Sherman Culvahouse v. State of Indiana (12/29/04 IndCtApp) [Criminal Law & Procedure]
Bailey, Judge
Appellant-Petitioner Sherman Culvahouse (“Culvahouse”) appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm.State of Indiana v. Jason I. Felker (12/29/04 IndCtApp) [Criminal Law & Procedure]Culvahouse raises two issues, which we consolidate as whether the post-conviction court erred in concluding that Culvahouse did not receive ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. * * *
Here, Culvahouse committed arson in an urban area at a time when most residents of the area would not have been awake. Together with Culvahouse’s extensive criminal history, we cannot say that Culvahouse’s maximum twenty year sentence was clearly, plainly, and obviously unreasonable in light of the nature of the offense and Culvahouse’s character. Accordingly, Culvahouse has not demonstrated prejudice from appellate counsel’s decision not to address his sentence on direct appeal. Affirmed.
SHARPNACK, J., and MAY, J., concur.
The State appeals the grant of Jason Felker’s motion to suppress. The State raises one issue on appeal, which we restate as whether the trial court correctly determined the information on which the State’s request for a search warrant was based was obtained illegally and therefore could not be the basis for probable cause required for issuance of a search warrant. We affirm. * * *Robert Davis v. State of Indiana (12/29/04 IndCtApp) [Criminal Law & Procedure]In light of all the circumstances surrounding the Trooper’s encounter with Felker, we cannot say the trial court erred to the extent it determined the Trooper’s conduct would have communicated to a reasonable person that the person was not free to decline the officers’ requests or otherwise terminate the encounter. The Trooper’s actions therefore violated Felker’s constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure and the evidence thereby obtained could not serve as the basis for a search warrant.
We accordingly affirm the grant of Felker’s motion to suppress.
BAILEY, J., and SHARPNACK, J., concur.
Appellant-petitioner Robert Davis appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, claiming that both his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to safeguard his right not to be punished twice for the same offense in violation of double jeopardy principles. In particular, Davis argues that the filing of criminal charges against him that arose from the acts that triggered a civil forfeiture proceeding subjected him to double jeopardy. Davis claims that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to this issue at trial, and he further contends that his appellate counsel was ineffective for not raising the ineffectiveness of trial counsel in the direct appeal.State of Indiana v. Charles Jones (12/29/04 IndCtApp) [Criminal Law & Procedure]We conclude that the criminal proceedings that were concluded after the State had received a judgment in the forfeiture action did not amount to a violation of double jeopardy principles. Thus, we find that Davis did not receive the ineffective assistance of either trial or appellate counsel, and we affirm the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. * * *
SHARPNACK, J., and FRIEDLANDER, J., concur.
Appellant-respondent State of Indiana appeals the post-conviction court’s grant of appellee-respondent Charlie M. Jones’s petition for post-conviction relief. In particular, the State contends that the post-conviction court erred in vacating Jones’s habitual offender status after Jones successfully vacated one of his underlying felony convictions because: (1) rather than being found by a verdict to be a habitual offender, Jones admitted to the status in a guilty plea; and (2) the vacation of the prior felony conviction does not negate the fact that at the time Jones admitted his status, the convictions existed. Finding no error, we affirm. * * *Posted by Marcia Oddi at December 29, 2004 02:05 PMOur review of the statutory language and our supreme court’s interpretation thereof leads us to conclude that the post-conviction court here properly granted Jones’s petition. Although the State contends that Olinger and Coble should not apply here because the defendants in those cases were convicted based upon a verdict, as opposed to Jones, who pleaded guilty, as discussed above, there is no support for the State’s contention that we should treat the two types of defendants differently. The habitual offender statute states plainly that “a conviction does not count for purposes of this subsection if . . . it has been set aside.” I.C. § 35-50-2-8(b)(1). That Jones’s 1991 felony conviction was vacated after the habitual determination is of no moment inasmuch as the Coble court concluded that the timing of the vacation of the underlying predicate offense is not a relevant part of the inquiry. Rather, we must merely examine whether, in fact, a conviction that initially supported the habitual offender determination has been set aside. In this case, it has been. The post-conviction court, therefore, properly granted Jones’s petition. The judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed.
SHARPNACK, J., and FRIEDLANDER, J., concur.