A criminal case from Bartholomew County involving a Columbus man convicted of drug charges after he was arrested at a homeless camp will be be argued on appeal before a high school audience in Fishers next week.
As part of its “Appeals on Wheels” educational outreach program, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments as Timothy Neal Davis challenges his conviction of Level 6 felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia.
Davis was charged in August 2019, but his trial was delayed due to the COVID pandemic. A jury convicted him on both counts in February of this year and he was sentenced to Community Corrections for two years with one year suspended, court records indicate.
Davis’ appeal will be argued at 1:50 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at Hamilton Southeastern High School, 12499 Olio Road in Fishers. Hearing the case will be a panel of judges Paul Felix, Peter Foley and Paul Mathias.
According to the case synopsis provided by the Court of Appeals, Davis was arrested after Bartholomew County law enforcement officers investigated a complaint that several homeless people had established a camp on private property. Davis was there with his vehicle, a tarp and a tent.
After warning Davis he was trespassing and had 48 hours to leave, an officer “stuck his head into Davis’ tent to see if other persons were at the scene who needed the warning. Inside the tent and on top of a small table in plain view, the officer saw a pipe with burnt residue and a small baggie” containing meth.
Before his trial, Davis’ counsel had filed a motion to suppress the drug evidence as a violation of his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Bartholomew Superior 1 Judge James Worton denied that motion, and the evidence was admitted at trial.
“Davis appeals his convictions and sentence, raising three arguments: 1) whether the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his pre-trial motion to suppress, 2) whether Davis was subjected to ineffective assistance of trial counsel when counsel failed to object to the admission of the methamphetamine and paraphernalia at trial, and 3) whether his two-year sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender,” according to the court’s case synopsis.
The Indiana Court of Appeals is the state’s intermediate appellate court between local trial courts and the Indiana Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals’ 15 judges issue more than 2,000 opinions per year.
Each year, the court invites schools, local bar associations and other organizations to request to host traveling “Appeal on Wheels” events that can accommodate an audience of at least 50 people. After hearing oral arguments, judges typically meet and talk with residents and answer questions about the law and the judiciary, though not about the case at issue.
More information about the program is available at in.gov/courts/appeals/arguments/appeals-on-wheels.
