Kenneth A. Johnson v. State Indiana

Kenneth A. Johnson, Tyrone Henderson, William Hood, and Grady Thomas Bobbitt escaped from the St. Joseph County Jail on March 25, 1975. They were charged in one Information with the violation of the jailbreaking statute, IC 1971, 35-21-8-1 (Burns Code Ed.). Later, a jury found them guilty of a felonious jailbreaking. All were sentenced to the Department of Corrections for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years. Their appeal to this Court is based upon the unconstitutionality of the statute. The statute provides a choice between a felony and a misdemeanor conviction. This choice is to be made by the jury in spite of the fact that the statute provides no guidelines. We affirm. During trial, the only allegation of the unconstitutionality of the statute was made by Hood when he orally moved for dismissal. The other defendants joined the motion. This motion was made at the close of the State's evidence, before the verdicts were rendered, and it was overruled. No objections were made to the instructions which referred to and informed the jury concerning the jailbreak statute; and no objections were made to the forms of verdicts submitted to the jury.