Wayne L. Patton v. State of Indiana

990 N.E.2d 511, 2013 WL 3421932, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 327
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 9, 2013
Docket17A05-1210-CR-538
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 990 N.E.2d 511 (Wayne L. Patton 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
Wayne L. Patton v. State of Indiana, 990 N.E.2d 511, 2013 WL 3421932, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 327 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

In this case, the appellant-defendant Wayne L. Patton challenges a certain condition of probation that the trial court imposed following his conviction for Child Seduction, 1 a class D felony. Patton contends that the condition prohibiting him from accessing various internet websites and computer programs in which children are likely to participate is “overly broad, excessively vague,” and impermissibly impinges on his First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. Appellant’s Br. p. 4.

A trial court may impose conditions of probation that restrict a defendant’s activities substantially beyond the ordinary restrictions that are imposed upon an individual. The condition that the trial court imposed upon Patton is reasonable and is neither overbroad nor excessively vague because the condition relates directly to preventing Patton from communicating with children on the internet: The condition also specifically informs Patton that he is prohibited from engaging in internet activity that is designed and known to be used by children. As a result, we decline to strike this condition of probation, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS

On June 9, 2011, Patton took his sixteen-year-old daughter, J.P., driving, so she could obtain practice hours toward obtaining her operator’s license. At some point, Patton told J.P. to stop the van and get out. J.P. complied and Patton began to fondle J.P.’s breasts. Patton then told J.P. that they should try some “other [sexual] things,” sometime. Tr. p. 152-53.

The next morning, J.P. reported the incident to Jessica, her mother. When Jessica confronted Patton about the incidents, Patton admitted that he had looked at J.P.’s breasts, but he claimed it was because she had asked him to examine a scab on one of them. After picking up J.P. and her other two children and driving them to her parents’ home in Auburn, Jessica reported to the Auburn Police Department what J.P. had told her.

During an interview with police officers, Patton told Auburn Police Detective Phil Snover that J.P. had asked him to “look at *514 something on her breast.” Tr. p. 215. Although Patton admitted that he did so in “the back of the van,” he denied that he had ever touched J.P. Id. The State subsequently charged Patton with class D felony child seduction. At trial, Patton denied touching J.P. and claimed that she “likes attention” and is “very imaginative.” Id. at 223, 236, 240, 241. The jury found Patton guilty as charged.

The trial court subsequently sentenced Patton to one-and-one-half years of incarceration, with sixty days executed on weekends and the remainder suspended to probation. The trial court informed Patton that he was required to follow all of the special sex offender rules and register as a sex offender for a period of ten years. These conditions included the following:

You are prohibited from accessing or using certain websites, chat rooms, or instant messaging programs frequented by children. You are prohibited from deleting, erasing, or tampering with information on your personal computer with intent to conceal an activity prohibited by this condition[ 2 ]

Appellant’s App. p. 69-71. Patton acknowledged this condition of probation, signed the form advising him of this condition at the sentencing hearing, and did not object. Patton now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Patton argues that the trial court’s imposition of the child-related internet restrictions as a condition of his probation cannot stand. Patton contends that this condition is vague and “overbroad in that it unnecessarily prohibits a vast range of non-illicit conduct and could easily have been narrowly tailored to prevent the targeted activities.” Appellant’s Br. p. 4. In other words, Patton claims that the language of this particular condition of probation is vague and lacks specificity with regard to the particular websites and software that Patton should be prohibited from using.

In resolving this issue, we initially observe that a trial court has broad discretion in establishing conditions of probation to safeguard the general public and to create law-abiding citizens. Gordy v. State, 674 N.E.2d 190, 191 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). Conditions of probation should effectuate the supervision required to achieve probation goals and, therefore, must be functionally and rationally related to the probationer’s rehabilitative needs and to society’s interests. McCloud v. State, 452 N.E.2d 1053, 1056 (Ind.Ct.App.1983). We will not set aside terms of probation unless the trial court has abused its discretion. Whitener v. State, 982 N.E.2d 439, 446 (Ind.Ct.App.2013), trans. denied. An abuse of discretion occurs when the decision is “clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court, or the reasonable, probable, and actual deductions to be drawn therefrom.” Id.

As noted above, Patton did not object at the sentencing hearing to the condition of probation, which stated that he was “prohibited from accessing or using certain websites, chat rooms, or instant messaging programs frequented by children.” Tr. p. 307-37. Thus, Patton has waived the issue. See Hale v. State, 888 N.E.2d 314, 319 (Ind.Ct.App.2008) (observing that by failing to object to the conditions of probation at the sentencing hearing, a defendant does not properly preserve the issue for appellate review). And arguments raised for the first time on appeal are waived. Stewart v. State, 945 *515 N.E.2d 1277, 1288 (Ind.Ct.App.2011), trans. denied.

Waiver notwithstanding, we note that Indiana Code section 35-38-2-2.2(4) provides that

[a]s a condition of probation for a sex offender (as defined in IC 11-8-8-4.5), the court shall:
(4) prohibit the sex offender from
(A) Accessing or using certain websites, chat rooms, or instant messaging programs frequented by children; and
(B) Deleting, erasing, or tampering with information on the sex offender’s personal computer with intent to conceal an activity prohibited by clause (A).

Although Patton attacks the validity of this statute on constitutional grounds alleging that it unfairly impinges on his First Amendment rights, we note that First Amendment protections are not absolute. Indeed, some restrictions on speech are consistent with First Amendment principles, especially in the context of conditions of probation. Braun v. Baldwin, 346 F.3d 761, 763 (7th Cir.2003).

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

Related

Christopher D. Delgado v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2024
Thomas S Gray v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2024
Kristopher L. Weida v. State of Indiana
94 N.E.3d 682 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2018)
Dustin McCarty v. State of Indiana
94 N.E.3d 350 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2018)
Kristopher L. Weida v. State of Indiana
83 N.E.3d 704 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2017)
Leroy Butler v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2017
Antonio Waters v. State of Indiana
65 N.E.3d 613 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016)
Mason W. Meunier-Short v. State of Indiana
52 N.E.3d 927 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016)
Calvin Turner v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014
Anthony Scott Bratcher v. State of Indiana
999 N.E.2d 864 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
990 N.E.2d 511, 2013 WL 3421932, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wayne-l-patton-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2013.