Marquell M. Jackson v. State of Indiana

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court considers the sentencing authority of a trial court after an appellate court reverses a criminal gang enhancement. The court holds that the enhancement increases the punishment for all underlying felonies and that, on remand, the trial court must resentence the defendant on each surviving underlying felony, including reconsideration of concurrent or consecutive sentencing.

Holdings

1. After an appellate court reverses a criminal gang enhancement, the trial court on remand must resentence the defendant on all surviving felony offenses underlying the enhancement.
2. On remand after reversal of a criminal gang enhancement, the trial court's authority extends to determining whether the sentences for the underlying felonies should be concurrent or consecutive.
3. The criminal gang enhancement statute unambiguously increases punishment for all felony offenses underlying the enhancement.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a trial court may resentence a defendant on felony convictions underlying a criminal gang enhancement after an appellate court reverses and vacates that enhancement.
2. Whether the trial court's resentencing authority on remand extends to reconsidering whether sentences for the underlying felonies should run concurrently or consecutively.
3. How Indiana Code section 35-50-2-15 characterizes the relationship between a criminal gang enhancement and its underlying felony offenses.

Disposition

remanded