Shawn Marshall v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: January 30, 2020
• Docket: 19A-CR-1746
• 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 Jan 30 2020, 8:16 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE R. Patrick Magrath Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Alcorn Sage Schwartz & Attorney General of Indiana Magrath, LLP Thomas J. Flynn Madison, Indiana Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Shawn Marshall, January 30, 2020 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-CR-1746 v. Appeal from the Decatur Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Matthew D. Appellee-Plaintiff Bailey, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 16D01-1903-F6-403

Baker, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 1 of 11 [1] Shawn Marshall appeals his convictions and sentence for Level 6 Felony

Resisting Law Enforcement1 and Level 5 Felony Escape,2 arguing that the

evidence is insufficient to support the convictions and that the sentence is

inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and Marshall’s character. We

find the evidence to be sufficient and that the sentence is not inappropriate, but

that double jeopardy principles prohibit allowing both convictions to stand. As

such, we affirm the conviction and sentence for Level 5 Felony Escape, and

remand with instructions to vacate the conviction of Level 6 Felony Resisting

Law Enforcement.

Facts [2] On March 28, 2019, Decatur County Sheriff’s Deputy Patrick Graue detected a

vehicle traveling seventy-seven miles per hour in a fifty-five-miles-per-hour zone

on State Road 3/46 at County Road 450 West. Deputy Graue turned on his

emergency lights and initiated a routine traffic stop. Upon approaching the

stopped vehicle, Deputy Graue encountered Marshall as the driver. When he

requested Marshall’s license and registration, Deputy Graue smelled burnt

marijuana, but he refrained from immediately questioning Marshall and instead

went back to his own vehicle to check the license and registration through

dispatch.

1 Ind. Code § 35-44.1-3-1(a)(3), -(c)(1)(A). 2 I.C. § 35-44.1-3-4(a).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 2 of 11 [3] While checking Marshall’s license and registration, Deputy Graue learned of

Marshall’s extensive criminal history and requested that a second deputy be

sent to the scene. Deputy Kevin Rohr arrived soon thereafter, and the two

deputies then approached Marshall’s vehicle together. At that point, Deputy

Graue informed Marshall that he smelled burnt marijuana coming from the

vehicle and asked if there was anything illegal inside the vehicle. In response,

Marshall “be[came] irate” and accused Deputy Graue of “harassing him” and

“trying to frame him.” Tr. Vol. II p. 55. The two deputies calmly ordered

Marshall to exit his vehicle and explained that they were going to perform a

probable cause search of the vehicle. But Marshall refused to exit the vehicle,

and he repeatedly stated “you’re not searching my car” and that he did not give

his consent to a search. Id. at 56. The deputies continued to calmly try to order

Marshall to get out of the car, explaining again that the odor of burnt marijuana

emanating from the interior of the car gave them probable cause to search, but

that if no illegal substance was found, Marshall would be free to go.

[4] Despite these orders, “[Marshall’s] hostility continued to escalate.” Id. at 57.

Deputy Graue began to request that another officer be dispatched to the scene.

But, as he was doing so, he “observed Mr. Marshall take his stare off Deputy

Rohr and . . . began looking straight ahead as his right hand went down to the

gearshift, placing his vehicle into forward motion.” Id. The two deputies

shouted for Marshall to stop, but Marshall instead proceeded to accelerate the

vehicle and drove at a high speed down the road and away from the traffic stop.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 3 of 11 [5] Both deputies returned to their vehicles and initiated emergency pursuit of

Marshall, following him for approximately two miles before Marshall suddenly

pulled over and parked on the side of the highway. The deputies approached his

vehicle with their service weapons drawn and ordered Marshall out of the car.

Marshall finally complied and was promptly placed under arrest.

[6] The same day, the State charged Marshall with one count of Level 6 felony

resisting law enforcement. On April 26, 2019, the State moved to amend the

charging information by adding one count of Level 5 felony escape, and the

trial court granted the motion on April 29, 2019. A jury trial was held on June

3, 2019, at the conclusion of which the jury found Marshall guilty on both

counts. At a sentencing hearing held on June 28, 2019, the trial court sentenced

Marshall to two and one-half years for resisting law enforcement and six years

for escape, to be served concurrently, for an aggregate sentence of six years fully

executed. Marshall now appeals.

Discussion and Decision I. Double Jeopardy [7] At the outset, we must confront a double jeopardy problem. The State concedes

the issue and asks that we vacate the conviction for resisting law enforcement.

