Timothy Leon Jester v. State of Indiana

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: July 16, 2012
• Docket: 02A05-1112-CR-701
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED Jul 16 2012, 9:12 am regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, CLERK of the supreme court, court of appeals and collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. tax court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

P. STEPHEN MILLER GREGORY F. ZOELLER Fort Wayne, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

RICHARD C. WEBSTER Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

TIMOTHY LEON JESTER, ) ) Appellant-Defendant, ) ) vs. ) No. 02A05-1112-CR-701 ) STATE OF INDIANA, ) ) Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE ALLEN CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable Thomas J. Felts, Judge Cause No. 02C01-1107-FC-208

July 16, 2012

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

KIRSCH, Judge Timothy Leon Jester (“Jester”) appeals his conviction for operating a vehicle after

a lifetime suspension,1 a Class C felony, and argues that the State failed to present

sufficient evidence to support his conviction because the evidence did not establish that

Jester’s driving privileges were actually suspended for life on June 1, 2011, the date of

the offense. We agree. “[I]n cases where a defendant is charged with a Class C felony

under Indiana Code [section] 9-30-10-17, proof of a prior conviction of being an habitual

traffic violator with a license suspended for life, together with proof that the defendant

was driving the vehicle, is sufficient to sustain a conviction. Pierce v. State, 737 N.E.2d

1211, 1214 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000) (emphasis added), trans. denied. The prior conviction

may be proven by Bureau of Motor Vehicles (“BMV”) records pursuant to Indiana Code

section 9-30-3-15, provided the State properly ties the BMV record to the defendant. Id.

Here, the State alleged that Jester committed the charged offense on June 1, 2011.

However, there was no showing that Jester’s driving privileges were actually suspended

for life on the date of the offense or that he had a prior conviction of being a habitual

traffic violator with a lifetime suspension on that date; instead, the BMV record admitted

into evidence at trial merely showed that he had a lifetime suspension as of June 30,

2011. We therefore conclude that insufficient evidence was presented to prove that Jester

committed the offense of operating a vehicle after a lifetime suspension on June 1, 2011.

Reversed.

BAKER, J., and BROWN, J., concur.

1 See Ind. Code § 9-30-10-17.