stand, his sentence is inappropriate.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

[5] In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction, we consider only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict. Wilson v. State, 39 N.E.3d 705, 716 (Ind.Ct.App.2015), trans. denied. We do not reweigh the evidence or assess witness credibility. Id. We consider conflicting evidence most favorably to the verdict. Id. We will affirm the conviction unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. It is not necessary that the evidence overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Id. The evidence is sufficient if an infei’enee may reasonably be drawn from it to support the verdict. Id.

A. Count I (First Transaction)

[6] Schaaf asserts that the State failed to prove he was anything more than a bystander with regard to the first transaction and that we must therefore reverse his conviction on Count I. In response, the State concedes that Schaaf did not personally deliver the heroin to the confidential informant, but it contends that it presented sufficient evidence for the jury-to find Schaaf guilty as Conliffs accomplice. We agree with the State.

[7] Indiana’s accomplice-liability statute provides, in part, “A person who knowingly or intentionally aids, induces, or causes another person to commit' an offense commits that offense[.]” Ind.Code § 35-41-2-4. Under this statute, an individual who aids another person in committing a crime is as guilty as the actual perpetrator. Specht v. State, 838 N.E.2d 1081, 1093 (Ind.Ct.App.2005), trans. denied. The statute does not set forth a separate crime, but merely provides a separate basis of liability for the crime that is charged. Id. at 1092. That is, a person can be charged as a principal and convicted as an accomplice. Id.

[8] Furthermore, a person can be convicted as an accomplice even if he did not participate in each and every, element of the crime. Id. at 1093. Our Supreme Court has identified four factors that can be considered by the fact-finder in determining whether a defendant aided another ' in' the commission of á crime: (1) presence at the scene of the crime; (2) companionship with 'another engaged in a crime; (3) failure to oppose the commission of the crime;' and (4) the course of conduct before, during, and after'the occurrence of the crime. Wieland v. State, 736 N.E.2d 1198, 1202 (Ind.2000). Here, all four factors weigh heavily in favor of Schaaf s guilt on Count I.

[9] It is undisputed1 that Schaaf was present at the scene of the crime, that he and Conliff were companions who spent significant time together, and that, he failed to oppose the crime. Most proba[1044]*1044tive, though, is Schaafs conduct before and during the crime. Conliff called the confidential informant shortly before they were supposed to meet, told him that he was with Schaaf, and proposed that they meet at Schaafs house. Hearing this,-Schaaf interjected and suggested that the meeting happen at a particular gas station. Conliff and the confidential informant agreed, and Schaaf took Conliff to the gas station. Upon arrival, Schaaf allowed the confidential informant into his pickup and sat calmly as Conliff and the informant completed the exchange. While Schaaf did not participate in the actual exchange, he brought the two participants together and provided them with a place to conduct their business.

.[10] In .challenging the sufficiency of the evidence on Count I, Schaaf relies exclusively on his own testimony. Specifically, Schaaf testified that he thought he and Conliff were just going somewhere to get high and that he did not know Conliff was planning to sell heroin to the person they were meeting along the way. However, the jury clearly did not believe Schaaf, and we will not second guess that credibility determination or otherwise reweigh the evidence. Wilson, 39 N.E.3d at 716. We affirm Schaafs conviction on Count I.

B. Count II (Second Transaction)

[11] With regard to Count II, Schaaf does not deny that there is evidence that he sold heroin to the confidential informant or that the .transaction occurred within 1000 feet of a public park. Rather, he contends that the enhancement from a Class B felony to a Class A felony based on the proximity to the park should be vacated because the State did not prove that he knew he was within 1000 feet of a public park.

[12] Schaaf acknowledges- that our Supreme Court held in Walker v. State that proximity to a particular location during a drug deal is a strict-liability element, meaning that the defendant need not be aware of the proximity.

Related

Ethane Potts v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2025
Steven F Searing v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2024
Desmond Banks v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2024
Elijah Mills v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2023
Young v. Warden
N.D. Indiana, 2021
Rudy L. Space v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
Carl Hill v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
Geovany Diaz v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
Daniel Miller v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
Jerry Wayne Smith v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
Elven McCarty v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 N.E.3d 1041, 2016 WL 2899460, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schaaf-v-state-indctapp-2016.