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Thursday, December 22, 2005
Ind. Decisions - One decision today by the Court of Appeals
In Travis Merlington v. State of Indiana, Judge Sullivan writes:
Appellant, Travis J. Merlington, challenges the trial court’s denial of his Motion for Return of Property. Upon appeal, Merlington claims and the State agrees that the trial court was without authority to order money, which was seized from Merlington at the time of his arrest, be applied toward fines and court costs. We reverse and remand. * * *We recognize that the trial court’s decision has a common-sense appeal. If the court is in possession of cash owned by the defendant, and the defendant is obliged to pay fines or costs to the court, it would seem eminently reasonable to allow the court to use the cash owned by the defendant to satisfy all or part of the amount owned. As the State concedes, however, the applicable statutes appear to give no such power to the trial court. Applying a relatively relaxed standard of review because the State has conceded error, we feel compelled to reverse the order of the trial court and remand with instructions that the $641 taken from Merlington at the time of his arrest be returned to him.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 22, 2005 10:04 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions