Title: Paquette v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

I N  T H E  
Indiana Supreme Court 
Supreme Court Case No. 19S-CR-502 
Brian L. Paquette, 
Appellant-Defendant, 
–v– 
State of Indiana,  
Appellee-Plaintiff 
Decided: September 11, 2019 
Appeal from the Pike Circuit Court, No. 63C01-1602-F3-73 
The Honorable Jeffrey L. Biesterveld, Judge 
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, 
No. 18A-CR-3072 
Per Curiam Opinion 
All Justices concur. 
 
 
 
FILED
C L E R K
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
Sep 11 2019, 10:38 am
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 19S-CR-502 | September 11, 2019 
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Per curiam.  
On February 12, 2016, while under the influence of methamphetamine 
and purportedly believing he was being chased by farmers through a 
field, Brian Paquette attempted to flee from police by traveling the wrong 
way on I-69 near Petersburg, Indiana. This initiated a chain-reaction crash 
that claimed the lives of three victims, one of whom was pregnant, and 
severely injured a fourth.  
As to the three deceased victims, Paquette was charged with three 
counts of resisting law enforcement by fleeing in a vehicle causing death, a 
Level 3 felony; three counts of operating a vehicle with methamphetamine 
in his blood causing death, a Level 4 felony; and three counts of reckless 
homicide, a Level 5 felony. Paquette was also charged with operating a 
vehicle with methamphetamine in his blood causing serious bodily injury 
and possession of methamphetamine, both Level 6 felonies.  
Paquette agreed to plead guilty to all charges but argued that, because 
he engaged in only one act of resisting, the trial court could enter a Level 3 
felony resisting-causing-death conviction as to only one of the deceased 
victims. The trial court ruled against Paquette on this issue and entered 
convictions on all three Level 3 felony counts and the Level 6 felony 
operating-causing-injury count. It sentenced him to 16 years on each Level 
3 felony and to two and a half years on the Level 6 felony, to be served 
consecutively.1 
  In Paquette’s first appeal, we held that the resisting law enforcement 
statute, Indiana Code section 35-44.1-3-1, does not contemplate multiple 
convictions when multiple victims are killed as a result of a single incident 
of resisting. Paquette v. State, 101 N.E.3d 234 (Ind. 2018) (“Paquette I”). 
Accordingly, we remanded with instructions to vacate two of the three 
Level 3 felony resisting-causing-death convictions. But because the statute 
for operating causing death does explicitly allow for multiple convictions 
arising from a single act, we instructed the trial court to “enter convictions 
                                                 
1 The trial court merged the Level 4 and Level 5 felony convictions into these four convictions.  
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 19S-CR-502 | September 11, 2019 
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under that statute for all victims and … sentence accordingly.” 101 N.E.3d 
at 242.  
On remand, the trial court entered separate convictions and sentences 
on all three Level 3 felony counts but merged the second and third counts 
into the first count. The trial court also entered convictions on all three 
Level 4 felony counts. By imposing sentences of 12 years each for the 
Level 3 felony and the three Level 4 felonies, to run consecutively with the 
two-and-a-half year sentence for possession of methamphetamine, the 
trial court reached the same total sentence as before: 50 and a half years.  
On Paquette’s appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed in part and 
remanded. Paquette v. State, No. 18A-CR-3072, 2019 WL 2203251 (Ind. Ct. 
App. May 22, 2019) (“Paquette II”).  
Paquette II correctly notes that double jeopardy principles prevent the 
entry of a Level 4 felony operating-causing-death conviction and a Level 3 
felony resisting-causing-death conviction as to the same victim. But, citing 
the remand instructions in Paquette I, the Court of Appeals did not vacate 
one of the three Level 4 felony convictions. Instead, it instructed the trial 
court to vacate the single remaining Level 3 felony conviction and enter a 
conviction for the Level 6 felony offense of resisting law enforcement by 
fleeing in a vehicle—“a count of resisting law enforcement that is not 
enhanced for causing a death.” 2019 WL 2203251 at *3 (emphasis in 
original).  
In its response to Paquette’s petition to transfer, the State agrees that 
the Court of Appeals’ efforts to correct this double jeopardy violation 
misconstrued Paquette I by vacating the Level 3 felony conviction instead 
of one of the three Level 4 felony convictions.  
We grant transfer, thereby vacating the Court of Appeals decision, Ind. 
Appellate Rule 58(A), and remand for the trial court to impose judgment 
of conviction for the following: one count of Level 3 felony resisting law 
enforcement causing death; two counts of Level 4 felony operating 
causing death; and one count of Level 6 felony operating causing serious 
bodily injury; and to sentence accordingly.   
Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 19S-CR-502 | September 11, 2019 
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All Justices concur.  
A TT O R N E Y F O R  A PP E LLA N T, B R IA N PA Q UE TT E  
Mark A. Bates 
Schererville, Indiana 
A TT O R N E YS F O R  AP P EL L E E, ST AT E O F I N DI AN A  
Curtis T. Hill, Jr. 
Attorney General of Indiana 
Tyler Banks 
Deputy Attorney General 
Indianapolis, Indiana