Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
A man whose child molesting sentence was handed down while he was in the hospital did not waive his right to be present at sentencing, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday in vacating the sentence and ordering a new hearing.
The defendant, Jamone M. Williams, had been convicted of two counts of child molesting against his wife’s 9-year-old grandson.
Williams became ill and could not be taken to the courthouse for sentencing, so his original sentencing date was continued. He was subsequently hospitalized for a leg amputation, and he was still hospitalized on the date of his continued sentencing hearing.
The judge, court reporter, prosecutor and defense counsel all traveled to the hospital, where the judge asked defense counsel if Williams was waiving his right to be present at sentencing, meaning the court personnel could not enter his hospital room. Defense counsel said yes, adding, “He does want to — he wants to have sentencing somewhere else, but he’s not in a position to do that.”
The judge thus determined that Williams had waived his right to be present and sentenced him to an aggregate of 49 years.
In a footnote, the justices added, “It is unclear why the parties did not agree to another continuance or to conduct remote proceedings.”
On appeal, Williams argued that holding the sentencing hearing at the hospital violated his right to a public trial and his procedural due process rights. But the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed in June, finding that Williams failed to preserve any error that may have occurred with regard to his sentencing procedure.
But in granting transfer Thursday, the Supreme Court disagreed.
“Here, Williams expressed that he ‘want[ed] to have sentencing somewhere else,’” the unanimous per curiam opinion says. “Williams’s statement shows he would have participated in the proceeding but for his hospitalization. In this context, Williams’s purported waiver was equivocal at best and was not unambiguously knowing and intelligent.”
The justices reminded both litigants and courts of the importance of making a record, especially in extraordinary circumstances, writing, “While Indiana Code section 35-38-1-4(a) requires that ‘[t]he defendant must be personally present at the time sentence is pronounced’ … the record reveals no apparent justification to hold court in a hospital. Such a proceeding potentially implicates a defendant’s right to a public sentencing hearing.”
Finally, the justices held, “Appellate courts cannot ignore errors apparent on the face of the record which offend our concepts of criminal justice. … Under these circumstances, we cannot condone a sentencing hearing at a hospital.”
The case is Jamone M. Williams v. State of Indiana, 23S-CR-283.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.