Bryan P. Stone v. State of Indiana , 27 N.E.3d 341 ( 2015 )

Mar 12 2015, 9:54 am
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
David Rosselot Gregory F. Zoeller
Kokomo, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Michael Gene Worden
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Bryan P. Stone March 12, 2015
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
34A02-1410-CR-753
v. Appeal from the Howard Superior
Court
The Honorable William Menges,
State of Indiana, Judge
Appellee-Plaintiff Cause No. 34D01-1206-FA-532
Bailey, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 1 of 8
Case Summary
[1] Bryan P. Stone (“Stone”) was convicted after a jury trial of four counts of
Dealing in Cocaine as a Class A felony,1 and was adjudicated to be a Habitual
Substance Offender.2 He was sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment
of forty-five years.
[2] He now appeals. We reverse and remand with instructions.
Issue
[3] Stone presents two issues for our review. We find one of these dispositive,
namely, whether the trial court abused its discretion when, after accepting a
plea agreement between Stone and the State and entering judgment of
conviction against Stone pursuant to the agreement, the trial court withdrew its
acceptance of the plea agreement and ordered Stone to stand trial. 3
Facts and Procedural History
1
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-1. The Indiana General Assembly amended the classification of criminal offenses
effective July 1, 2014. We refer throughout our decision to the statutes in effect at the time of Stone’s
offenses.
2
I.C. § 35-50-2-10.
3
Because we find the first issue dispositive, we do not address Stone’s second designated issue on appeal,
whether his double-jeopardy rights under the Fifth Amendment were violated as a result of his trial after the
court vacated his plea agreement.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 2 of 8
[4] On two occasions on April 30, 2012, and once each on May 1 and May 16,
2012, at a location in Howard County, Stone delivered cocaine to another
person.
[5] On June 16, 2012, Stone was charged with four counts of Dealing in Cocaine,
as Class A felonies. On June 19, 2012, the State alleged that Stone was a
Habitual Substance Offender.
[6] On April 25, 2014, Stone and the State entered into a plea agreement. Pursuant
to the agreement, Stone pled guilty to four counts of Dealing in Cocaine, as
Class B felonies. The State agreed to dismiss the Class A-felony charges and
the Habitual Substance Offender enhancement. The agreement further
provided that the State would recommend concurrent sentences of twenty years
imprisonment for each offense, with fifteen years executed time (the last two of
which were to be served on in-home detention) and with five years suspended
to probation.
[7] Also on April 25, 2014, the trial court conducted a guilty plea hearing, during
which Stone admitted to the offenses pursuant to the agreement. The trial court
accepted the plea agreement, entered judgments of conviction against Stone for
four counts of Class B-felony Dealing in Cocaine, and ordered a presentencing
investigation.
[8] On July 2, 2014, a hearing was conducted as a result of Stone’s failure to appear
for a presentencing investigation. At the beginning of the (brief) hearing, the
trial court sua sponte stated, “Show the plea agreement is rejected.” (Tr. at 15.)
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 3 of 8
Stone objected that the trial court had already conducted a guilty plea hearing,
accepted the plea agreement, and entered judgments of conviction. In response
to the objection, the trial court reaffirmed its rejection of the plea agreement,
reinstated Stone’s prior plea of not guilty, and set dates for a pretrial conference
and a jury trial. The trial court announced no rationale for its decision.
[9] During a pretrial hearing on September 5, 2014, Stone renewed his objection to
the setting of a trial date. The State did not oppose going to trial, stating that
Stone had failed to appear for a sentencing hearing. Stone’s counsel corrected
the record, representing to the court that Stone failed to appear for a
presentencing investigation meeting as a result of miscommunication on the
part of counsel, but the investigation was eventually completed. The trial court
again reaffirmed its decision rescinding the plea agreement and opined that the
rejection of the plea agreement worked no prejudice upon Stone. (Tr. at 20-21.)
[10] On September 8 and 9, 2014, a bifurcated jury trial was conducted. At the
conclusion of the trial’s first phase, Stone was found guilty of four counts of
Dealing in Cocaine, as Class A felonies. At the conclusion of the second phase,
the jury found as true the State’s allegation that Stone was a Habitual Substance
Offender.
[11] On October 1, 2014, a sentencing hearing was conducted. At the hearing’s
conclusion, the trial court entered judgments of conviction against Stone and
sentenced him to forty years imprisonment for each count of Dealing in
Cocaine, with the sentences run concurrent with one another, and ordered the
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 4 of 8
sentence enhanced by five years as a result of Stone’s status as a Habitual
Substance Offender.
[12] This appeal ensued.
