Zachary Matthew Loveless v. State of Indiana

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: March 6, 2026
• Docket: 25A-CR-01794
• Status: Published
• Author: Judge May

Opinion

FILED Mar 06 2026, 8:51 am

CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court

IN THE

Court of Appeals of Indiana Zachary Matthew Loveless, Appellant-Defendant

v.

State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

March 6, 2026 Court of Appeals Case No. 25A-CR-1794 Appeal from the Hancock Superior Court The Honorable Dan E. Marshall, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 30D02-2302-F6-203

Opinion by Judge May Judges Altice and Foley concur.

May, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 1 of 9 [1] Zachary Matthew Loveless appeals following the trial court’s denial of his

motion to correct error, which sought additional credit time after the trial court

revoked his probation. Loveless raises one issue on appeal, which we restate as

whether the trial court erred when it ruled Loveless was not entitled to credit

time toward his Hancock County sentence for time he spent incarcerated in the

Marion County and Hamilton County jails. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] In January 2023, Loveless used a fraudulent cashier’s check to purchase an

automobile in Hancock County. The State charged Loveless with Level 6

felony automobile theft 1 and Level 6 felony fraud 2 under cause number 30D02-

2302-F6-000203 (“Cause 0203”). Pursuant to an agreement in which the State

dismissed the fraud charge, Loveless pled guilty to Level 6 felony automobile

theft, and the trial court sentenced Loveless to a term of 545 days. After giving

Loveless credit for time served, the trial court suspended the remaining 379

days of his sentence. The trial court ordered Loveless to be placed on probation

for 365 days.

[3] On May 22, 2024, the Hancock County Probation Department filed a petition

to revoke Loveless’s probation. The petition alleged Loveless had violated his

terms of probation by engaging in criminal activity. The petition noted that on

1 Ind. Code § 35-43-4-2(a)(1) (2022). 2 Ind. Code § 35-43-5-4(b)(2) (2021).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 2 of 9 May 17, 2024, the State charged Loveless in Marion County under cause

number 49D07-2405-F5-013995 (“Cause 3995”) with Level 5 felony criminal

recklessness, 3 Level 6 felony criminal recklessness, 4 Level 6 felony pointing a

firearm, 5 and Class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license. 6

[4] Officers arrested Loveless in connection with Cause 3995 on October 21, 2024,

and he was held in the Marion County Jail (“MCJ”) awaiting trial. In Cause

3995, Loveless pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to Level 5 felony

criminal recklessness and the State dismissed the remaining charges. Prior to

Loveless’s sentencing hearing, Loveless and the State completed a credit time

worksheet. The worksheet provided that Loveless was not to receive any credit

time and stated, “all time to go to out of county matters.” (Ex. Vol. III at 8)

(original formatting omitted). On February 19, 2025, the trial court in Cause

3995 sentenced Loveless to “1095 days total, 730 executed to Marion County

Community Corrections Home Detention with GPS monitoring, credit time for

0 actual days and 0 earned days, 365 days suspended, and 365 days to

probation.” (App. Vol. II at 95.)

[5] While Loveless was incarcerated in the MCJ, Hamilton County placed a hold

on Loveless in connection with a petition to revoke Loveless’s probation in

3 Ind. Code § 35-42-2-2(b)(2) (2019). 4 Ind. Code § 35-42-2-2(b)(1) (2019). 5 Ind. Code § 35-47-4-3(b) (2014). 6 Ind. Code § 35-47-2-1.5(e) (2022).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 3 of 9 cause number 29D03-2209-F6-007007 (“Cause 7007”). Officers transported

Loveless from Marion County to the Hamilton County Jail on February 19,

2025. On March 20, 2025, the trial court in Cause 7007 entered a judgment

revoking Loveless’s probation in that case and ordered Loveless to serve 180

days of his previously suspended sentence in the Hamilton County Jail. The

order revoking Loveless’s probation in Cause 7007 noted that “Defendant has

no credit time.” (Id. at 103.)

[6] Loveless was transported to the Hancock County Jail (“HCJ”) on June 18,

2025, to answer the petition to revoke his probation in Cause 0203 that was

filed in May 2024. 7 On July 2, 2025, the trial court held a fact-finding hearing

regarding the petition. At the hearing, the State asked the trial court to take

judicial notice of the proceedings in Cause 3995, and the trial court found

Loveless violated the terms of his probation by committing criminal acts while

on probation. Loveless asked the State about credit for the time he spent in the

MCJ, and the deputy prosecutor responded that “the only dates I have” were

for Loveless’s time in the HCJ. (Tr. Vol. II at 14.) The trial court ordered

Loveless to serve the balance of his suspended sentence incarcerated and

directed the HCJ to determine Loveless’s credit time. The HCJ determined

Loveless was entitled to credit for the fourteen actual days he spent incarcerated

in the HCJ, and the good time credit associated with those days.

7 There is no indication that Hancock County placed a hold on Loveless prior to his transfer.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 4 of 9 [7] On August 1, 2025, Loveless filed a motion to correct error asserting that the

time he spent incarcerated in the MCJ awaiting disposition of Cause 3995 and

in the Hamilton County Jail awaiting disposition of Cause 7007 should have

been credited toward his sentence in Cause 0203. Loveless testified at the

hearing on his motion to correct error that he believed he should receive 152

days of credit for the time he spent incarcerated outside of Hancock County.

