Steven E. Ingalls, Jr. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: April 7, 2020
• Docket: 19A-CR-950
• Status: Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be Apr 07 2020, 8:31 am regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK court except for the purpose of establishing Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals the defense of res judicata, collateral and Tax Court

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Brian Buckner Baldwin Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Martinsville, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Tiffany A. McCoy Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Steven E. Ingalls, Jr., April 7, 2020 Appellant/Cross-Appellee/Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-CR-950 v. Appeal from the Morgan Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Brian H. Williams, Judge Appellee/Cross-Appellant/Plaintiff. Trial Court Cause No. 55D02-1806-CM-1013

Friedlander, Senior Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-950 | April 7, 2020 Page 1 of 3 [1] On May 24, 2018, Steven Ingalls, Jr., carved his initials and his girlfriend’s first

initial and last name on the wall of the lockup in the Morgan County

Courthouse during a recess in his trial on other charges. On June 28, 2018, the

State charged Ingalls with Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief for his act of

vandalism. On January 25, 2019, the trial court found Ingalls guilty as charged

and imposed a thirty-day sentence, all suspended. On January 31, 2019, the

trial court appointed appellate counsel to Ingalls. On March 4, 2019, Ingalls’s

appellate counsel entered his appearance and sought leave to file a belated

motion to correct error, which the trial court granted. On March 25, 2019,

Ingalls filed a belated motion to correct error, which the trial court denied the

next day. On April 26, 2019, thirty-one days later, Ingalls filed a notice of

appeal.

[2] Ingalls argues that the trial court committed fundamental error in failing to

timely advise him of the consequences of failing to timely file a written demand

for a jury trial and that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. We

need not address these claims on their merits, however, as we agree with the

State that Ingalls forfeited his right to appeal.

[3] It is undisputed that Ingalls filed his notice of appeal thirty-one days after the

trial court’s denial of his motion to correct error, or one day late. Pursuant to

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-950 | April 7, 2020 Page 2 of 3 Indiana Appellate Rule 9(A)(5), “[u]nless the Notice of Appeal is timely filed, 1 the right to appeal shall be forfeited except as provided by P.C.R. 2.”

[4] It is true that the Indiana Supreme Court has concluded that forfeiture of the

right to appeal can be forgiven if there are “extraordinarily compelling reasons

why this forfeited right should be restored.” In re Adoption of O.R., 16 N.E.3d

965, 971 (Ind. 2014). Ingalls, however, does not explain exactly which

“extraordinarily compelling” reasons should excuse his untimely filing. Ingalls

mentions that the fundamental liberty interest at issue in O.R. (the right of

parents to establish a home and raise their children) was part of the basis for the

restoration of the biological father’s right to appeal in that adoption case.

While this is true, no such interest is at stake in this case, as Ingalls’s thirty-day

sentence was wholly suspended. Ingalls also does not claim that circumstances

largely beyond his control, whether excusable neglect or something else, caused

his notice of appeal to be untimely. Based on the record before us, we have a

late notice of appeal but no apparent extraordinarily compelling reasons that

would justify restoring Ingalls’s right to appeal. Consequently, we dismiss

Ingalls’s appeal.

[5] Appeal dismissed.

Najam, J., and Tavitas, J., concur.

1 Indiana Post-Conviction Rule 2(1) allows an eligible defendant to petition the trial court for permission to file a belated notice of appeal, which Ingalls did not do.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-950 | April 7, 2020 Page 3 of 3