Justices to take up partial consecutive sentence case

Whether state law allows a criminal defendant to receive a partial consecutive sentence may be determined by the Indiana Supreme Court, which agreed to hear a case successfully argued by a pro se litigant to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Justices agreed to hear Bryant E. Wilson v. State of Indiana, 27S02-1309-CR-584, in which the defendant was convicted of Class A felony charges of rape and criminal deviate conduct and Class B felony robbery. He was sentenced to an aggregate executed prison term of 50 years – concurrent 45-year terms for the Class A felonies, plus 20 years for the Class B felony, with five years of that sentence to be served consecutive to the 45-year term.

A divided appeals panel affirmed the sentence from Grant Circuit Court. The majority found the sentence was not erroneous on its face, but Chief Judge Margret Robb dissented, finding partial consecutive sentences are not explicitly allowed by statute.

Justices added three more cases to the docket last week:

State of Indiana v. I.T., 20S03-1309-JV-583, an Elkhart County case in which the Court of Appeals determined the state has no authority to appeal a juvenile court’s decision to rescind an order approving the filing of a delinquency petition against a teen accused of molesting two children.

In the Matter of: S.D. (Minor Child), Child in Need of Services, and J.B. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services, 49S05-1309-JC-585, a not-for-publication Marion Superior ruling in which an appeals panel unanimously affirmed a CHINS determination in which the mother challenged sufficiency of evidence and whether the court properly ordered her to participate in home-based counseling.

Kenyatta Erkins and Ugbe Ojile v. State of Indiana, 58A01-1205-CR-215, affirming an Ohio Circuit conviction of Class A felony conspiracy to commit robbery resulting in serious bodily over arguments that the would-be victim was not harmed.

All the cases the justices accepted for the week ending Sept. 6 were granted transfer unanimously. The court rejected 21 appeals. Transfer disposition lists may be viewed here.