HANCOCK COUNTY — A New Palestine man who was driving drunk when he struck two young women on a county road in 2015 — killing one of them — was re-sentenced this week. But the new ruling did not reduce the length of his prison term.
Timothy Hughes, 22, New Palestine, was back in Hancock County Circuit Court in front of Judge Scott Sirk on Tuesday, Dec. 31, as Hughes’ lawyers worked to vacate several charges surrounding his original 9½-year maximum sentence. Then-Circuit Court Judge Richard Culver handed down the sentence in July 2016.
Hughes’ lawyers wanted a new sentence that included admission of guilt to fewer crimes. However, officials from the prosecutor’s office made sure terms of his original guilty plea did not change, meaning there will be no less time served despite vacating four charges.
Hughes, who was 17 at the time of the incident, is well into his prison term for killing Carla McCloud, 22, New Palestine; and injuring Amanda Wheeler of Greenfield, who was 22 at the time. The crash occurred on Aug. 11, 2015, as the young women were riding their bicycles on County Road 300S in New Palestine. Police said Hughes’ blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the crash.
Hughes and his lawyers had been pursuing a petition for post-conviction relief, an avenue for an appeal. However, officials with the state wanted no part in providing Hughes any type of relief and opted instead to rework the original charges, which in essence kept the terms from his original sentence.
Hughes and his attorneys were hoping to imply he had ineffective council. The state concluded some of the charges Hughes was facing were not properly addressed after he pleaded guilty to all seven original counts. Prosecutors agreed to re-address the sentencing, as long as the terms of the sentencing did not change.
The state basically asked the court to re-sentence Hughes on three felony counts and drop four other charges. Sirk did so while keeping the maximum penalties intact.
Prosecutors felt they needed to make sure Hughes was not placed in any double jeopardy issues — being charged for the same crime twice — and agreed to drop some of the original charges that overlapped.
In the end, Hughes pleaded guilty to three counts: a Level 5 felony charge of causing death while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated; a Level 6 felony charge of causing serious injury while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated; and a Level 6 felony charge of possession of a narcotic drug. He was given a 9½-year sentence in prison for the three charges. The earliest he can be released, according to the Indiana Department of Correction website, is Oct. 27, 2020. He is at the Miami Correctional Facility near Kokomo, according to the site.
The state ended up dropping four original charges to avoid the double jeopardy issues. Those charges included, Level 5 felony charge of causing death operating a motor vehicle with an ACE higher than 0.08; a Level 6 felony charge of causing serious injury operating a motor vehicle with a ACE higher than 0.08; a Level 5 felony charge of reckless homicide where the defendant recklessly kills another human being; and a Class C misdemeanor charge of illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage.
“Sometimes when we’re charging a case we don’t always have all the information we need to determine how a case will be resolved,” chief deputy prosecutor Marie Castetter said on her last day of work for the prosecutor’s office before stepping into her new role as judge of Hancock County Superior Court 1.
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