Darrell Hall v. State of Indiana ( 2012 )

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
FILED
this Memorandum Decision shall not be
regarded as precedent or cited before
any court except for the purpose of Aug 17 2012, 8:41 am
establishing the defense of res judicata,
collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. CLERK
of the supreme court,
court of appeals and
tax court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
SUZY ST. JOHN GREGORY F. ZOELLER
Marion County Public Defender Attorney General of Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
RICHARD C. WEBSTER
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
DARRELL HALL, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 49A02-1201-CR-5
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT
The Honorable Deborah J. Shook, Master Commissioner
Cause No. 49F08-1110-CM-70391
August 17, 2012
MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION
BARTEAU, Senior Judge
Darrell Hall was charged with Class A misdemeanor battery for an incident
involving his sister Tammy Hall and convicted of the lesser included offense of Class B
misdemeanor battery. He now appeals the accuracy of the abstract of judgment, which
shows that he was convicted of Class A misdemeanor battery. We remand.
In October 2011, the State charged Hall with Class A misdemeanor battery. The
information alleged that he knowingly touched Tammy in a rude, insolent, or angry
manner and that the touching resulted in bodily injury to Tammy in the form of pain.
Tammy did not testify at Hall’s bench trial. Instead, Tammy and Hall’s sister,
Latonya Hall, testified for the State. Latonya testified that Hall and Tammy had been
arguing for about fifteen minutes. Tammy threatened to call the police if Hall hit her.
Latonya told Hall to leave Tammy alone and then left the room to get her grandchild
ready for school. When she came back, she saw Tammy up against the wall, and Hall
had the palm of his hand flat against Tammy’s chest, just below her neck.
After the State rested, Hall moved for involuntary dismissal. The State conceded
that there was not enough evidence to support the Class A misdemeanor, which would
have required evidence of bodily injury, see Ind. Code § 35-42-2-1(a)(1)(A) (2009), but
argued that the evidence supported the lesser included offense of Class B misdemeanor
battery. The trial court denied Hall’s motion.
After Hall testified in his own defense, the court found him guilty of the lesser
included Class B misdemeanor:
I don’t have any reason . . . to disbelieve this witness who is reluctant to be
here and doesn’t want to get her brother into trouble. But he pushed the
2
woman against the wall, the alleged victim, against the wall and I’m finding
him guilty [of] the lesser included B misdemeanor battery.
Tr. p. 23. The court sentenced Hall to 180 days, which is the maximum term for a Class
B misdemeanor.1 See Ind. Code § 35-50-3-3 (1977). The judgment of conviction shows
that Hall was convicted of a Class B misdemeanor, but the abstract of judgment shows
that he was convicted of a Class A misdemeanor.
Hall contends that the abstract of judgment incorrectly shows that he was
convicted of Class A misdemeanor battery. The State agrees. We conclude that the clear
intent of the trial court was to convict Hall of Class B misdemeanor battery. We
therefore remand with instructions to correct the abstract of judgment to so reflect. See
Willey v. State, 712 N.E.2d 434, 445 n.8 (Ind. 1999) (“Based on the unambiguous nature
of the trial court’s oral sentencing pronouncement, we conclude that the Abstract of
Judgment and Sentencing Order contain clerical errors and remand this case for
correction of those errors.”).
Remanded with instructions.
BAKER, J., and VAIDIK, J., concur.
1
The court ordered 132 days executed, for which Hall had jail credit, and 48 days suspended.
3