Court Opinion

ID: 9715185
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:57:09.996858+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:32.294615
License: Public Domain

HUNTER, Justice,
concurring in result.
I disagree with the majority opinion insofar as it holds that Ind.R.Ap.P. 4 (A)(8) and its underlying policy that this Court determine the validity of state statutes which have been declared unconstitutional provide the necessary authority for the state to bring interlocutory appeals pursuant to Ind. R.Ap.P. 4(B)(5) in criminal cases. As I read State v. Palmer, (1979) Ind., 386 N.E.2d 946, cited by the majority, the reason we permitted the state to bring that appeal, even though Ind. Code § 35-1-47-2 (Burns 1979 Repl.) was inapplicable, was because we found that it could have invoked our jurisdiction had it filed an original action for a writ of mandate. Although Palmer did not involve an interlocutory appeal, I would not preclude its application to such appeals. It does not appear that the present case would have been appropriate for an original action. Therefore, the appeal could not be sustained under Palmer.
Neither State v. Holland, (1980) Ind., 403 N.E.2d 832, nor State v. Lawson, (1980) Ind., 400 N.E.2d 128, other cases cited by the majority, involved interlocutory appeals by the state pursuant to Ind.R.Ap.P. 4(B)(5). In State v. Tindell, (1980) Ind., 399 N.E.2d 746, although the question of an interlocutory appeal arguably existed, the appeal was deemed to be taken from a final judgment of dismissal, and the issue of the state’s right to bring a 4(B)(5) appeal was not decided. In State v. McCormick, (1979) Ind., 397 N.E.2d 276, an interlocutory appeal was the procedural vehicle utilized, but the issue of the state’s right to use that procedure was never specifically addressed by this Court. We were squarely presented with the question of the state’s authority to *759appeal under Ind.R.Ap.P. 4(B)(5) for the first time in State v. McMillan, (1980) Ind., 409 N.E.2d 612, and I concur here for the reasons expressed therein.