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FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: STEVEN C. LITZ Monrovia, Indiana ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: GREGORY F. ZOELLER Attorney General of Indiana GEORGE P. SHERMAN Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

FILED
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

Jun 11 2012, 9:51 am

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
MICHAEL PHELPS, Appellant-Defendant, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee-Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

CLERK

No. 55A01-1108-CR-410

APPEAL FROM THE MORGAN SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Christopher Burnham, Judge The Honorable G. Thomas Gray, Judge Cause No. 55D01-1104-FA-451 Cause No. 55D02-1103-JD-130

June 11, 2012 OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION FRIEDLANDER, Judge

Michael Phelps appeals from his conviction of and sentence for Attempted Murder1 as a class A felony. Phelps presents the following consolidated and restated issues for our review: 1. Did the trial court with juvenile court jurisdiction abuse its discretion by waiving its jurisdiction? 2. Did the trial court with juvenile court jurisdiction err by denying Phelps's motion to close the proceedings? 3. Did the trial court commit reversible error by denying Phelps's motion for change of venue after jurisdiction had been waived? 4. Is Phelps's sentence inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender, or otherwise in violation of the state and federal constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment? We affirm. Phelps began attending Martinsville West Middle School in 2007 upon entering the sixth grade. During that school year, Phelps accumulated twenty-four disciplinary referrals from five different staff members. Three involved altercations with other students and twenty-one were for refusing to cooperate with authority figures. The school attempted to modify Phelps's behavior through an array of disciplinary actions. Phelps was retained in the sixth grade because of his failing grades, which were the result of a lack of effort rather than an inability to master the content. During his second year of sixth grade, Phelps had five disciplinary referrals from four different staff members, two of which were for altercations with other students and three of which were for failure to cooperate with authority figures.

1

Ind. Code Ann.

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