Even if defendant’s paraphernalia conviction could not support HSO enhancement under pre-2014 criminal code, he was not entitled to PCR; he benefited from the guilty plea that included the enhancement and would have pleaded guilty anyway.
Criminal
McElfresh v. State, No. 32A01-1411-CR-514, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 7, 2015).
Defendant’s letter to victim’s mother, truthfully stating that victim could face legal consequences for lying under oath in his case, did not support conviction for attempted obstruction of justice. And because his letter did not actually reach the victim in violation of no-contact order, it could not support invasion of privacy but only lesser-included offense of attempted invasion of privacy.
Gavin v. State, No. 79A02-1501-CR-27, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 11, 2015).
Shooting suspect’s statement that his gun was in his car was admissible under public-safety exception to Miranda; police feared that suspect’s 3-year-old child, who was also in the car, might get to the gun.
Akins v. State, No. 49A02-1412-CR-869, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., July 31, 2015).
Restitution award was abuse of discretion; there was no evidence that the injury for which restitution was sought was caused by, or even connected with, the defendant.
Smart v. State, No. 29A02-1412-CR-887, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 4, 2015).
Defendant’s admission to injecting “methamphetamine,” without more, was insufficient to prove that he injected the legend drug “methamphetamine hydrochloride”; there was no evidence or basis for judicial notice that the two substances were the same