Terry A. Hodge v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: October 31, 2018
• Docket: 18A-CR-1449
• 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 Oct 31 2018, 10:53 am

court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK Indiana Supreme Court the defense of res judicata, collateral Court of Appeals and Tax Court estoppel, or the law of the case.

APPELLANT PRO SE ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Terry Hodge Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Michigan City, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Chandra K. Hein Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Terry A. Hodge, October 31, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 18A-CR-1449 v. Appeal from the Lake Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Diane R. Boswell, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge The Honorable Kathleen A. Sullivan, Magistrate Trial Court Cause No. 45G03-0509-FC-120

Riley, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-1449 | October 31, 2018 Page 1 of 5 STATEMENT OF THE CASE [1] Appellant-Defendant, Terry Hodge (Hodge), appeals the trial court’s denial of

his motion to correct erroneous sentence.

[2] We affirm.

ISSUE [3] Hodge presents one issue on appeal: Whether the trial court abused its

discretion when it denied his motion to correct erroneous sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY [4] On November 9, 1993, the State charged Hodge with felony murder; murder;

attempted robbery, a Class A felony; attempted murder, a Class A felony; and

carrying a handgun without a license, a Class D felony. The State also alleged

that Hodge was an habitual offender. On September 16, 1994, following a jury

trial, Hodge was found guilty of murder and attempted murder. The jury also

found that Hodge was an habitual offender.

[5] On December 6, 1994, the trial court sentenced Hodge to the Indiana

Department of Correction for forty years for murder and thirty years for

attempted murder, to be served consecutively. The trial court enhanced

Hodge’s attempted murder sentence by twenty-five years for being an habitual

offender. Hodge’s aggregate sentence is ninety-five years.

[6] Hodge’s convictions and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by our

supreme court in 1997 in Hodge v. State, 688 N.E.2d 1246 (Ind. 1997). The

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-1449 | October 31, 2018 Page 2 of 5 denials of his petition for post-conviction relief and his successive petition for

post-conviction relief were affirmed by this court in 2001 and 2010, respectively.

On May 7, 2018, Hodges filed a motion to correct erroneous sentence in which

he argued that his sentence must be corrected because the trial court imposed a

sentence in excess of that allowed for criminal convictions arising out of one

episode of criminal conduct. On May 11, 2018, the trial court denied Hodge’s

motion because it found that Hodge’s sentence was not erroneous on its face.

[7] Hodge now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION [8] Hodge argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his

motion to correct erroneous sentence. Specifically, he alleges that his

convictions were subject to a statutory sentencing cap as provided for in Indiana

Code section 35-50-1-2 for convictions arising out of a single episode of

criminal conduct and that his sentence is facially erroneous because he was

sentenced in excess of that cap.

[9] A defendant may file a motion to correct erroneous sentence pursuant to

Indiana Code section 35-38-1-15 which provides:

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.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-1449 | October 31, 2018 Page 3 of 5 [10] A motion to correct erroneous sentence may only be used to correct sentencing

errors that are clear from the face of the sentencing judgment in light of

statutory authority. Robinson v. State, 805 N.E.2d 783, 787 (Ind. 2004). Claims

that require consideration of the proceedings before, during, or after trial may

not be presented in a motion to correct erroneous sentence. Id. We review a

trial court’s denial of a motion to correct erroneous sentence for an abuse of the

trial court’s discretion. Hobbs v. State, 71 N.E.3d 46, 48 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017),

trans. denied.

[11] Hodge claims that his sentence is erroneous because it was in excess of that

allowed for convictions arising out of a single episode of criminal conduct

under sentencing statute Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2. Assuming without

deciding that Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2 applies to Hodge’s sentence,

Hodge’s claim of erroneous sentence is unavailing. The term “episode of

criminal conduct” is defined as “offenses or a connected series of offenses that

are closely related in time, place, and circumstance.” I.C. 35-50-1-2(b).

Whether offenses constitute a single episode of criminal conduct is necessarily a

fact-sensitive inquiry to be determined by the trial court. Schlichter v. State, 779

N.E.2d 1155, 1157 (Ind. 2002).

[12] In order to evaluate Hodge’s claim, it would be necessary to evaluate the

evidence adduced at trial to determine if his convictions were so closely related

in time, place, and circumstance that they constituted a single episode of

criminal conduct. That would entail consideration of matters extrinsic to the

sentencing judgment, which a court is not allowed to do when reviewing a

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-1449 | October 31, 2018 Page 4 of 5 motion to correct erroneous sentence. Robinson, 805 N.E.2d at 787. This is

why Hodge’s sentence is not erroneous on its face. As such, we conclude that

the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Hodge’s motion to

correct erroneous sentence.

CONCLUSION [13] Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its

discretion when it denied Hodge’s motion to correct erroneous sentence

because his sentence was not facially erroneous.

[14] Affirmed.

[15] Vaidik, C. J. and Kirsch, J. concur

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-1449 | October 31, 2018 Page 5 of 5