Title: Vandiver v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

480 N.E.2d 910 (1985)
William VANDIVER, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
No. 984 S 341.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
July 29, 1985.
Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender, David P. Freund, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Joseph N. Stevenson, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
PIVARNIK, Justice.
This case comes directly to this Court since it involves the imposition of a death sentence pursuant to Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9 (Burns 1985). Defendant-Appellant William Carl Vandiver was charged and convicted of murder, Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1 (Burns 1985), by a jury in the Lake Superior Court on December 19, 1983. The same jury subsequently heard additional evidence presented by the State to prove certain aggravating circumstances and, after additional deliberation, recommended to the trial court that the death sentence be imposed. The trial court agreed and accordingly sentenced Vandiver to death. Vandiver *911 then was informed by the trial court of his right to appeal and Attorney Martin Kinney was appointed to represent him through the appellate process.
On November 5, 1984, Vandiver notified this Court by letter that he desired to waive his appeal. This desire and corresponding request was further substantiated by a verified "Motion to Waive Appeal" apparently filed pro se by Vandiver on November 8, 1984. In said Motion, Vandiver stated:
Vandiver also sent a copy of his "Motion to Waive Appeal" and a letter dated November 8, 1984, to Attorney Kinney directing Kinney to cease representing him. We note that Kinney has filed with this Court at least two sworn affidavits attesting to the fact that he talked with Vandiver at length on several occasions about his right to appeal and that each time Vandiver thoughtfully stated his desire to waive his appeal and to have no one do anything on his behalf in regard to the mandatory review of his death sentence.
This Court, of course, faced a similar situation in 1981 in the case of Stephen Judy. See Judy v. State, (1981) 275 Ind. 145, 416 N.E.2d 95. In Judy, we held that Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9(h) precludes any waiver of a review of the sentencing in a death penalty case but does not preclude waiver of a review of the underlying murder conviction. Accordingly, this Court set a hearing for Vandiver to appear in person before us and accompanied by Attorney Kinney so that we might determine whether he did, in fact, wish to waive appeal of his murder conviction and, if so, whether his waiver was voluntarily and knowingly made.
On January 17, 1985, Vandiver, accompanied by Attorney Kinney, appeared in person before this Court and was thoroughly examined by us about his waiver request. At that hearing, Vandiver very freely and openly discussed his situation. In particular, he stated that he understood that he had a right to an appeal with the assistance of counsel, that a review of his conviction might result in an order for a new trial, and that if he received a new trial, he would be entitled to a jury, a change of judge and a change of venue from the county. He further expressed his understanding that if he were granted a new trial, he would be entitled to the assistance of counsel and to subpoena witnesses in his behalf. In addition, Vandiver stated that he was aware that a new trial might result in his acquittal while our automatic review of his death sentence might result in setting it aside and the imposition of a term of years in prison. Moreover, Vandiver acknowledged that he understood that a waiver at that time of any review of his murder conviction would be considered a final decision and would stand even if this Court were to decide to set aside his death sentence. Finally, Vandiver freely admitted that he received a "fair" trial and was guilty of the murder for which he was convicted. To explain why he desired to waive his appeal, Vandiver stated:
After observing Vandiver's demeanor in court and noting his responsiveness to our very thorough questioning, this Court decided to accept Vandiver's waiver of appeal. This is to say that we found Vandiver competent to make a waiver and also found that he knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waived his right to appeal his murder conviction. Although Vandiver's appeal was deemed waived, a question arose regarding whether briefing was necessary to facilitate our automatic review of Vandiver's death sentence pursuant to Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9(h). This question originally was taken under advisement but on January 22, 1985, this Court issued an "Order Setting Briefing." By said Order, we directed the Public Defender of Indiana to assist us in our consideration of Vandiver's sentencing in this case. Specifically, the Public Defender was ordered to:
We note that Vandiver never requested to be represented by the Public Defender and, in fact, desired that no one promote any kind of defense on his behalf. Accordingly, the Public Defender was engaged by us to insure our best possible review of Vandiver's death sentence by briefing the narrow question of whether Vandiver's death sentence comports with the statutory requirements of Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9. The Public Defender was to do no more and we accordingly will disregard those issues and arguments raised by the Public Defender which are beyond the scope of our specific assignment to the Public Defender. In this regard, the State's "Motion To Strike In Part Appellant's `Death Sentence Review Brief'" is granted. We note that the Public Defender is now discharged from any further involvement in this case having completed the briefing assignment we gave by our Order of January 22, 1985. The Public Defender is thanked for its service to this Court. We also note that Martin Kinney was effectively terminated as Vandiver's attorney by Vandiver's letter to Kinney of November 8, 1984.
Having already decided that Vandiver could and did waive appeal of his murder conviction, we now find that only two issues need be considered which are as follows:
1. whether the procedure by which the death penalty was imposed on Vandiver fully comports with the dictates of Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9; and 2. whether death is an appropriate penalty in Vandiver's case according to our Indiana Rules for the Appellate Review of Sentences.
Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9 establishes the procedure for the State to follow in seeking the death penalty and provides the substantive standards to be applied when determining the appropriateness of the death penalty in a given case. The procedure set forth in Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9 and followed in this case was first considered and approved by us in Judy. It subsequently has been approved in other cases including: Moore v. State, (1985) Ind., 479 N.E.2d 1264; Averhart v. State, (1984) Ind., 470 N.E.2d 666, reh. denied (1985); Resnover v. State, (1984) Ind., 460 N.E.2d 922, cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 105 S. Ct. 231, 83 L. Ed. 2d 160; Burris v. State, (1984) Ind., 465 N.E.2d 171, cert. denied (1985) ___ U.S. ___, 105 S. Ct. 816, 83 L. Ed. 2d 809; Schiro v. State, (1983) Ind., 451 N.E.2d 1047, cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 104 S. Ct. 510, 78 L. Ed. 2d 699. The trial judge presiding over Vandiver's bifurcated proceeding made very detailed findings to demonstrate his reasons for making the judgment he did after receiving the jury's recommendation of death. In particular, the trial court made the following findings:
As indicated by these findings, the trial court very carefully considered all of the evidence presented to it before imposing the death sentence. Based on the evidence, the trial court found beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of two aggravating circumstances in Vandiver's case. Moreover, the trial court carefully considered each and every possible mitigating circumstance including the "catch-all" mitigator of Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9(c)(7), and found none to exist. Since there were no mitigators, the two aggravating circumstances were predominant and the trial judge therefore could impose a death sentence pursuant to Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9(e) which he did. We now find that the trial court did not err by the way in which it imposed the death sentence on Vandiver.
We now review the propriety of the death sentence in Vandiver's case. We note at the outset that the United States Supreme Court has held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution require a sentencing trial court to consider "the character and record of the individual offender and the circumstances of the particular offense as a constitutionally indispensable part of the process of inflicting the penalty of death." Woodson v. North Carolina, (1976) 428 U.S. 280, 304, 96 S. Ct. 2978, 2991, 49 L. Ed. 2d 944, 961 [plurality opinion]. See also Eddings v. Oklahoma (1982) 455 U.S. 104, 102 S. Ct. 869, 71 L. Ed. 2d 1; Lockett v. Ohio, (1978) 438 U.S. 586, 98 S. Ct. 2954, 57 L. Ed. 2d 973 [plurality opinion]. The Indiana death sentencing statute provided for this individualized consideration of Vandiver's case by requiring the trial court to consider, as it did, certain aggravating circumstances and all mitigating circumstances. We also note that there is in Indiana a set of rules for the appellate review of sentences which precludes any change in a sentence by an appellate court except when a sentence is "manifestly unreasonable in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender." Ind.R.App. Rev.Sent. 2(1). This Court has held that this rule applies to our appellate review of death sentences. Moore, supra; Daniels v. State, (1983) Ind., 453 N.E.2d 160, reh. denied; Schiro, supra; Williams v. State, (1982) Ind., 430 N.E.2d 759, appeal dismissed 459 U.S. 808, 103 S. Ct. 33, 74 L. Ed. 2d 47.
In this case, the trial court's findings as set out above in part I clearly demonstrate that the trial court made an individualized consideration of Vandiver's crime and of Vandiver's character. We have reviewed the trial judge's written findings along with the evidence in the case and find that the record clearly supports the trial judge's conclusion that the imposition of a death penalty for Vandiver's murder conviction was justified by the nature of the offense and by the character of the offender. Moreover, the evidence supports our conclusion that Vandiver's death sentence was not arbitrarily or capriciously arrived at and is not manifestly unreasonable.
The sentence of the trial court is affirmed. This cause is remanded to the trial court for the sole purpose of setting a date for Vandiver's death sentence to be carried out.
GIVAN, C.J., and DeBRULER and PRENTICE, JJ., concur.
HUNTER, J., not participating.