Tony Hatchett v. State of Indiana

33 N.E.3d 1125, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 427, 2015 WL 3419817
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 28, 2015
Docket49A02-1408-CR-561
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 33 N.E.3d 1125 (Tony Hatchett v. State of Indiana) 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
Tony Hatchett v. State of Indiana, 33 N.E.3d 1125, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 427, 2015 WL 3419817 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

PYLE, Judge.

Statement of the Case

Appellant/Defendant, Tony Hatchett (“Hatchett”), appeals his two convictions of Class D felony invasion of privacy 1 which were based on his violation of a protective order and a no-contact order. He objected to one of the trial court’s final jury instructions at trial, arguing that it misled the jury on the law regarding invasion of privacy. The trial court tendered the instruction over Hatchett’s objection, and now on appeal he argues that the trial court improperly instructed the jury. We conclude that the trial court did not improperly instruct the jury and that, regardless, any potential error did not prejudice Hatchett’s substantial rights because there was sufficient evidence to support his conviction. However, sua sponte, we conclude that Hatchett’s two convictions, both based on the same telephone call, violate the actual evidence test for double jeopardy under the Indiana Constitution. We reverse and remand to the trial court with instructions to vacate one of Hatchett’s convictions for Class A misdemeanor invasion of privacy as well as its enhancement to a Class D felony.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Issue

Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it instructed the jury on the law regarding invasion of privacy.

*1127 Facts

[1] On March 22, 2014, Hatchett was prohibited from contacting Janetta Buck-halter (“Buckhalter”), the mother of his child, as a result of a no-contact order and a protective order that were in effect. The orders prohibited contact “by telephone, letter, or any other way, either directly or indirectly.” (Tr. 12-13). Detective Donna Hayes (“Detective Hayes”) of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department had served Hatchett with the protective order and knew that Hatchett was aware of and had notice of both orders. Nevertheless, that same day, on March 22, 2014, a man called Buckhalter from the Marion County Jail and spoke with her and her daughter. Although the man used another inmate’s identification number, Buckhalter recognized Hatchett’s voice, and the call was placed from Hatchett’s cell block at the jail.

[2] Subsequently, on April 30, 2014, the State charged Hatchett with two counts of Class A misdemeanor invasion of privacy for the telephone call and also charged that the two counts should be enhanced to Class D felonies because Hatchett had a prior unrelated conviction for invasion of privacy. The trial court held a jury trial on the charges on July 10, 2014.

[3] At trial, Sergeant Wanda Placencia (“Sergeant Placencia”), a Marion County Sheriffs Office detective in charge of monitoring inmate phone calls at the Marion County Jail, testified to the procedure that inmates must follow in order to make phone calls while incarcerated. She said that an inmate who is making a call must use his individual booking number and unique pin number and must enter the telephone number he is calling in order to connect. The inmate must also say his name so that the person on the other end of the connection knows who is calling. She clarified that all of the phone calls from the jail are monitored and recorded and that the jail can identify the time, location, and length of a phone call. However, she also acknowledged that, in practice, inmates are able to use each other’s unique identification numbers to place calls, even though they are not allowed to do so.

[4] Detective Hayes also testified at trial and said that she had listened to the recording of the phone call between the inmate who was allegedly Hatchett and Buckhalter on March 22 and recognized Hatchett’s voice. She had engaged in a forty to fifty minute conversation with Hatchett when she served his protective order and was therefore familiar with his voice.

[5] At the conclusion of the trial, the State tendered a proposed jury instruction that became Final Jury Instruction Number 15. It provided:

When determining whether a party committed the act of invasion of privacy, we do not consider whether Ms. Buckhalter knowingly ignored the protective order but, rather, whether the defendant knowing[ly] violated the protective order.

(App. 68-A). Hatchett objected to the phrase “we do not consider whether Buck-halter knowingly ignored the protective order” and argued that it was an incorrect statement of the law as applied to his case because he had never contended that Buckhalter had consented to the contact. (App. 68-A). He asserted that, because consent was not an issue, the instruction could confuse the jury. In response, the State noted that the issue of consent was brought up “by several different potential jurors” during jury selection and was “something that was on people’s minds[.]” (Tr. 63). Thus, the State asserted that the instruction was necessary so that the jury would understand that Hatchett’s mere contact with Buckhalter was sufficient to *1128 prove a violation of the protective and no contact orders, regardless of whether Buckhalter consented to the contact.

[6] The trial court accepted the State’s tendered jury instruction over Hatchett’s objections, noting that:

I’m going to go ahead and allow this instruction ... because the confusion, based on the voir dire, the confusion seems to be somehow relevant when it is not. This makes it clear that that is not relevant. Two, I believe as to the issue of consent, certainly anyone with any kind of intelligence can imply that there was consent simply by the fact that she didn’t hang up.

(Tr. 64). The trial court further found that the instruction was not overly prejudicial to Hatchett.

[7] The jury found Hatchett guilty of both counts as Class A misdemeanors. Hatchett waived á jury trial on the enhancements for his convictions, and the trial court enhanced both convictions to Class D felonies as a result of his prior unrelated conviction for invasion of privacy. The Court sentenced Hatchett to 730 days for each count and ordered the sentences to be served concurrently. Hatchett now appeals.

Decision

[8] On appeal, Hatchett argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it instructed the jury because, according to Hatchett, the instruction misapplied the law applicable to his case and confused the jury. We afford trial courts broad discretion in the manner of instructing a jury, and we review such decisions only for an abuse of that discretion. Hayden v. State, 19 N.E.3d 831, 838 (Ind.Ct.App.2014), reh’g denied. When reviewing jury instructions on appeal, we look to: (1) whether the tendered instructions correctly state the law; (2) whether there is evidence in the record to support giving the instruction; and (3) whether the substance of the proffered instruction is covered by other instructions. Id. We will reverse a conviction only where the appellant demonstrates that an error in the jury instructions prejudiced his substantial rights. Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

James R. Eisert v. State of Indiana
102 N.E.3d 330 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2018)
Tracy Hertel v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
33 N.E.3d 1125, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 427, 2015 WL 3419817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tony-hatchett-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2015.