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ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Mark Small Marion County Public Defender Agency Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Steve Carter Attorney General of Indiana Jodi Kathryn Stein Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

In the

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 49S02-0512-CR-643 LAMAR WILLIAMS, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee (Plaintiff below). _________________________________ Appeal from the Marion Superior Court, No. 49G20-0310-FA-176400 The Honorable Steve Rubick, Commissioner _________________________________ On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 49A02-0402-CR-114 _________________________________ December 13, 2005 Shepard, Chief Justice.

Appellant LaMar Williams struggled with Indianapolis Police Department officers during an investigatory stop and then fled in his vehicle. A jury found Williams guilty on four of the State's five charges. The trial court found four aggravating factors and two mitigating factors and enhanced Williams' sentence on one of the counts. Williams appealed on Sixth Amendment grounds, citing Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004). We affirm.

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Facts and Procedural History

On October 11, 2003, at around 2:30 a.m., Officer Jose Torres of the Indianapolis Police Department investigated a vehicle at a vacant building. Officer Torres encountered Williams, the driver, and did a pat-down search. There followed a struggle in which Williams was able to flee in his vehicle. During the flight, Williams dropped a white box that was later recovered and found to contain cocaine. Police apprehended Williams at Wishard Hospital, despite further attempts to resist.

A jury acquitted Williams on a count of dealing in cocaine, but found him guilty of possession of cocaine, a class C felony; resisting law enforcement, a class D felony; 1 battery, a class A misdemeanor; and resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor.

The trial court sentenced Williams to six years for class C felony possession (the presumptive is four), and suspended two to probation. It ordered a consecutive three-year term for class D felony resisting (the presumptive being one and a half years). It imposed one-year concurrent terms for the misdemeanors. The result is a sentence of nine years, two suspended to probation. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Williams v. State, 818 N.E.2d 970, 977 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004) vacated. We grant transfer to consider Williams' claims under Blakely, and

otherwise affirm the Court of Appeals. Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A).

Blakely and Aggravating Factors

The trial court judge found four aggravating factors: (1) Williams' criminal history; (2) Williams' likelihood to commit another offense; (3) Williams' need for rehabilitation that could best be provided by a penalty facility; and (4) Williams' behavior once caught with the drugs.

Resisting law enforcement is a class A misdemeanor, but the use of a vehicle increases the offense level to a class D felony. IND. CODE ANN.

Download LaMar Williams v. State of Indiana.pdf

Indiana Law