[8] Under Article 1, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution, “[n]o person shall be

put in jeopardy twice for the same offense.” This has been interpreted by our

Supreme Court to mean “that two or more offenses are the ‘same offense’ in

violation of Article 1, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution if, with respect to

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 4 of 11 either the statutory elements of the challenged crimes or the actual evidence used

to convict, the essential elements of one challenged offense also establish the

essential elements of another challenged offense.” Richardson v. State, 717

N.E.2d 32, 49 (Ind. 1999) (emphases in original).

[9] Marshall argues, and the State readily agrees, that the convictions for both

resisting law enforcement and escape are based upon the same actual evidence.

We agree. As such, both convictions cannot stand without violating double

jeopardy principles. We therefore remand with instructions to vacate the Level

6 felony resisting law enforcement conviction.

II. Sufficiency of the Evidence [10] Next, Marshall argues that the evidence is insufficient to support either the

resisting law enforcement conviction or the escape conviction. 3 In reviewing the

sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we must consider only the

probative evidence and the reasonable inferences supporting the conviction, and

we will neither assess witness credibility nor reweigh the evidence. Drane v.

State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind. 2007). We will affirm unless no reasonable

factfinder could find the elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable

doubt. Id.

3 Because we have ordered the resisting law enforcement conviction to be vacated, we need not and will not address the evidence supporting that conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 5 of 11 [11] To convict Marshall of escape, the State had to prove beyond a reasonable

doubt that Marshall 1) intentionally 2) fled 3) from lawful detention. I.C. § 35-

44.1-3-4(a). Marshall’s conduct was unquestionably intentional. “A person

engages in conduct ‘intentionally’ if, when he engages in the conduct, it is his

conscious objective to do so.” Ind. Code § 35-41-2-2(a). We agree with the State

that “[p]utting one’s vehicle in drive and pressing down on the gas pedal is a

volitional act. A vehicle doesn’t just drive away by itself. It requires intent by

the driver to operate in such a fashion.” Appellee’s Br. p. 16.

[12] With regards to the fleeing and lawful detention elements, Marshall argues that

the evidence does not support a conclusion that he was detained before he

drove away. Specifically, he contends that, because he was never placed in

handcuffs, put in jail, or otherwise physically restrained, he was not lawfully

detained for purposes of the escape offense. He also emphasizes that he was not

explicitly told he was being detained, advised of his rights, or asked for his

consent before he drove away from the traffic stop.

[13] In the traffic stop context, Indiana Code section 34-28-5-3 authorizes detention

by a law enforcement officer of a person who the officer in good faith believes

has committed an infraction or ordinance violation. Indiana Code section 35-

31.5-2-186 enumerates a list of circumstances that qualify as “lawful detention,”

which includes the types of detention cited by Marshall—arrest, being placed in

jail, and so forth—as well as “any other detention for law enforcement

purposes.” Our Court has interpreted this catch-all provision to mean that a

person can be lawfully detained even if they are not subject to the types of

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 6 of 11 restraint Marshall points out were lacking in his case. Rather, “what is critical

in determining the meaning of ‘any other detention for law enforcement

purposes’ is that an individual is being detained so that he is subject to

legitimate law enforcement purposes.” Anglin v. State, 787 N.E.2d 1012, 1017

(Ind. Ct. App. 2003).

[14] In Anglin, the Court found that the defendant had been subject to lawful

detention for purposes of the escape statute where he exited the courthouse after

being ordered by the trial court to wait in the hallway for transportation to jail

to serve the sentence he had just been ordered to serve. “Anglin was ‘detained’

by the trial court in that he was not free to leave the building as soon as he was

informed that the Sheriff’s Department would pick him up at the designated

location in the courthouse. That Anglin was not in the physical custody of the

transport officer at the time that he fled does not exclude the conclusion that he

was in ‘detention for law enforcement purposes.’” Id.

[15] Here, the same logic can be applied to Marshall: though not under the physical

control of the deputies, he was nonetheless being detained for the law

enforcement purposes of conducting a traffic stop and a probable cause search

of his vehicle, and the officers repeatedly informed him of such and ordered

him out of his vehicle. There was no indication at the time Marshall drove

away that he was free to go; the officers even told him as much when they

explained that he would only be free to go following the vehicle search if no

illegal substances were found. As such, we find that Marshall was subject to

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 7 of 11 lawful detention at the time he fled the scene, and that all elements of the

escape offense are therefore supported by sufficient evidence.

