Opinion ID: 853629
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Modification of the Defendant's Sentence

Text: In its brief, the State contends that the trial court improperly granted the defendant's motion to correct her erroneous sentence. The State does not argue that the trial court or the defendant failed to follow the prescribed procedure. Rather, the State argues that the defendant's convictions and sentences for murder and class B felony neglect of a dependent do not violate the double jeopardy protection against multiple punishments for the same offense. Thus, the State claims that the trial court erroneously found that the defendant's convictions and sentences for murder and class B felony neglect of a dependent violated double jeopardy. Indiana Code section 35-38-1-15 permits a defendant to file a motion to correct sentence. See Reffett v. State, 571 N.E.2d 1227, 1228-29 (Ind.1991). Under the statute, the trial court may correct an erroneous sentence. IND.CODE § 35-38-1-15. In Jones v. State, this Court held that a motion to correct sentence is appropriate where the sentence is erroneous on its face and that facial error occurs when the sentence violates express statutory authority. 544 N.E.2d 492, 496 (Ind.1989). If a sentence violating express statutory authority is facially erroneous, a sentence violating double jeopardy is also facially erroneous and may be attacked by a motion to correct erroneous sentence. Cf. Reffett, 571 N.E.2d at 1228-29 ([A] sentence that violates the express terms of a plea agreement is ... facially erroneous, and [it] may be attacked by a motion to correct erroneous sentence.). A trial court's ruling upon a motion to correct sentence is subject to appeal by normal appellate procedures. Thompson v. State, 270 Ind. 677, 680, 389 N.E.2d 274, 276-77 (1979). While this Court will defer to the trial court's factual finding, reviewing only for abuse of discretion, we will review a trial court's legal conclusions under a de novo standard of review. Cf. Champlain v. State, 681 N.E.2d 696, 700 (Ind.1997). In this case, the defendant filed a motion to correct sentence in writing and a supporting memorandum of law, specifically identifying a violation of the protections against double jeopardy found in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution as the defect in the original sentence. After the State filed its response, the trial court granted the defendant's motion and corrected the defendant's conviction for class B felony neglect of a dependent, modifying the conviction to class D felony neglect and entering a new sentence of three years. Recently, in Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32 (Ind.1999), we explained that two tests apply to determine whether multiple offenses constitute the same offense under the Indiana Double Jeopardy Clause: [T]wo or more offenses are the same offense in violation of Article I, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution, if, with respect to either the statutory elements of the challenged crimes or the actual evidence used to convict, the essential elements of one challenged offense also establish the essential elements of another challenged offense. Id. at 49. Under the statutory elements test, [e]ach offense must contain at least one element which is separate and distinct from the other offense so that the same evidence is not necessary to convict for both offenses. Id. at 52. Murder requires a knowing or intentional killing, which is not required for class B felony neglect. Class B felony neglect requires knowingly or intentionally placing a dependent in a situation that may endanger the dependent's life or health, which is not required for murder. The offenses are not the same under the statutory elements test. Even though these offenses are not the same offenses under the statutory elements test, we also apply the following actual evidence test: [T]he actual evidence presented at trial is examined to determine whether each challenged offense was established by separate and distinct facts. To show that two challenged offenses constitute the same offense in a claim of double jeopardy, a defendant must demonstrate a reasonable possibility that the evidentiary facts used by the fact-finder to establish the essential elements of one offense may also have been used to establish the essential elements of a second challenged offense. Id. at 53. In Richardson, we noted that the trial court's instructions to the jury and the presentations of counsel to the jury can be helpful to the reviewing court in analyzing the actual evidence to determine whether the jury used the same evidence to establish multiple offenses. Id. at 54 n. 48. To convict the defendant of class B felony neglect, the State had to prove that the neglect resulted in serious bodily injury. IND.CODE § 35-46-1-4(a). In this case, in the trial court's preliminary and final instructions to the jury, the court read the charges in the murder count, which alleged that the defendant's striking of Emporia caused Emporia to die. The court also read the charges in the neglect count, which alleged that the resulting serious bodily injury to Emporia was death. In its closing argument, the State focused the jury's attention on evidence that showed that the defendant caused Emporia's death when she severely beat her with a wooden rod, striking the six-year-old more than fifty times on the head, arms, back, and legs, and that the defendant knew there was a high probability that the actions she took would result in Emporia's death. The State also noted that, after the beating and the next morning when Emporia was unresponsive, the defendant failed to get medical attention for Emporia, even though she may have still been alive at that time. Because the evidence offered to prove the resulting serious bodily injury was the same evidence offered to prove the knowing killing, there is a reasonable possibility that the evidentiary facts used by the fact-finder to establish that the defendant knowingly killed Emporia may also have been used to establish that the defendant's neglect resulted in serious bodily injury, an element required to prove class B felony neglect. The trial court did not err in correcting the defendant's sentence because of double jeopardy considerations.