Title: Mullins v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

I N  T H E  
Indiana Supreme Court 
Supreme Court Case No. 20S-CR-451 
Brittany Nicole Mullins, 
Appellant-Defendant, 
–v– 
State of Indiana, 
Appellee-Plaintiff. 
Decided: July 6, 2020 
Appeal from the Tippecanoe Superior Court 
Nos. 79D02-1808-F4-34 and 79D02-1904-F2-18 
The Honorable Steven P. Meyer, Judge 
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals 
No. 19A-CR-1993 
Per Curiam Opinion 
Chief Justice Rush and Justices David, Massa, and Goff concur. 
Justice Slaughter dissents, believing transfer should be denied. 
 
 
 
 
FILED
C L E R K
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
Jul 06 2020, 2:15 pm
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 20S-CR-451 | July 6, 2020 
Page 2 of 3 
Per Curiam. 
Though the trial court did not abuse its discretion when sentencing 
Brittany Mullins for her drug-related offenses, we exercise our 
constitutional authority to revise her aggregate sentence down to 18 years. 
Over two weeks in August 2018, undercover law enforcement 
conducted four controlled buys of methamphetamine from Mullins and 
another individual. During a traffic stop eight days later, police found 
meth and drug paraphernalia in Mullins’s possession. Mullins readily 
admitted that the drugs were hers and that she was dealing. 
Mullins pleaded guilty to one count of Level 2 felony conspiracy to deal 
meth and two counts of Level 2 felony dealing meth in the controlled buys 
case, 79D02-1904-F2-18, and one count of Level 4 felony dealing meth in 
the traffic stop case, 79D02-1808-F4-34. The open plea left the length of the 
sentences and whether they would be served concurrently or 
consecutively to the discretion of the trial court.  
Mullins was sentenced in both cases after a joint sentencing hearing. 
For the controlled buys, Mullins was sentenced to 18 years—16 years 
executed and 2 years suspended—on each of the three counts, with the 
sentences run concurrently. For the count resulting from the traffic stop, 
Mullins was sentenced to 6½ years—4 years executed and 2½ years 
suspended—ordered consecutive to her other sentences, for an aggregate 
of 24½ years. 
  We agree with the Court of Appeals that the trial court did not abuse 
its discretion when sentencing Mullins. But even when there is no abuse of 
discretion, Article 7, Section 4 of the Indiana Constitution authorizes us to 
review and revise criminal sentences. Livingston v. State, 113 N.E.3d 611, 
613–14 (Ind. 2018). We have implemented this authority through 
Appellate Rule 7(B), which allows for revision when a sentence is 
“inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the 
offender.” We reserve 7(B) authority for exceptional cases, and its exercise 
“boils down to our collective sense of what is appropriate.” Faith v. State, 
131 N.E.3d 158, 160 (Ind. 2019) (quoting Taylor v. State, 86 N.E.3d 157, 165 
(Ind. 2017)).  
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 20S-CR-451 | July 6, 2020 
Page 3 of 3 
Here, Mullins was relatively young—21 years old when she was 
arrested for these crimes. Mullins’s childhood was difficult. She was 
exposed to a culture of drug use and dealing at a young age and began 
using illegal drugs at 14, when a relative forcibly injected her with heroin. 
Mullins was also physically and sexually abused from a very young age. 
At 17, she spent a short time in a treatment center for mental health, 
substance abuse, and addiction issues.  
Mullins married at 18. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband became 
homeless, often staying temporarily with acquaintances from the drug 
scene. During that time, she continued to be the victim of physical and 
sexual abuse. Mullins has been diagnosed with significant mental health 
issues that have gone largely untreated. Mullins’s criminal history is not 
violent and includes two previous drug-possession convictions and an 
outstanding warrant for auto theft from early 2016. 
In Mullins’s circumstances, her 24½-year aggregate sentence is 
inappropriate. Accordingly, we order that Mullins’s 6½-year sentence in 
case 79D02-1808-F4-34 be served concurrent with her sentences in case 
79D02-1904-F2-18 for an aggregate sentence of 18 years. We remand to the 
trial court to issue a revised sentencing order consistent with this opinion. 
Rush, C.J., and David, Massa, and Goff, JJ., concur. 
Slaughter, J., dissents, believing transfer should be denied. 
A TT O R N E Y F O R  A PP E LLA N T 
Brian A. Karle 
Ball Eggleston, PC 
Lafayette, Indiana 
A TT O R N E YS F O R  AP P EL L E E 
Curtis T. Hill, Jr. 
Attorney General of Indiana 
Marjorie Lawyer-Smith 
Deputy Attorney General 
Indianapolis, Indiana