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Thursday, November 02, 2006

Ind. Decisions - U.S. Supreme Court denies cert in Armstrong case

An ILB entry from March 2, 2005 began:

According to this story in the Princeton Daily Clarion, the Indiana Supreme Court has granted transfer in the case of Michael Armstrong v. State of Indiana, where the issue was, according to this ILB entry from 11/24/04: When a passenger jumped from defendant Armstrong's moving vehicle and was injured as a result, was Armstrong involved in an accident for purposes of IC 9-26-1-1, triggering the duties under that statute?
This ILB entry from June 19, 2006, quotes from a story headlined "Evansville attorney disturbed by Supreme Court decision." The decision, summarized here, was Michael C. Armstrong v. State of Indiana, which held "We hold today that a driver of a vehicle who leaves the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death may be held criminally responsible even if the driver’s vehicle did not strike the injured or deceased party."

Today the Princeton Daily Clarion, in a story by Travis Neff, reports:

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from attorneys representing a Gibson County man facing charges related to a 2003 incident that resulted in a man's death, according to the court's on-line docket sheet.

Michael C. Armstrong is with failure to stop after an accident resulting in death, in connection to the death of Craig Mobley of Owensville.

Armstrong was driving his Ford Explorer on CR400W with Mobley riding as a passenger when Mobley apparently jumped from the vehicle as it was moving, according to court records.

Armstrong is scheduled to be tried in the Gibson Circuit Court.

A writ of certiorari asking for justices to review the case was filed by Armstrong's attorneys, John D. Clouse and Ivan A. Arnaez, but was denied by the high court.

The U.S. Supreme Court receives thousands of appeals each year, and only hears a small percentage of those cases. Justices and court staff have the discretion to decide which cases are heard before the Supreme Court.

Armstrong's attorney, Arnaez, of Evansville, had argued before Gibson County Superior Court Judge Earl Penrod that the case should have been dismissed, since Armstrong's vehicle never struck Mobley.

Penrod denied the motion to dismiss, but certified a request by Arnaez to have the Indiana Court of Appeals interpret the statute phrase “involved in an accident.”

The appellate court ordered the case to be dismissed on the grounds that while the vehicle was involved in the accident, the charges could not be held against Armstrong retroactively.

Gibson County Prosecutor Rob Krieg then asked the Indiana Attorney General to take the case before the Indiana Supreme Court.

Arnaez's appeal went to the state Supreme Court, which ruled with Penrod that Armstrong can be tried. The Indiana high court agreed to vacate the appellate court's decision in April 2005.

Arnaez proceeded to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, because he said he believes the Indiana Supreme Court applied the charges retroactively against his client, which he sees as a threat to individual civil liberties.

In the writ to the U.S. Supreme Court, Armstrong's attorneys argued that all Indiana state laws and legal precedent state that a vehicle must actually strike a person, for the “leaving the scene” statute to apply.

Arnaez said although his client may be an “unpopular guy,” he believed the law was being applied incorrectly and that threatened to allow government to charge individuals with crimes in an inappropriate manner.

Arnaez said he was disappointed the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the case and said he and Clouse will consult about what steps to take next.

“Now this means the U.S. Supreme Court has said the government can make anyone they want a criminal after the fact,” Arnaez said. “That's going to make one hell of a mess.”

Arnaez said this was the type of case he said he felt the U.S. Supreme Court should agree to hear. “I'm surprised they didn't grant the writ,” Arnaez said.

Armstrong is also facing federal drug trafficking charges after a separate arrest. He was arrested in September in a federal drug investigation for trafficking powder cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

Arnaez said he hopes to have his client's federal charges addressed before proceeding with the state charges filed in connection with the death of Mobley.

“When the federal wheels start to turn, they may turn slowly, but they are hard to stop,” he said.

Arnaez said he and Clouse will try to decide on a different course of action to have the state charges for failure to stop after an accident dismissed, but said they would also address the federal charges filed against Armstrong. “It's hard to juggle two cases at the same time, but we will keep them in the air.”

Krieg, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday night, but has previously said in cases where a suspect faces both federal and state cases, accommodations are usually made so both government entities can try the separate cases.

First Asst. U.S. Attorney General Tim Morrison said there are procedures which have to followed when transferring a defendant between federal and state custody.

“You may run into some trouble while ‘prisoner shuffling,' but certain writs can be issued which allow problems to be overcome,” Morrison said.

Armstrong's trial in connection with the death of Mobley is scheduled to begin Jan. 8 in Gibson Superior Court.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 2, 2006 06:34 PM
Posted to Indiana Decisions