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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Ind. Law - More on "Muncie attorney held on drug charge"
Updating this ILB entry from July 8th, the Muncie Star-Press has a story today headed "Lawyer's deal kept under wraps: No trial date for a Muncie attorney has been set on cocaine possession five months after arrest." Some quotes from the story by Nick Werner:
WINCHESTER -- A Muncie attorney who authorities said had cocaine in his possession after he was caught urinating in the middle of a state highway has apparently reached a plea bargain with the Randolph County prosecutor's office.The terms of that agreement, however, remain sealed and unavailable for public inspection.
Donald K. McClellan, 51, rural Selma, was charged in Randolph Superior Court on July 18 with possession of cocaine, a class D felony carrying a standard 18-month prison term, and public intoxication, a class B misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to six months.
Court records indicate McClellan's defense attorney, Michael J. "Mick" Alexander, and Prosecutor David Daly filed a plea agreement in that court on Dec. 8, the same day the case was scheduled for a pre-trial conference.
However, when a reporter for The Star Press a few days later inspected the McClellan case's court file, it did not contain the plea agreement.
County employees said the agreement was in the possession of Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison, appointed special judge in the McClellan case on July 19 after Randolph Superior Court Judge Peter Haviza disqualified himself.
Hutchison, through a court employee, referred all questions to Prosecutor Daly, who declined comment on the issue of a plea agreement, citing court rules governing public statements concerning court proceeding. * * *
In some counties, including Delaware, plea agreements are typically kept unsealed in the same court file as other related documents and are generally open for public view.
A plea agreement that is not yet approved by the court, however, does not fall under public records law, Indiana Public Access Counselor Karen Davis said, and a prosecutor would have the legal authority to withhold the document.
Indiana Code states that the contents of a plea agreement are not part of the official record of a case unless the court approves the plea agreement.
Nonetheless, the proceedings in McClellan's case have followed a timeline atypical when compared to most felony cases in East Central Indiana courts.
Normally, when a plea bargain is filed, the court schedules a hearing, frequently within a month, in which the defendant pleads guilty to a crime and is then sentenced, assuming the judge accepts the terms of the agreement.
The scheduling of a pre-trial conference for next June could indicate that prosecutors have allowed McClellan, who is apparently a first-time offender, to enter a diversion program in which he would likely undergo counseling, pay fines and complete community service in exchange for the dismissal of charges against him.
Indiana law prohibits diversion programs for felony defendants and in McClellan's case the drug charge would have to be reduced to misdemeanor status.
McClellan also has yet to receive a trial date.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 20, 2006 10:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Law