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

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: November 13, 2019
• Docket: 19A-CR-500
• 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 Nov 13 2019, 9:34 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.

APPELLANT PRO SE ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Shawn Twitty Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Carlisle, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

J.T. Whitehead Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Shawn Twitty, November 13, 2019 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-CR-500 v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Mark D. Stoner, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49G06-9503-CF-33600

Sharpnack, Senior Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 1 of 9 Statement of the Case [1] Shawn Twitty appeals from the denial of his motion to correct erroneous

sentence, contending that the doctrine of amelioration applies. Finding that

Twitty has already challenged his consecutive sentences, raising the same issue

several times, we affirm the decision of the trial court, rejecting his most recent

challenge.

Issue [2] Twitty presents the following issue which we restate as the following question:

Did the trial court err by denying Twitty’s motion to correct erroneous

sentence?

Facts and Procedural History [3] In a memorandum decision, a panel of this court affirmed Twitty’s convictions

of three counts of attempted murder, each as a Class A felony, and one count of

carrying a handgun without a license, a Class A misdemeanor, and affirmed the

trial court’s sentencing decision. Twitty v. State, No. 49A05-9601-CR-16, slip

op. at 2-3 (Ind. Ct. App. Aug. 18, 1997), trans. denied (“Twitty I”). The facts

recited in the direct appeal follow:

On the night of March 4, 1995, Garcia Scott, Chabwera Underwood, and Craig Mushatte went with a group of friends to the Barritz Nightclub in Indianapolis. While they were there, a fight broke out between the group and Shawn Twitty and his friends. After the two groups were ejected from the club, the fight continued in the parking lot, where Scott and Underwood

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 2 of 9 were both shot in the head. Scott was permanently blinded as a result of the shooting and Underwood suffered irreversible memory loss and motor skills impairment.

At Twitty’s jury trial, Mushatte testified that he saw Twitty remove a gun from the trunk of a car and shoot it at Mushatte, Scott, and Underwood. Mushatte testified that he believed the weapon was a nine millimeter gun. Twitty and others left in the car from which Twitty had removed the gun. The car was later found at Twitty’s residence. Police at the crime scene found a spent bullet jacket which a ballistics expert testified was fired from a nine millimeter gun. Two days later, Mushatte identified Twitty in a photo array as the person who fired the gun.

Twitty received forty-five year sentences on each of the three attempted murder counts and a one year sentence on the fourth count, carrying a handgun without a license. The sentences for counts I and II were to be served consecutively, and the sentences on counts II and IV were to be served concurrently with the sentences for counts I and II.

[4] Twitty filed a petition for post-conviction relief on November 9, 1998. After

amendments by counsel, among the issues presented to the post-conviction

court was that appellate counsel did not argue on direct appeal that the trial

court erred in imposing consecutive sentences. The post-conviction court

denied Twitty’s petition, and the denial was affirmed on appeal. Twitty v. State,

49A02-0503-PC-199 (Ind. Ct. App. Sept. 13, 2005) (“Twitty II”).

[5] On January 28, 2019, Twitty moved to correct erroneous sentence, raising the

doctrine of amelioration in support of that motion. His motion was denied and

this appeal ensued.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 3 of 9 Discussion and Decision [6] Twitty challenges the denial of his motion to correct erroneous sentence, in

which he cited Indiana Code section 35-38-1-15 (1983), which provides as

follows:

If the convicted person is erroneously sentenced, the mistake does not render the sentence void. The sentence shall be corrected after written notice is given to the convicted person. The convicted person and his counsel must be present when the corrected sentence is ordered. A motion to correct sentence must be in writing and supported by a memorandum of law specifically pointing out the defect in the original sentence.

[7] Our Supreme Court has stated that the purpose of the statute “is to provide

prompt, direct access to an uncomplicated legal process for correcting the

occasional erroneous or illegal sentence.” Robinson v. State, 805 N.E.2d 783,

785 (Ind. 2004) (citation omitted). A motion to correct erroneous sentence is

appropriate only when the sentencing error is “clear from the face of the

judgment imposing the sentence in light of the statutory authority.” Id. at 787.

Claims that require consideration of the proceedings before, during, or after

trial may not be presented by way of a motion to correct erroneous sentence.

Davis v. State, 937 N.E.2d 8, 11 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010), trans. denied. Such claims

should instead be addressed on direct appeal or through post-conviction relief.

Robinson, 805 N.E.2d at 787. A motion to correct erroneous sentence is a

narrow remedy, and a reviewing court will strictly apply the requirement of a

facially erroneous sentence. Id.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 4 of 9 [8] On appeal, we review a trial court’s denial of a motion to correct erroneous

sentence for an abuse of discretion. Davis v. State, 978 N.E.2d 470, 472 (Ind. Ct.

App. 2012). An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court’s decision is

against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before it. Id.

