Fight v. State

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer and held that the statutory limitation on consecutive sentences applied because attempted murder was not listed as a crime of violence under the version of Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2 in effect when the offenses were committed. The court vacated the defendant’s eighty-year sentence and remanded for resentencing, limiting the total term to fifty-five years. The court summarily affirmed the portions of the Court of Appeals decision addressing sufficiency of the evidence and double jeopardy.

Holdings

1. Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2(c) limited the total consecutive terms imposed because the convictions arose out of an episode of criminal conduct and, under the applicable 1998 statute, the offenses were not crimes of violence.
2. The fact that one attempted murder resulted in serious bodily injury did not remove the sentence from the statutory limitation because the serious-bodily-injury language had been repealed and replaced by the statutory list of crimes of violence.
3. The maximum aggregate term authorized under the applicable statute was fifty-five years, the presumptive sentence for a felony one class higher than attempted murder.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2(c) limited the aggregate consecutive sentences imposed for Fight's felony convictions.
2. Whether attempted murder and criminal mischief were crimes of violence under the version of Indiana Code section 35-50-1-2 applicable when Fight committed and was tried for the offenses.
3. Whether the convictions and sentence should otherwise be affirmed on the sufficiency-of-the-evidence and double-jeopardy issues addressed by the Court of Appeals.

Disposition

vacated