Shuger v. State

859 N.E.2d 1226, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 23, 2007 WL 102141
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 17, 2007
Docket64A03-0509-CR-456
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 859 N.E.2d 1226 (Shuger 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
Shuger v. State, 859 N.E.2d 1226, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 23, 2007 WL 102141 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

MATHIAS, Judge.

Frederick and Rosanne Shuger (the "Shugers") were each convicted in Porter Superior Court of two Class C misdemeanors for violating Indiana's Hunter Harassment Act. On appeal, they raise multiple issues, which we consolidate and restate as:

I. Whether Indiana's Hunter Harassment Act is constitutional; and
[1230]*1230II. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support the Shugers' convictions under the Hunter Harassment Act.

We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History1

In 2001, the Beverly Shores Town Board repealed its anti-hunting ordinance to provide for culling of its overpopulated deer. The Board established an "urban deer zone" in which it was legal to bow-hunt deer during certain prescribed days and hours on lands owned by private individuals who had granted permission for bow hunting on their properties. The Shugers had attended Town Board meetings where the issue of repealing the town's anti-hunting ordinance was discussed, and they had vigorously participated in protests against hunting in the neighboring state park.

On October 5, 2001, Jeffrey Valovich ("Valovich") complained to Department of Natural Resources Officer Roger Bateman ("Officer Bateman") that Frederick Shuger ("Frederick") had threatened him the previous day while he was field dressing a deer he had killed in Beverly Shores. Officer Bateman subsequently went to the Shugers' home to interview them. Frederick admitted to Officer Bateman that he had an altercation with Valovich but denied having threatened him. Frederick was charged with intimidation stemming from this incident. Frederick is not challenging his conviction for intimidation in this appeal.

In early November 2001, Officer Bate-man received another complaint from hunters James Myers ("Myers") and Daniel Uzelac ("Uzelac"). Myers and Uzelac had been given permission by Beverly Shores residents Phil and Carol Dicker-man to hunt white tail deer on their property as allowed under the town's law. Myers and Uzelac told Officer Bateman, and later testified, that Frederick had confronted them on November 5, 2001, while they were unpacking their hunting gear on a public roadway in Beverly Shores. Frederick had confronted the hunters with expletives, and Uzelac said he was "like a bully looking for trouble." Tr. p. 252.

On a second hunting expedition on November 7, 2001, Myers and Uzelac also witnessed Frederick and Rosanne Shuger ("Rosanne") slowly driving down a nearby gravel road. The Shugers' vehicle was the only vehicle they had seen on the road all day. Rosanne got out of their vehicle and took photographs of the license plate on their truck parked at the side of the road. While driving by the hunters' location, the Shugers also honked their horns, allowed their dog to bark out of the vehicle's open windows, and talked loudly with one another. Several minutes later, the Shugers did a second drive-by. Myers and Uzelac figured that the drive-bys would continue as long as they remained on the property, so they packed up and left. Dale Jalevocky ("Jalevocky") and James Gaskill ("Gaskill") were also hunting in Beverly Shores that day. They also witnessed the Shugers' drive-bys and complained to local law enforcement of the Shugers' disturbance.

On February 8, 2002, the State charged both Frederick and Rosanne with two counts of hunter harassment. The Shug-[1231]*1231ers moved to dismiss the charges on October 31, 2002, arguing that the provision of the Hunter Harassment Act under which they were charged violates the United States and Indiana Constitutions. The trial court denied their motion to dismiss.

The trial court then conducted a jury trial on July 18-20, 2005, and Frederick and Rosanne were found guilty on both counts of violating the Hunter Harassment Act. The trial court sentenced the Shugers on July 25, 2005. The Shugers now appeal. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

I. Constitutionality of the Hunter Harassment Act

A. First Amendment

The first issue the Shugers raise is whether Indiana's Hunter Harassment Act violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Whether a statute is constitutional on its face is a question of law. State v. Moss-Dwyer, 686 N.E.2d 109, 110 (Ind.1997) (citation omitted). When the issue presented on appeal is a question of law, we review the matter de novo. Id. (citing Brown v. State, 653 N.E.2d 77, 81 (Ind.1995)). A statute is presumed constitutional until the party challenging the statute clearly overcomes this presumption by a contrary showing. Sims v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 782 N.E.2d 345, 349 (Ind.2003) (citing Boehm v. Town of St. John, 675 N.E.2d 318, 321 (Ind.1996)). This court may nullify a statute on constitutional grounds only where such a result is clearly rational and necessary. Id. (citing Bd. of Comm'rs of the County of Howard v. Kokomo City Plan Comm'n, 263 Ind. 282, 330 N.E.2d 92, 95 (1975)).

The First Amendment, incorporated to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, protects free speech, providing in pertinent part that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." As a threshold matter, we must first determine whether the Hunter Harassment Act encompasses communicative conduct to which we should apply First Amendment scrutiny. The State seems to maintain that this act regulates conduct, and therefore, does not implicate First Amendment concerns. The Hunter Harassment Act provides:

A person who knowingly or intentionally (1) disturbs a game animal; or (2) engages in an activity or places an object or substance that will tend to disturb or otherwise affect the behavior of a game animal; with intent to prevent or hinder the legal taking commits a Class C misdemeanor.

Ind.Code § 14-22-87-2(b) (1998).

The United States Supreme Court "has applied First Amendment serutiny to a statute regulating conduct which has the incidental effect of burdening the expression of a particular political opinion." Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697, 702, 106 S.Ct. 3172, 92 L.Ed.2d 568 (1986). In fact, "it is now well settled that constitutionally protected forms of communication include parades, dances, artistic expression, picketing, wearing arm bands, burning flags and crosses, commercial advertising, charitable solicitation, rock music, some libelous false statements, and perhaps even sleeping in a public park." J. Stevens, The Freedom of Speech, 102 Yale L.J. 1293, 1298 (1993). Given this precedent, we conclude that the Hunter Harassment Act does have an incidental effect of burdening the expression of a particular political opinion, as demonstrated by this case where animal rights activists attempted to express their political opinion by creating noise during a hunt. Consequently, we proceed to apply First Amendment scrutiny.

To determine the level of First Amendment serutiny we should apply, we [1232]

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Shuger v. State
859 N.E.2d 1226 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
859 N.E.2d 1226, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 23, 2007 WL 102141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shuger-v-state-indctapp-2007.