Tongate v. State, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1730

Tongate was charged with class D felony receiving stolen property after stolen checks were found in his wallet.
A magistrate presided at the jury trial; the jury convicted Tongate as charged.
Tongate moved for a directed verdict; the magistrate denied the motion and the jury then convicted.
Tongate moved to correct error; Judge Campbell denied after reviewing an audio recording of the trial.
Key evidence included the wallet with Leinhos’ checks found near Tongate at the accident scene and Tongate’s possession of the wallet.
Tongate appealed challenging (a) magistrate authority to rule on the motion to correct error and (b) sufficiency of the evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Magistrate authority to rule on motion to correct error	Tongate: magistrate must rule on correction error.	Tongate: judge lacked authority; magistrate should decide.	Affirmed: magistrate not required to rule; court affirmed ruling on error.
Sufficiency of evidence for receiving stolen property	State: wet checks in Tongate’s wallet support knowledge of theft.	Tongate: wet checks at dry scene undermines knowledge element.	Affirmed: evidence supports knowledge and possession; rational juror could convict.

Romine v. Gagle, 782 N.E.2d 369 (Ind.Ct.App.2003) (magistrate's discretion in certain criminal proceedings)
Johnson v. Johnson, 882 N.E.2d 223 (Ind.Ct.App.2008) (magistrate authority determined by statute)
Collins v. State, 549 N.E.2d 89 (Ind.Ct.App.1990) (ownership of contents inferred knowledge)
Boggs v. State, 928 N.E.2d 855 (Ind.Ct.App.2010) (standard for sufficiency of evidence; do not reweigh credibility)
Cooper v. State, 940 N.E.2d 1210 (Ind.Ct.App.2011) (sufficiency review focus on evidence favorable to verdict)
Hampton v. State, 873 N.E.2d 1074 (Ind.Ct.App.2007) (reasonable doubt standard; affirm if any rational inference supports)
Norwood v. State, 938 N.E.2d 1209 (Ind.Ct.App.2010) (no requirement to overcome every reasonable hypothesis)