Discussion and Decision
[13] Stone appeals the trial court’s decision that rejected his plea agreement and
vacated judgments of conviction for Dealing in Cocaine, as Class B felonies,
after the court had previously accepted the plea agreement.
[14] Whether to accept or reject a proffered plea agreement is within the discretion
of the trial court. Campbell v. State, 17 N.E.3d 1021, 1023 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).
Once accepted, however, “If the court accepts a plea agreement, it shall be
bound by its terms.” I.C. § 35-35-3-3(e). In numerous cases, this Court and our
Indiana Supreme Court have held that the binding nature of a court-accepted
plea agreement prevents trial courts from revoking such agreements and
vacating previously-entered judgments of conviction—even if the defendant has
not yet been sentenced. See, e.g., Reffett v. State, 571 N.E.2d 1227, 1229-30 (Ind.
1991); Kline v. State, 875 N.E.2d 435, 437 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007); Roark v. State,
829 N.E.2d 1078, 1080-81 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005); Benson v. State, 780 N.E.2d 413,
423 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002), trans. denied; Lee v. State, 652 N.E.2d 113, 114 (Ind.
Ct. App. 1995); Steele v. State, 638 N.E.2d 1338, 1339-40 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).
[15] Our appellate courts have on occasion, however, found trial courts to have
discretion to rescind plea agreements even after judgments of conviction have
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 5 of 8
been entered. The State directs us to two such cases: Beech v. State, 702 N.E.2d
1132 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998), and Campbell, supra. In Beech, this Court affirmed
the trial court’s decision to rescind Beech’s plea agreement where he stated
during his sentencing hearing that he was actually innocent of the offense. 702
N.E. 2d at 1136. In Campbell, we affirmed a trial court’s decision rescinding a
plea agreement where the agreement had previously been accepted. 17 N.E.3d
at 1025. Among the terms of the plea agreement in Campbell was a
requirement that Campbell testify in subsequent trials against his co-defendants.
Id. at 1024. We held that when Campbell failed to do so, he had violated the
terms of the agreement, and the trial court was within its discretion to rescind
the plea agreement and vacate Campbell’s plea. Id. at 1024-25.
[16] Here, relying upon Beech and Campbell, the State claims that Stone’s conduct in
failing to attend the scheduled presentencing investigation was sufficient to
permit the trial court to rescind the plea agreement. Yet both of the cases the
State relies upon are inapposite. In Beech, this Court relied upon standing
precedent that, in light of “Indiana’s long-standing disdain for ‘best interest’
pleas,” a claim of actual innocence affords trial courts discretion to rescind plea
agreements. 702 N.E.2d at 1137. In Campbell, the defendant violated the
express terms of the plea agreement, which required him to testify at trials of his
co-defendants. 17 N.E.3d at 1024-25.
[17] In this case, Stone did not violate any of the express terms of the agreement, nor
claim actual innocence. The State, recognizing this, contends that Stone’s
failure to appear and subsequent exposure to additional (and apparently yet-to-
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 6 of 8
be-adjudicated) criminal charges “produced a set of circumstances that had they
existed at the time of the plea hearing could well have caused the trial court, in
its discretion, to not have accepted the plea agreement in the first place.”
(Appellee’s Br. at 8.) The State argues further that Stone’s participation in the
agreement “was a sham and … he did not intend to honor it,” since his failure
to attend the initial presentencing investigation meeting presumably indicates
that he would freely violate probation and would commit new criminal
offenses. (Appellee’s Br. at 8-9.)
[18] While the trial court may have rejected a plea had Stone engaged in misconduct
prior to his guilty plea hearing, the fact remains that Stone’s purported
misconduct occurred after he had admitted to four criminal offenses in open
court. What the trial court may have done with other knowledge is not relevant
here, as Indiana courts have held since Reffet. 571 N.E.2d at 1230. Further, the
terms of the plea agreement here did not require Stone to satisfy all the terms of
his probation, or seem likely to do so, lest the plea agreement be rescinded and
the State take him to a jury trial. The terms of the plea agreement make no
provision for this, and accepting the State’s rationale on this point would risk
rendering thousands of plea agreements void, even years later, as a result of
probation violations.
[19] The trial court lacked authority to rescind the plea agreement, vacate Stone’s
convictions, and set the matter for trial. We accordingly reverse the judgment
of the trial court, order it to enter judgments of conviction pursuant to the plea
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 7 of 8
agreement, and to sentence Stone within the discretion afforded to it by the plea
agreement.
[20] Reversed and remanded.
Robb, J., and Brown, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 34A02-1410-CR-753 | March 12, 2015 Page 8 of 8