Jesse Nolan Cole v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 32A05-1706-PC-1277

On August 10, 2014, Jesse Cole was found after a motorcycle crash with obvious signs of intoxication; his blood alcohol concentration measured .24 g/100 mL after a hospital draw taken pursuant to a warrant.
Cole was charged with OVWI and Operating Per Se (.15); he moved to suppress the blood-test evidence, which the trial court denied.
A jury convicted Cole of both Class A misdemeanor counts; he received a 365-day sentence with most time suspended.
On direct appeal Cole argued the blood warrant lacked probable cause, the police made material misrepresentations to obtain the warrant, and the State failed to lay foundation for the blood-draw protocol.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding any error in admitting the blood-test evidence was harmless because other evidence sufficiently proved intoxication. Cole’s rehearing and transfer petitions were denied.
Cole filed a post-conviction relief (PCR) petition re-raising the blood-evidence admissibility claims; the PCR court dismissed the petition as barred by res judicata. Cole appealed that dismissal.

Issue	Cole's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the PCR court erred by dismissing Cole's PCR petition	Admission of blood evidence violated constitutional/statutory rights because of false/omitted statements in warrant affidavit and improper foundation for blood-draw protocol; appellate harmless-error treatment denied Cole a meaningful review	Issues were raised on direct appeal and decided adversely; res judicata bars relitigation in PCR	PCR court properly dismissed: claims were decided on direct appeal and are precluded by res judicata

Timberlake v. State, 753 N.E.2d 591 (Ind. 2001) (post-conviction relief does not replace direct appeal; issues known but not raised are waived; issues decided on appeal are res judicata)
Jervis v. State, 28 N.E.3d 361 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (res judicata bars re-raising issues in PCR that were previously considered and determined on direct appeal)