III. Sentence [16] Marshall next argues that his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of

the offense and his character. Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B) provides that this

Court may revise a statutorily authorized sentence “if, after due consideration

of the trial court’s decision, the Court finds that the sentence is inappropriate in

light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.” In

conducting this review, “substantial deference” must be given to the trial court’s

decision, “since the ‘principal role of [our] review is to attempt to leaven the

outliers,’ and not to achieve a perceived ‘correct’ sentence.” Knapp v. State, 9

N.E.3d 1274, 1292 (Ind. 2014) (quoting Chambers v. State, 989 N.E.2d 1257,

1259 (Ind. 2013)) (internal citations omitted). The defendant bears the burden

of proving that the sentence is inappropriate. Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1073,

1080 (Ind. 2006).

[17] For Level 5 felony escape, Marshall faced a term of one to six years, with an

advisory sentence of three years. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-6(b). The trial court

imposed a maximum six-year term.4

4 Because both sentences were ordered to be served concurrently, our instructions to vacate the resisting law enforcement conviction—which carried the lesser of the two sentences—will impact neither the length of the sentence nor our analysis regarding its inappropriateness.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 8 of 11 [18] With respect to the nature of the offense, Marshall sped away from the officers

in a manner that forced Deputy Rohr to quickly back up into oncoming traffic

to avoid being harmed by Marshall’s moving vehicle. Though Deputy Rohr was

not injured, Marshall’s actions nonetheless endangered the life of another

human. The offense also demonstrated a high lack of respect for law

enforcement, as Marshall blatantly ignored orders and became increasingly

hostile and angry with officers despite their attempts to remain calm and keep

the situation under control.

[19] With respect to his character, we first note Marshall’s extensive criminal

history. Marshall has been charged with over eleven felonies since 1990, and

since 2004 has been convicted and sentenced for two additional felonies,

robbery and battery resulting in bodily injury. Even now, all of the following

felony charges are currently pending against Marshall for offenses that occurred

on or after July 18, 2018: unlawful possession of a syringe, synthetic identity

deception, possession of methamphetamine, maintaining a common nuisance

via controlled substances, and intimidation by way of threatening to commit a

forcible felony.

[20] Additionally, Marshall was out on bail for two of those felony charges when he

committed the offense in this case. He was also on probation in Georgia at the

time he committed the present offense and violated his probation by fleeing the

state to come to Indiana and by committing additional offenses while on

probation.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 9 of 11 [21] Furthermore, Marshall’s behavior while in jail has been far from commendable.

From March to June 2019, when Marshall was incarcerated in the Decatur

County Detention Center, Marshall had fifteen separate disciplinary incidents

and misconduct write ups, and he has been described as “a very aggressive

inmate, aggressive towards other inmates and then towards other staff. He

constantly violates security protocols and security violations.” Tr. Vol. II. p.

129. Among other things, he has been written up for threatening to throw feces

and bodily fluids on staff members, covering cameras and lights, flooding his

cell, and getting into physical altercations, some of which involved makeshift

weapons. See id. at 130-33. Marshall is also known to be a current member of a

gang and has been evaluated as having a high likelihood to reoffend.

[22] Marshall argues that the chronological remoteness of much of his criminal

history—with multiple charges and offenses occurring over ten years ago—and

the difference in nature of those offenses from the present offense render the

imposition of a maximum sentence inappropriate. While the chronological

remoteness of prior criminal history should be taken into account, “we will not

say that remoteness in time, to whatever degree, renders a prior conviction

irrelevant,” and it is still within the trial court’s discretion to consider it an

aggravating circumstance. Buchanan v. State, 767 N.E.2d 967, 972 (Ind. 2002).

And here, Marshall’s criminal history is not limited to those charges and

convictions that are chronologically distant, but rather represents a

longstanding pattern, continuing into the present, of an irreverence towards the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 10 of 11 law, aggressiveness towards others, and a complete lack of remorse and

willingness to change his behavior.

[23] We do not find the six-year maximum sentence imposed by the trial court to be

inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and Marshall’s character.

[24] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed and remanded with instructions to

vacate the conviction for Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement.

Riley, J., and Brown, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1746 | January 30, 2020 Page 11 of 11