[9] In the direct appeal of his convictions and sentencing, a panel of this court

addressed Twitty’s challenge to his sentence, which included an argument that

the trial court erred by imposing consecutive forty-five year sentences for two of

the attempted murder counts. Twitty’s argument on direct appeal, as pertained

to his sentence, specifically referred to Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2(c),

limiting the total of the consecutive terms of imprisonment for felony

convictions arising out of a single episode of criminal conduct. The exceptions

listed in the subsection of the statute included murder and felony convictions

for which an enhanced sentence is imposed because the defendant knowingly

and intentionally caused serious bodily injury to the victim. Twitty argued,

without citation to authority, that because attempted murder is a crime separate

from murder, and, thus not among the statutory exceptions, he could not be

sentenced to a term of more than fifty years, which was the presumptive

sentence for murder at the time. See Ind. Code § 35-50-2-3 (1994).

[10] Instead of deeming the issue waived for failure to cite to authority, we

considered the argument and reviewed case law, ultimately concluding that the

statutory reference to murder convictions necessarily included attempted

murder convictions as exempt from consecutive sentencing limitations. Twitty

I, slip op. at 5-7.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 5 of 9 [11] In 1998, Twitty filed a petition for post-conviction relief. After amendments by

counsel, among the issues presented to the post-conviction court was whether

Twitty had received ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. On

January 12, 2005, the post-conviction court denied the petition.

[12] Next, Twitty appealed the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. As

respects his sentencing challenges, Twitty presented those arguments in his

claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Shortly after our decision in

Twitty’s direct appeal, our Supreme Court handed down a case discussing how

to treat consecutive sentencing in attempted murder cases. See Greer v. State,

684 N.E.2d 1140 (Ind. 1997).

[13] Greer defined the steps to be taken in analyzing whether consecutive sentences

are warranted under the sentencing statute in effect at that time. The first step

is to identify the presumptive sentence for the felony that is one class higher

than the most serious felony with which the defendant was charged. 684

N.E.2d at 1142. Murder is the next highest offense, therefore, the presumptive

sentence is fifty years. Regarding Greer’s convictions for three counts of

attempted murder and one count of criminal deviate conduct, for which

consecutive sentences were imposed, the next step is to determine if the

defendant received an enhanced penalty because the felony resulted in serious

bodily injury, and, if so, did the defendant knowingly or intentionally cause the

serious bodily injury. Id.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 6 of 9 [14] In Twitty’s case, the trial court enhanced all three attempted murder

convictions to forty-five years based in pertinent part on the seriousness of the

crime. Twitty I, slip op. at 8. We found that the evidence was sufficient to

support Twitty’s conviction, which meant that his conduct was done knowingly

and intentionally. Id. at 5. The specific circumstances of the crime, beyond

that which is needed to support an attempted murder conviction, establish that

the enhanced penalty was imposed because the felony resulted in serious bodily

injury. Scott was permanently blinded because of the shooting and Underwood

suffered irreversible memory loss and motor skills impairment.

[15] Twitty argued in his petition that appellate counsel should have cited to Greer in

the petition to transfer filed in his case. When reviewing this argument, we

noted that the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as did our court in

Twitty’s direct appeal, but reached that conclusion applying a different

rationale. After reciting Twitty’s burden of establishing the claim and the

deference afforded to appellate counsel’s choice of which issues to raise on

appeal, we concluded that appellate counsel was not ineffective. Twitty II, slip

op. at 17-19. Citation to Greer would not have provided Twitty the sentencing

relief he was seeking.

[16] Twitty argues that his consecutive sentences for two of the attempted murder

counts is erroneous on the face of the sentencing order. The State contends

that: (1) the sentencing order is not erroneous on its face; (2) the doctrine of

amelioration is inapplicable; and (3) Twitty’s claim is barred by res judicata.

We have considered each of the arguments presented by the parties and

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 7 of 9 conclude that the dispositive argument is that Twitty’s claim is barred by res

judicata. Thus, the trial court did not err in denying the motion.

[17] Twitty’s support for his motion to correct erroneous sentence is his claim that

the consecutive sentences for two of his three attempted murder convictions

constituted an erroneous sentence under the doctrine of amelioration and his

citation to the timing of amendments to Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2 and

case law addressing how to treat attempted murder convictions for purposes of

consecutive sentencing.

[18] Twitty unsuccessfully challenged his consecutive sentences on direct appeal and

transfer was denied by the Supreme Court. Twitty unsuccessfully challenged

his consecutive sentences in a petition for post-conviction relief. This Court

affirmed the denial of Twitty’s petition. Further, Twitty challenged his

consecutive sentences in a motion to correct erroneous sentence.

[19] “Res judicata, whether in the form of claim preclusion or issue preclusion (also

called collateral estoppel), aims to prevent repetitious litigation of disputes that

are essentially the same, by holding a prior final judgment binding against both

the original parties and their privies.” Becker v. State, 992 N.E.2d 697, 700 (Ind.

2013). Here, Twitty has raised the same or similar challenges to his consecutive

sentences, each time resulting in a denial of relief. We conclude that Twitty’s

argument is barred by res judicata. Thus, the trial court did not err by denying

Twitty relief.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 8 of 9 Conclusion [20] Because Twitty’s motion to correct erroneous is barred by res judicata, we

conclude that the trial court did not err by denying Twitty the relief requested.

[21] Affirmed.

Kirsch, J., and Robb, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-500 | November 13, 2019 Page 9 of 9