Court Opinion

ID: 9737932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:37:16.132001+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:02.557391
License: Public Domain

DeBRULER, Justice,
dissenting.
Indiana judges receive judicial power from popular election or appointment by the governor. State ex rel Smith v. Starke Circuit Court (1981), 275 Ind. 483, 417 N.E.2d 1115. It is from such elected or appointed judges that pro tempore judges and special judges receive their judicial power. Cartwright v. State (1993), Ind.App., 621 N.E.2d 1164. It is the mind of such a duly elected or appointed judge that is the source of authority of the pro-tem or special judge. Pro-tems, special judges, hearing officers, and magistrates and commissioners, appointed pursuant to statutory authorization, are creatures of the judi-clary.
If an elected or appointed judge manifests an intent to appoint a pro-tem, special judge, or other surrogate judge, but that manifestation does not comport with the rules governing the applicable appointive process and there is no objection to the irregularity of process, the lack of authority of the pro-tem or special judge should not be a ground for nullifying her judgment.
It has been held repeatedly by this court and the Supreme Court that when a judge has been called or an attorney appointed to try a cause, and no objection is made at the time or to his sitting in the cause when he assumes to act, all objections thereto will be deemed waived on appeal.
Jordan v. Indianapolis Coal Co. (1913), 52 Ind.App. 542, 100 N.E. 880. See also Skipper v. State (1988), Ind., 525 N.E.2d 334; Survance v. State (1984), Ind., 465 N.E.2d 1076, reh. denied. It is the "calling" of a judge, or the "appointing" of an attorney that supplies the essential bridge between the *37elected or appointed judge and the surrogate judge, such bridge being known as "color of authority." The long term appointment of a court commissioner or magistrate by the regular judge, pursuant to a statute which grants broad judicial powers to the appointee, may confer "color of authority." See Gordy v. State (1974), 262 Ind. 275, 315 N.E.2d 362. However, the constitutionality of such statutes is doubtful. Smith, 275 Ind. 483, 417 N.E.2d 1115. Where there is no support in a record of proceedings that an elected or appointed judge manifested an intent to grant a surrogate the power to judge, there is no "color of authority," a total lack of authority of such surrogate exists, and the judgment of such surrogate is a nullity. I believe the majority misreads precedent of this Court when it concludes that in the absence of the intent of an elected or appointed judge that it be so, the judicial power to enter judgment in the particular case can arise in some lawyer or court attache, through the inaction, intent, or desire of the parties.
In the Briscoe case, the court commissioner served in the case pursuant to pro-tem appointments constituting the express intention of the regular judge. The commissioner was qualified and authorized to sit in the case, and Briscoe's direct appellate claim to the contrary is properly rejected.
In the Dearman case, the court commissioner, while claiming to be a special judge, was in fact authorized at the time he acted by an appointment as judge pro-tem, constituting the express intention of the regular judge. The commissioner was qualified and acted with authority.
In the Floyd case, a complete record of proceedings fails to disclose that the regular judge manifested an intent to authorize the court commissioner to act in the case. There was no color of authority. There was no objection in the trial court to the action of the commissioner. There need not have been. The judgment and sentence is a nullity, and upon the waiver of double jeopardy by post-conviction petition, I would grant post-conviction relief and remand for trial upon the charges. The Hatcher, Manley, and Marlett cases are the same as the Floyd case for these purposes, and as such should receive the same treatment.
In the Roby case, the regular judge manifested the intent by order that the attorney who presided over the trial serve at the time as judge pro-tem. There was no like intent manifest when, on a later date, the same lawyer sentenced Roby. In my opinion, the lawyer had no authority to sentence appellant on a day that had not been contemplated by the regular judge. The sentence is a nullity. I would remand with instructions to sentence Roby anew.
I respectfully dissent.