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ELLINGTON v. STATE (2021)

Court of Appeals of Indiana.2021-02-16No. Court of Appeals Case No. 20A-CR-1733

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the trial court's revocation of Ellington's home detention placement.

Montez Ellington appealed after a trial court revoked his home detention placement and ordered him to complete his remaining sentence in the Department of Correction. Ellington had been serving his sentence under a structured plan involving work release and home detention at a sober living facility. After he admitted to violating the conditions of his home detention by ingesting synthetic marijuana, the trial court decided to revoke the placement and send him back to incarceration.

Ellington argued on appeal that the trial court abused its discretion by not taking into account his long history of substance abuse when deciding to revoke his placement. However, the appellate court found that Ellington's argument essentially asked the court to reconsider and reweigh the evidence, which is not permitted on appeal. The court noted that Ellington's violation was not an isolated incident but part of a pattern of noncompliance with the conditions of his alternative sentencing arrangements.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether trial court abused discretion in revoking home detention placement
  • Standard of review for community corrections placement revocation
  • Effect of defendant's history of substance abuse on revocation decision
  • Whether pattern of noncompliance supports revocation

Procedural posture

Ellington appealed the trial court's order revoking his home detention placement and ordering him to serve the remainder of his sentence in the Department of Correction.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Statement of the Case

[1] Montez Ellington appeals the trial courts revocation of his placement on home detention. Ellington raises a single issue for our review, namely, whether the trial court abused its discretion when it revoked his home detention and ordered him to serve the balance of his sentence in the Department of Correction.

[2] We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[3] In March 2019, Ellington pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, Level 4 felonies. The trial court accepted Ellingtons guilty plea and sentenced him to concurrent six-year sentences, with four years executed and two years suspended. The trial court ordered Ellington to serve his four-year executed sentence with two years on work release followed by two years on home detention.

[4] In October, the State filed a petition to revoke Ellingtons placement on work release. In that petition, the State alleged that Ellington had committed several violations, including testing positive for THC and synthetic cannabinoids. Ellington admitted to violating the terms of his placement, and the trial court ordered him to be placed on home detention at Salvaged Lives Life Center (“the Center”), a sober living facility, for two years.

[5] In April 2020, the State filed a petition to revoke Ellingtons placement on home detention. The State had been notified by someone at the Center that Ellington was being “kicked out” of the facility for violating the rules, including ingesting synthetic marijuana. Appellants App. Vol. II at 124. At the hearing on the States petition, Ellington admitted to the violations. The trial court revoked his placement on home detention and ordered him to serve the balance of his sentence, four years, in the Department of Correction. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

[6] Ellington appeals the trial courts order that modified his placement from community corrections to the Department of Correction. Community corrections programs are alternatives to commitment to the Department of Correction. Cox v. State, 706 N.E.2d 547, 549 (Ind. 1999). Placement in such programs is at the sole discretion of the trial court. Id. Furthermore, a defendant is not entitled to these alternatives; rather, such placement is a “matter of grace” and a “favor, not a right.” Id.

[7] We review a trial courts revocation of the defendants community corrections placement for an abuse of discretion. Bennett v. State, 119 N.E.3d 1057, 1058 (Ind. 2019). An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial courts decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances. Id. When reviewing a revocation of community corrections placement, we “consider all the evidence most favorable to supporting the judgment of the trial court” and do not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses. Cox, 706 N.E.2d at 551. So long as there is “substantial evidence of probative value to support the trial courts conclusion” that the defendant violated any term of his placement in community corrections, we will affirm the trial courts decision to revoke that placement. Id.

[8] Ellington contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it revoked his placement on home detention. Ellington does not dispute that he violated conditions of his placement—indeed, he admitted to the States alleged violations. Rather, Ellington asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when it revoked his placement because his relapse is understandable in the context of his history of substance abuse dating back to his childhood.

[9] But Ellingtons argument merely asks us to reweigh the evidence on appeal. We cannot do so. Cox, 706 N.E.2d at 551. It was the trial courts prerogative not to discount Ellingtons use of synthetic marijuana in light of his history of substance abuse. Indeed, as the State points out, this violation “was not simply a one-time mistake” but an example of “a pattern of noncompliance” with prior alternative sentencing options. Appellees Br. at 9. We therefore cannot say the trial court abused its discretion when it revoked Ellingtons placement on home detention.

[10] Affirmed.

Najam, Judge.

Riley, J., and Crone, J., concur.