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Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: JAY RODIA Indianapolis, Indiana

FILED
Jun 23 2009, 9:02 am
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

CLERK

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: GREGORY F. ZOELLER Attorney General of Indiana HENRY A. FLORES, JR. Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

JOHN L. SMITH, Appellant-Defendant, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee-Plaintiff.

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No. 49A02-0810-CR-000948

APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Lisa Borges, Judge Cause No. 49F15-0802-FD-037233

June 23, 2009
MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION BROWN, Judge

John Smith appeals his conviction for resisting law enforcement as a class D felony.1 Smith raises one issue, which we restate as whether the trial court abused its discretion when it declined to give a jury instruction proposed by Smith. We affirm. The relevant facts follow. In February 2008, Smith was sitting in a black truck which was parked next to an abandoned house on Mount Street in Indianapolis. Officer Julian Wilkerson of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was patrolling the area in a fully marked squad vehicle which was equipped with a siren, full LED light bar, and corner and rear strobes. Officer Wilkerson observed Smith's parked truck and a man standing outside the driver's window. When Smith and the man standing by his truck window noticed Officer Wilkerson's squad vehicle, the man fled on foot, and Smith immediately turned on the lights of his truck and entered traffic, without signaling, on Mount Street to drive away. Officer Wilkerson activated the emergency lights and siren of his police vehicle and began to follow Smith. Officer Wilkerson gave Smith some time to stop, knowing that sometimes it takes a driver a few moments to see police lights or hear a police siren. Smith came to a stop sign but "proceeded to take off." Transcript at 80. At that time, Officer Wilkerson "pretty much knew [that he] had a vehicle refusing to stop." Id. at 80. Officer Wilkerson then immediately notified the police control operator by radio that he was in pursuit of a vehicle. Smith drove several blocks with Officer Wilkerson in pursuit before he stopped, exited his vehicle, and "brushed something onto the ground."
1

Id. at 81.

Officer

Ind. Code

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