On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, the Indiana Court of Appeals program, Appeals on Wheels, came to East Noble High School for the court case Ballentine vs. State. Students from our area, including Central Noble, West Noble, and the Impact Institute attended the court session, as well as Mayor Handshoe.

Mr. Ballentine was stopped and searched on the side of the Indiana Toll Road. The officer had a reason to pull him over (a minor traffic violation), and probable cause to search the vehicle. Ballentine’s original charge was a six-year sentence based on his conviction: possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of cocaine, a Class C felony.

The Indiana Court of Appeals takes place after the initial trial to hear arguments as to whether the result was fair and coinciding with the law. Ballentine’s defense attorney, Elizabeth Bellin, was arguing that his six-year sentence is unfair based on Ballentine’s record, and that the evidence failed to show that he actually possessed the drugs, since the vehicle he was in was borrowed.

Karl Scharnberg, the state attorney, argued that Ballentine’s sentence is indeed appropriate, seeing as he was out on bond for a previous offense when he was convicted of the current crime.

The judges for this particular case were Judge Paul Mathias of Allen County, Judge L. Mark Bailey of Decatur County, and Judge Margret Robb of Tippecanoe County. Judge Mathias presided for the case because East Noble is in his district, Court of Appeals District 2.

After the hearing, the appellate panel of judges and attorneys for the case took part in a Q-and-A session with the students. A favorite question of Bellin’s was, “How do you defend someone you know is guilty?” She answered quite nobly, saying, “I always get this question, it’s the elephant in the room. It’s about helping people, ensuring they’ll be okay and livable and that the state is okay and livable.” Judge Robb also had something to say about that matter, “We value life, we value liberty, that’s what our system is. Liberty is so precious that we’d rather let a guilty man go free than keep him locked up for the wrong causes.” Judge Bailey says, “The purpose of the law is to resolve conflicts, in whatever form that might be.” Mathias says, “If there’s an argument to be made, we have to find it – that’s what we do.”

The Appeals on Wheels program is a great real-life learning experience for young students.