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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Ind. Decisions - Morgan County judge asks COA for clarification in sentencing dispute
The complicated story by Keith Rhodes of the Martinsville Reporter-Times begins:
Bradford Drake will have to wait a little longer before he knows if he will be eligible for parole or if he will have to serve out his term in prison.Morgan County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hanson has made a request to the Indiana Court of Appeals for clarification of its April 22, 2008, decision that granted Drake a post-conviction relief hearing to determine if his two 30-year consecutive sentences were proper.
The hearing was held May 4 in circuit court.
Since the hearing, the judge has researched case law and found that under state law, a post conviction relief petition was not the proper legal recourse for someone wanting to challenge the sentence that was imposed by an open plea agreement.
In his request, the judge says that under the law, an appeal of the case is the proper way to ask the court to review a court ordered sentence.
The judge is asking the appeals court to determine if the local court should deny the petition and then have Drake file an appeal.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 12, 2009 03:28 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions