Alberto Baiza Rodriguez v. State of Indiana, 91 N.E.3d 1033

Rodriguez pled guilty pursuant to a written plea agreement that fixed his total sentence at 72 months (30 months for OWI convictions + 42 months for HVSO), all executed on Elkhart County Work Release; the trial court accepted and imposed that sentence.
Rodriguez began serving the sentence and, about one year later, moved to modify his sentence from work release to home detention alleging undue hardship and relying on Indiana Code § 35-38-1-17(e) (post-sentencing modification authority).
The trial court denied the motion, concluding it lacked authority to modify because it was bound by the terms of the accepted plea agreement and read the agreement as waiving the right to modification.
The court quoted § 35-38-1-17(l), which states a person may not waive the right to sentence modification as part of a plea agreement and declares such waivers invalid, but the trial court interpreted the plea as effectively waiving modification.
On appeal the majority held that § 35-38-1-17(l) prohibits plea-based waivers of the statutory right to sentence modification and that the trial court erred; the case was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a defendant who entered a plea agreement with a fixed sentence executed on work release may later seek modification under Ind. Code § 35-38-1-17	Rodriguez: § 35-38-1-17(l) forbids waiver of the right to sentence modification in a plea, so he may seek modification despite the fixed work-release term	State: plea agreements are contractual and, under § 35-35-3-3(e) and precedent, an accepted fixed-sentence plea cannot later be altered; allowing modification would nullify plea benefits to the State	Majority: § 35-38-1-17(l) bars plea-based waivers of modification rights; trial court erred—remanded for further proceedings (dissent would affirm)

State ex rel. Goldsmith v. Marion Cty. Super. Ct., 419 N.E.2d 109 (Ind. 1981) (court constrained by terms of accepted plea agreement)
Pannarale v. State, 638 N.E.2d 1247 (Ind. 1994) (reinforces that accepted plea agreements limit later modification absent reservation)
Robinett v. State, 798 N.E.2d 537 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (applied Pannarale to deny modification of fixed plea sentence)
State v. Stafford, 86 N.E.3d 190 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017) (interpreted § 35-38-1-17(l) to forbid plea-based waivers of modification rights)
State v. Lamaster, 84 N.E.3d 630 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017) (panel held trial court erred in modifying a fixed plea sentence but did not analyze § 35-38-1-17(l))
State v. Smith, 71 N.E.3d 368 (Ind. 2017) (reaffirms that terms of a plea agreement are contractual and binding when accepted)