Timothy Hooker v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 49A02-1602-CR-384

Hooker and Vick were long-time friends; Hooker lived with and worked for Vick in 2015.
On Aug. 2, 2015, Vick allowed Hooker to borrow Vick’s daily-use vehicle to go to his mother’s; Vick expected it returned the same day.
Hooker did not return the vehicle, ignored Vick’s calls, and Vick reported it stolen; Hooker was later stopped while driving the vehicle and arrested.
The State charged Hooker with Class A misdemeanor conversion; at a bench trial Hooker asserted a mistake-of-fact defense (he believed he could keep the car for days).
The trial court found Hooker guilty and sentenced him to 1 year in jail with 363 days suspended to probation conditioned on a substance-abuse evaluation and other probation conditions.
Hooker completed the evaluation (no treatment required), was discharged from probation, but the probation department assessed $640 in fees; Hooker appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether State disproved Hooker’s mistake-of-fact defense beyond a reasonable doubt	State: circumstantial evidence (daily use, expectation of same-day return, failure to contact owner) rebuts Hooker’s claimed reasonable belief	Hooker: long friendship, living arrangement, owner’s injury, and no return date made multi-day use reasonable	Court: Affirmed — sufficient evidence to negate reasonable mistake of fact
Whether substance-abuse evaluation and random drug testing as probation conditions were an abuse of discretion	State: conditions within court’s discretion	Hooker: no evidence of substance abuse; condition speculative	Court: Moot — Hooker completed evaluation, no treatment, and was discharged from probation; court did not address merits
Whether probation fees were improperly assessed and whether an indigency hearing was required	State: fees imposed by probation department; waived argument that Hooker failed to object at sentencing	Hooker: fees exceeded statutory limits and no indigency hearing was held before discharge	Court: Remanded — fees exceeded statutory authority; trial court abused discretion by not holding indigency hearing and must reassess fees based on time actually served on probation

Saunders v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1117 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006) (State must disprove reasonable mistake of fact beyond a reasonable doubt once defendant raises it)
McElroy v. State, 865 N.E.2d 584 (Ind. 2007) (abuse-of-discretion standard for sentencing review)
Berry v. State, 950 N.E.2d 798 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011) (sentencing includes imposition of fees and costs)
Tharp v. State, 942 N.E.2d 814 (Ind. 2011) (challenged probation condition moot when probation discharged)
Johnson v. State, 27 N.E.3d 793 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (indigency hearing must be held at latest upon completion of sentence; fees must reflect actual time served)