Case Title: Tevis v. State

Citation: 480 N.E.2d 214

Docket Number: 1183S386

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1985-07-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
480 N.E.2d 214 (1985)
Ruemonte TEVIS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
No. 1183S386.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
July 17, 1985.
Terry O'Maley, Richmond, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Louis E. Ransdell, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
DeBRULER, Justice.
This is a direct appeal from conviction of dealing in Hydromorphone, a class B felony, I.C. § 35-48-4-2(1). The case was tried before a jury. Appellant received a fifteen year sentence.
Appellant raises one issue on appeal: whether the trial court erred in refusing to give his proposed jury instruction which concerned the credibility of informants.
These are the facts from the record that tend to support the determination of guilt. On April 30, 1981, appellant sold Thomas Kelly four pills, referred to as "4s" for $150.00. Kelley was a confidential informant working for the Indiana State Police.
The jury instruction which the defense tendered and the trial court rejected is set forth here:
In dealing with this same issue in Drollinger v. State (1980), 274 Ind. 5, 408 N.E.2d 1228, 1241, we said:
Likewise, in the case at bar, the trial court gave the following instructions:
The jury was adequately instructed on the credibility of witnesses. A meaningful opportunity to focus the attention of the jury upon the credibility of individual witnesses is afforded a party during final summation by counsel. The special instruction was properly rejected.
The conviction is affirmed.
GIVAN, C.J., and PRENTICE and PIVARNIK, JJ., concur.
HUNTER, J., not participating.