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Indiana Supreme Court justices granted transfer to two cases for the week ending Aug. 25, including one in which the Court of Appeals of Indiana declined to address a pro se litigant’s challenge to the constitutionality of a vehicle search.
In its order, the Supreme Court voted to grant transfer to the case — Brione Donta Jackson v. State of Indiana, 23S-CR-233 — vacating the Court of Appeals memorandum decision and remanding to the appellate court to address the merits of Brione Jackson’s constitutional challenge to the denial of his motion to suppress.
The Supreme Court also voted to grant transfer to a case involving $305 in costs, fines and fees.
In Tailar Spells v. State of Indiana, 23S-CR-232, the Marion Superior Court conducted an indigency hearing and appointed Tailar Spells a public defender.
The court then ordered Spells to pay a $100 supplemental public defender fee. After he was found guilty of battery by bodily waste, Spell was also ordered to pay $185 in court costs and a $20 fine — bringing the total to $305.
In a memorandum decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed the imposition of costs, fines and fees, finding that neither the assessment of the charges nor use of a bond amount to satisfy those amounts constituted error.
Oral arguments have been scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 28 in the Indiana Supreme Court Courtroom at the Statehouse.
Justices denied transfer to 27 other cases and concurred on all except three.
Chief Justice Rush voted to grant transfer to Tyreoun D. Guy v. State of Indiana, 22A-CR-2324, in which the Court of Appeals affirmed the revocation of Tyreoun Guy’s probation and the requirement that he serve three years of his previously suspended sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Rush and Justice Geoffrey Slaughter voted to grant transfer to Thang Cing Bik v. State of Indiana, 22A-CR-1932, in which the Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s decision to not give a man discharge on three alcohol-related driving offenses after he did not receive the results of his blood test in a timely manner.
Thang Bik was charged in March 2021 after being arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. After 400 days later, he filed a motion for discharge under Indiana Criminal Rule 4(C), arguing the state failed to bring him to trial within a year. Two days later, the state received Bik’s blood test results.
But the trial court attributed the delay to Bik, assessing his multiple pretrial conference requests as a “trial strategy.” A split Court of Appeals agreed.
All justices concurred in the denial of Zachariah Charles Kiskaden v. State of Indiana, 22A-CR-2949, except for Justice Christopher Goff, who didn’t participate in the matter.
In that case, the Court of Appeals affirmed in a memorandum decision Zachariah Kiskaden’s convictions for Level 2 dealing in a narcotic drug and Level 2 dealing in methamphetamine, finding there was sufficient evidence at trial.
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