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Published by the Indiana Office of Court Services

Withers v. State, No. 48A02-1403-CR-130, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 26, 2016).

August 28, 2014 Filed Under: Criminal Tagged With: Appeals, T. Crone

Crone, J.
Ann Withers appeals the termination of her placement in the Madison County Drug Court program and reinstatement of her sentences in causes 48C04-1207-FB-1287 (“Cause 1287”) and 48C04-1208-FD-1440 (“Cause 1440”). She argues that the trial court committed fundamental error in taking judicial notice of attendance reports in her Drug Court file and abused its discretion in terminating her placement and reinstating her sentences. We conclude that the trial court was authorized to take judicial notice of the attendance reports pursuant to Indiana Evidence Rule 201(b)(5) and did not abuse its discretion in terminating her placement and reinstating her sentences. Therefore, we affirm.
. . . .
Withers’s argument that judicial notice of the Attendance Reports was improper ignores Indiana Evidence Rule 201(b)(5), which provides in relevant part that a court may judicially notice a law, including “records of a court of this state.” The Attendance Records were records of the Drug Court, prepared under its supervision and as part of its treatment program for Withers. Thus, the trial court was authorized to take judicial notice of them pursuant to Evidence Rule 201(b)(5). See In re D.K., 968 N.E.2d 792, 796 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012) (in parental rights termination proceeding, trial court did not err in taking judicial notice of court records in CHINS proceeding); In re Paternity of P.R., 940 N.E.2d 346, 350 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010) (in modification of custody proceeding, trial court did not err in taking judicial notice of court records in protective order proceeding filed by mother against former boyfriend). We observe that the judicial notice of the Attendance Records does not mean that the facts within them were conclusive; the parties were free to contest the facts. See Twin Lakes Reg’l Sewer Dist. v. Teumer, 992 N.E.2d 744, 748 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013) (“[W]hile a party’s pleading may be judicially noticed, the facts in those pleadings are not necessarily subject to judicial notice.”). Judicial notice of facts is governed by Evidence Rule 201(a).
RILEY, J., and MATHIAS, J., concur.

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