Opinion ID: 853073
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: French contends that he was denied his fundamental right to require the State to prove each element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, in violation of the United State Constitution and the Indiana Constitution. French was charged with dealing in cocaine as a Class A felony for delivering cocaine within 1000 feet of 9th Street Park and/or St. Bartholomew Catholic Parish Pre-School. French argues that the dealing in cocaine charge should not have been enhanced to a Class A felony because there was insufficient evidence to prove French dealt cocaine within 1000 feet of school property.
French contends that there was no evidence to support the proposition that St. Bartholomew Preschool was school property for purposes of the enhancement provided by Indiana Code section 35-48-4-1 for dealing within 1000 feet of a school. Section 35-41-1-24.7 provides, in relevant part, that the term school property includes a building or other structure owned or rented by ... [a] private school (as defined in IC 20-9.1-1-3). Section 20-9.1-1-3 defines a private school as any school which is not supported and maintained by funds realized from the imposition of a tax on property, income or sales. The Director of St. Bartholomew Preschool testified that the preschool is part of the St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church. She testified that the school was a private school, did not receive state funding, and was privately sponsored by the church. She also stated that the children at the school range in age from twenty months to six years; they learn their numbers and alphabet, sing songs, go on field trips, and play. She testified that the building in which the school is located is owned by the parish. French contends that based on this information, one may speculate that St. Bartholomew was nothing more than a church run babysitting service. We disagree. We think that this kindergarten level institution falls within the definition of school property. In any event, the information charged French with dealing in cocaine within 1000 feet of a school or park. French has made no argument that the evidence was insufficient to show that Wilson Street Park was a park. Consequently, the enhancement to a Class A felony was proper.
French argues that the evidence was insufficient to establish the distance between the transaction and either the school or the park. Shawn Plummer, an auto CAD technician for the City Engineer's office, testified that the distance from the address where the dealing took place was 790 feet from St. Bartholomew's pre-school and 661 feet from the Wilson Street park. Plummer's job entails making city maps, putting new subdivisions on the maps, and keep[ing] the map accurate with the city. He stated that he enters an address into the computer, and his computer calculates everything within a 1000 feet radius of that address and produces a map. On cross-examination, Plummer admitted that he did not physically measure the distance in this case, did not write the computer program, did not know how the program worked, and did not know whether it was accurate. French objected to the map, because no one actually went out there and physically measured [the distance and] there's no foundation laid that these distances are actually the distances that that computer generated. We assume the computer generated map could be established to be reliable. In any event, before trial resumed the following day, Officer Curt Beverage physically measured the distance between the place of the dealing and the pre-school and the place of dealing and the park. He used a one-hundred-foot heavy-duty steel tape that he calibrated by comparison with a separate twenty-five foot tape. He also checked the accuracy of the twenty-five foot tape against a twelve-inch ruler. Beverage testified that the distance from the place of dealing and just past the property line of the school was 652 feet and to the far end of the school building was 964 feet. Beverage stated that the distance from the place of dealing and the park was 717 feet. This evidence was sufficient.