Loveless explained that he asked the trial courts in Cause 3995 and Cause 7007

not to award him credit time in those cases so that the credit time could apply

to Cause 0203. The State argued Loveless should not be allowed to apply the

time he spent in the MCJ and the Hamilton County Jail to his Hancock County

matter because he was not in custody on the Hancock County matter at that

time. On August 19, 2025, the trial court issued an order summarily denying

Loveless’s motion to correct error.

Discussion and Decision [8] Loveless challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to correct error. We

review a trial court’s decision on a motion to correct error for an abuse of

discretion. Alvarez v. State, 147 N.E.3d 374, 377 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020), trans.

denied. “An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court’s decision is against

the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before it or if the court has

misinterpreted the law.” Id. “Because credit time is a matter of statutory right,

trial courts do not have discretion in awarding or denying such credit.” Harding

v. State, 27 N.E.3d 330, 331-32 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015). We review a trial court’s

legal conclusions related to the award of credit time de novo. Id. at 331.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 5 of 9 [9] Loveless asserts that “he is entitled to credit time on his Hancock County

sentence for time he served out-of-county prior to sentencing on Causes 3995

and 7007 and while there was a warrant in on his Hancock County probation

violation.” (Appellant’s Br. at 8.) The State argues Loveless is not entitled to

credit for the time he served out-of-county because he was not being held in

connection with the instant case at that time, and the State cites Glover v. State,

177 N.E.3d 884 (Ind. Ct. App. 2021), trans. denied, in support of its position.

[10] In Glover, Glover was arrested in January 2019 and charged with the sexual and

domestic battery of his great-niece. Id. at 885. After spending 168 days in jail,

Glover was released on bond. Id. In October 2019, Glover was arrested and

charged with sexually molesting a second great-niece. Id. Glover entered into a

plea agreement whereby the State agreed to dismiss the charges involving the

first great-niece and Glover agreed to plead guilty to the charges involving the

second great-niece. Id. In imposing sentence, the trial court awarded Glover

credit for the time he spent incarcerated following his October 2019 arrest, but

the trial court refused to award Glover credit for the 168 days he spent in jail

following his January 2019 arrest. Id. Glover appealed that decision, and we

affirmed. Id. We explained that the test for determining whether a defendant

should receive credit for time spent in pretrial confinement “is whether the

confinement was the result of the criminal charge for which the sentence was

imposed.” Id. at 886. Therefore, Glover was not entitled to credit for the 168

days he spent in jail following his January 2019 arrest because “the 168-day

confinement period at issue was not for the sentence imposed – the child

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 6 of 9 molesting [of the second great-niece] – but rather was for the earlier sexual and

domestic battery of a different victim[.]” Id.

[11] When Loveless was incarcerated in the MCJ, that period of confinement was

connected to the criminal charges he faced in Cause 3995. Likewise, when

Loveless was incarcerated in the Hamilton County Jail, that period of

confinement was connected to the petition to revoke his probation in Cause

7007. Therefore, under Glover, Loveless was not eligible for credit in the

Hancock County matter for the time he spent incarcerated out of Hancock

County in connection with other criminal matters. Therefore, Loveless has not

identified error in the denial of his credit time request. 8

[12] We note, however, that although the credit time does not apply in Hancock

County, Loveless remains entitled to credit for his time served in Marion

County and Hamilton County. As we noted earlier, it is well-settled that

“credit time is a matter of statutory right” such that “trial courts do not have

discretion in awarding or denying such credit.” Harding, 27 N.E.3d at 331–32.

Here, Loveless asked courts in Marion County and Hamilton County to deny

him all credit time based on a misapprehension that the credit time would apply

elsewhere. Both courts were gracious in granting Loveless’s request. However,

8 Counsel should be cautious when representing that time spent incarcerated in one county will be credited towards the defendant's sentence in another county.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 7 of 9 for reasons explained in Tate v. State, the law precluded the courts from doing

so. 813 N.E.2d 437 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).

[13] In Tate, we addressed similar circumstances, where the defendant asked to

“save” credit time for use in a pending case, but he was not detained in

connection with that case during the period in question. Id. at 438. The trial

court granted the defendant’s request, and the defendant later appealed,

claiming “the trial court was without authority to ‘save’ the pretrial detention

credit time and apply it upon disposition of the pending charge.” Id. at 437.

This court agreed with the defendant, determining that, although the trial court

granted the defendant’s request, the law nevertheless “preclude[d] the trial court

from giving [the defendant] what he and his counsel asked for.” Id. at 439.

We, therefore, reversed and remanded with instructions to “revise the sentence

. . . to reflect that [the defendant] is entitled to pretrial detention credit.” Id. In

the end, although the credit time did not apply in Hancock County, Loveless

has a remedy in other jurisdictions to seek proper application of his credit time.

Conclusion [14] The trial court did not err in refusing to award Loveless credit for the time he

spent incarcerated outside of Hancock County. We accordingly affirm the trial

court.

[15] Affirmed.

Altice, J., and Foley, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 8 of 9 ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Katherine D. Jack Jack Law Office, LLC Greenfield, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Theodore E. Rokita Indiana Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana Samuel J. Dayton Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-1794| March 6, 2026 Page 9 of 9