FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
ROBERT E. SAINT, P.C. JEFFREY A. MODISETT
Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
ROSEMARY L. BOREK
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
THOMAS J. FREIJE, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 32A05-9803-CR-128
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
Probation Officer Bridget P. Lenahan, who filed a pre-sentence investigation report with the
court on September 26, 1997.
On October 3, 1997, Freije appeared for his sentencing hearing, during which the
court ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation:
[T]herefore in order to evaluate the Plea itself, and whether or not I will
accept it and whether or not Probation, I mean what the terms of probation
would be, I'm going to require you to have a psychiatric examination done,
at your expense.
Neither Freije nor defense counsel objected to this ruling, and Freije was interviewed by Dr.
Helio Perez on October 11, 1997.
On November 25, 1997, Freije appeared for the final sentencing hearing, during
which his guilty plea was entered and accepted by the court. As a condition of his
probation, the court placed Freije on home detention for two years. Defense counsel
suggested that home detention constituted a "material change" of the plea agreement. The
court cited Antcliff v. State, 688 N.E.2d 166 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) in support of its statutory
discretion to determine conditions of probation and granted both parties a brief recess to
review the case.
After listening to oral arguments, the court reaffirmed its decision to place Freije on
home detention. The court also ordered him to pay $1,150 in probation user fees for the
home monitoring device; to be evaluated for substance abuse treatment at a cost of $100;
to perform 650 hours of community service; and to complete a counseling program. Freije
filed a timely objection to most of the court's probation conditions, but he did agree to
complete the counseling program. Freije filed a motion for stay of execution on
December 3, 1997, which the court denied on December 12, 1997. He now appeals.
The sole issue for review is whether the trial court abused its discretion in imposing
the above conditions on Freije's probation.
In reviewing the validity of the probation conditions, we note that trial courts possess
discretionary power to determine a sentence "within statutorily prescribed parameters."
Gordy v. State, 674 N.E.2d 190, 191 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).
A court's sentencing power
includes the statutory discretion to order probation and set out its terms. Id. Trial courts are
accorded broad discretion in establishing conditions of probation. Id. A probation order
will be set aside on appeal "only upon a showing that the trial court abused its discretion."
Reinbold v. State, 555 N.E.2d 463, 471 (Ind. 1990), overruled on other grounds, Wright v.
State, 658 N.E.2d 563, 570 (Ind. 1995).
Both Freije and the State rely on Antcliff to support their contentions. Antcliff refers
to IND. CODE § 35-35-3-3(e), which states that "[i]f the court accepts a plea agreement, it
shall be bound by its terms." Antcliff, 688 N.E.2d at 168. When imposing the required
sentence, the court is permitted only that degree of discretion provided in the plea
agreement. Id. at 168, citing Pannarale v. State, 638 N.E.2d 1247, 1248 (Ind. 1994). In
Antcliff, the plea agreement specifically provided that the terms of defendant's probation
were to be left to the trial court's discretion. Antcliff, 688 N.E.2d at 168. Freije argues that
because no such language was included in his plea agreement, the trial court had no
authority to impose "additional and material changes" to his probation conditions.
IND. CODE § 35-38-2-2.3 specifies twenty statutory obligations that a trial court
may impose upon a defendant as a condition of probation: subsection (2) requires a
defendant to undergo "available medical or psychiatric treatment"; subsection (13) provides
for "uncompensated work that benefits the community"; and subsection (15) authorizes
home detention. Freije's plea agreement did not specify any conditions of probation under
IND. CODE § 35-38-2-2.3, and the court's stipulation of two years' home detention did not
exceed the mandated two,188-day probation limit. Similarly, Freije's community service
requirement did not extend beyond that six-year limit.
Because Freije's plea agreement did not restrict the trial court's authority to impose
conditions of probation, and because the court did not exceed its statutory authority to
impose those conditions under IND. CODE § 35-38-2-2.3, we hold that the trial court did
not abuse its discretion in determining Freije's probation conditions.
Freije did not object
to the court's declaration that it would set the conditions of probation.
During the
October 3, 1997 sentencing hearing, the court ordered Freije to undergo a psychiatric
evaluation, which was sent to the Probation Department and "recommend[ed] to the Court
what type of probation terms would be appropriate."
Freije cites Disney v. State, 441 N.E.2d 489 (Ind. Ct. App. 1982) to support his
contention that the trial court's probation conditions were essentially restitutional and
"imposed a substantial obligation of a punitive nature" and therefore should have been
specifically included in the plea agreement. Disney, 441 N.E.2d at 494. Freije's argument
is not convincing. Home detention is not equivalent to incarceration in prison. Antcliff, 688
N.E.2d at 169. Freije may attend employment, counseling, and education programs
approved by the court, in addition to religious services. Furthermore, the $1,150 user's fee
for the home detention monitoring device cannot be considered restitution. The fee is
intended to cover administrative costs, not to compensate an aggrieved party. Finally, the
community service requirement must be considered rehabilitative, rather than punitive or
restitutional in nature. The court mandated this probation condition because of the potential
consequences of Freije's arson: "[T]his could have been a tragedy, [ ] taking many lives,
and it is a very serious case." Community service would "safeguard the general public" and
"help create a law abiding citizen" by requiring Freije to accept responsibility for his
actions. See Gordy, 674 N.E.2d at 192-193. Therefore, the conditions of probation were
not required to be specified in the plea agreement.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Affirmed.
SHARPNACK, C.J., concurs.
SULLIVAN, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part with separate opinion.
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
THOMAS J. FREIJE, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 32A05-9803-CR-128
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee. )
SULLIVAN, concurring in part and dissenting in part
The plea agreement clearly contemplates that defendant might, after the first 365
days of probation, seek and obtain removal of his home to another county and to transfer
supervision of the second year of probation to the new county. Unlike the disputed plea
agreement in Antcliff v. State (1997) Ind.App., 688 N.E.2d 166, the agreement here did not
leave the matter of the terms of probation to the complete discretion of the sentencing court.
To the contrary, the agreement would appear to be incompatible with two years of home
detention as a condition of probation.
At best, I believe the agreement, by its requirement of monitoring the first 365 days
of probation by the Hendricks County authorities, left open the question of home detention
as a condition of probation for that period. I agree that, as to that period, the sentencing
court did not abuse its discretion in ordering home detention as a condition of probation.
I further believe that the agreement, in contemplating a residential move from Hendricks
County to another county, is inconsistent with an order for home detention for the full
period of probation.
To be sure, the agreement was perhaps inartfully drawn. It could have clearly left
the matter of the terms of probation to the sentencing court's discretion. It could have stated
that such terms as may be imposed by the sentencing court would be of full force and effect
for the entire period of probation and without regard to the county in which the defendant
might legally reside during the period. It did not do so.
Furthermore, I note that the court ordered Freije to pay $1,150 in probation user fees
for the home monitoring device. Presumably this payment was earmarked for Hendricks
County alone and was either for a period of one year, in light of a contemplated change of
county for the second year, or if for the full two years would not compensate the new county
for its home detention supervision.
I would affirm the conviction but would remand with instructions to modify the home
detention provision in order to limit it to the first 365 days of probation.
Converted by Andrew Scriven