Brian Eldridge v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 02A03-1609-PC-2045

Brian Eldridge pled guilty in 2003 to multiple sexual offenses pursuant to a plea agreement that dismissed other counts and left sentencing to the court; at the plea hearing he admitted the acts and affirmed voluntariness.
At sentencing the court noted the plea as a mitigating factor, admitted a videotape under seal to corroborate the plea, dismissed remaining counts, and imposed consecutive 30-year terms (aggregate 90 years).
Eldridge filed post-conviction petitions (2005 and 2015), alleging among other things that the trial court never explicitly accepted his guilty plea and that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to sentencing without such acceptance.
The post-conviction court ordered the matter submitted on affidavit, denied Eldridge’s motions to compel interrogatories to non-party counsel, and denied a continuance after counsel entered appearance late; it then denied relief.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the plea was implicitly accepted by the court’s conduct and that counsel was not ineffective because any objection would not have changed the outcome.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the post-conviction procedure denied a fair hearing (order to proceed by affidavit; denial to compel counsel; denial of continuance)	Eldridge: court abused discretion by forcing affidavit submission, refusing to compel answers from trial/appellate counsel, and denying a continuance needed for counsel to investigate	State: court acted within Post-Conviction Rules; affidavit procedure permissible; discovery against non-parties not allowed; motion to continue was untimely and nonspecific	Affirmed: no abuse of discretion — petitioner failed to show how additional discovery or hearing would have produced relevant, probative evidence
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to sentencing before explicit acceptance of plea	Eldridge: failure to object resulted in sentencing without a conviction and constitutes fundamental error or ineffective assistance	State: counsel had no reasonable basis to object; any objection would have been cured by the court; no prejudice shown	Affirmed: counsel not ineffective — plea was implicitly accepted by court conduct and any objection would not have altered outcome

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (standard for ineffective assistance of counsel requiring deficient performance and prejudice)
Thompson v. State, 492 N.E.2d 264 (1986) (failure to enter judgment before sentencing does not require reversal where defendant otherwise properly sentenced)
Fisher v. State, 810 N.E.2d 674 (2004) (post-conviction petitioner bears burden by preponderance; appellate review standard for PCR denials)
Smith v. State, 822 N.E.2d 193 (2005) (court may order cause submitted by affidavit and review of abuse-of-discretion in denying evidentiary hearing)
Pannell v. State, 36 N.E.3d 477 (2015) (post-conviction court has discretion to issue subpoenas and to deny discovery absent relevance)
Ford v. State, 570 N.E.2d 84 (1991) (guilty plea functions as a judicial admission and is the equivalent of a guilty verdict)