Court Opinion

ID: 9740557
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:37:12.975379+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:18.786116
License: Public Domain

FRIEDLANDER, Judge,
dissenting.
The threshold issue in this case is whether Blakely applies to Gutermuth’s appeal. I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that it does.
As ably described in the majority opinion, the important events in the chronology of Gutermuth’s case for purposes of determining the timeliness of his appeal are (1) he was convicted and sentenced on February 27,1997, (2) he filed a PC-1 petition on *737July 20, 2000, (3) on December 5, 2002, he filed an amended PC-1 petition, (4) on December 18, 2003, this court affirmed the denial of his PC-1 petition, (5) on November 9, 2004, our Supreme Court granted transfer and held that the post-conviction court should have dismissed Gutermuth’s PC-1 petition for lack of jurisdiction, but that Gutermuth could challenge the sentence under PC-2, (6) Blakely was decided on June 24, 2004, (7) on March 29, 2005, Gutermuth filed a petition seeking permission to file a belated appeal under PC-2, which was granted on June 6, 2005, (8) on July 6, 2005, he filed a notice of appeal, and (9) on November 3, 2005, he filed his appellant’s brief, which included a Blakely claim.
In a nutshell, the majority concludes that Gutermuth’s appeal is timely based upon its determination that his case was not yet “final” because all avenues of appeal had not yet been exhausted, i.e., he could still appeal his conviction and sentence via a belated appeal filed under PC-2. In so holding, the majority rejects Robbins v. State, 839 N.E.2d 1196 (Ind.Ct.App.2005), which held that an appeal is “final” for Blakely purposes when the right to pursue a timely appeal has lapsed, and that “timely” in this context does not include the prospect of filing a belated appeal under PC-2 rules. I was on the Robbins panel and concurred in its holding with respect to the meaning of “timely” in this context. Unless and until our Supreme Court holds that the Robbins view is incorrect, I continue to adhere to that point of view, and therefore respectfully dissent from the majority’s determination that Gutermuth’s Blakely challenge is timely.