Court Opinion

ID: 9737348
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:22:43.021242+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:23:58.285070
License: Public Domain

NEAL, Judge,
concurring.
While I agree with the conclusion reached in this case, I am of the opinion that, under issue A, laches has been shown. One offense is 27 years old, and the other one is 19 years old. Knowledgeable and experienced persons know that the mere passage of time erodes the quality of litigation and works to the detriment of the party bearing the burden of proof, here the State.
Time erodes the merits of a case in geometric progression to the amount of time that has elapsed. Under cireumstances, as here, a witness, even if available, may be called upon in court to identify a defendant, now a middle-aged man, whose whole appearance and bearing has changed with the years. The witness's memory is of a teenager. A quarter of a century later he is confronted with a middle-aged man who may be fat, bald, gray, or otherwise wholly changed. A jury, with complete justification, could and would seriously question the accuracy of the identification or other testimony about the case. Additionally, the jury would undoubtedly question the motives of a prosecuting attorney for trying a defendant for a 27 year-old burglary, for explanation of the reason that the defendant had once pleaded guilty, could not be admitted into evidence.
Of course, the policy of the law has always frowned upon stale claims, and pursuant to such policy, criminal statutes of limitation for felonies of five years, and various civil statutes of limitation of two, six, and ten years have been enacted. See IND.CODE 84-1-2-1, IND.CODE 8$4-1-2-2, and IND.CODE 835-41-4-2. Ind.Ruiles of Procedure, Criminal Rule 4(C) mandates that a charged defendant be tried within one year. The obvious, wise purpose of the policy is to force matters to be litigated while memories are fresh.
Thus, time alone raises the inference of prejudice to the State. This delay is occasioned solely by the defendant. He was in court, yet he has waited 27 years for it to occur to him that he was in any way prejudiced by the proceedings.
In these cases the sentence has been served and any action by the court cannot erase that result. But this is not the purpose of the post-conviction proceedings. The purpose is to undermine an habitual criminal charge based upon recidivist criminal conduct. The normal post-conviction petition does not pretend to demonstrate underlying merit. It does not pretend to show that the defendant, contrary to his plea and confession in open court, was not guilty, or that there has been a miscarriage of justice. It merely raises ancient, semantic matters which the defendant claims misled him and his attorney. Such policy threatens collateral attacks on all criminal convictions occurring in the lifeline of people.
As stated, time alone is prejudice, and should be so held. Additionally, a defendant in these old cases, should be required to show prejudice, as he now is under White v. State (1986), Ind., 497 N.E.2d 893.