Title: Johnson v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

254 Ind. 465 (1970)
260 N.E.2d 782
JOHNSON
v.
STATE OF INDIANA.
No. 1268S203.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed July 30, 1970.
Rehearing denied September 11, 1970.
Keith C. Reese, Rocap, Rocap, Reese & Young, of counsel, of Indianapolis, for appellant.
*466 Theodore L. Sendak, Attorney General, James F. Biddle, Deputy Attorney General, for appellee.
ARTERBURN, J.
This is an appeal from a criminal action based upon an affidavit charging appellant with assault and battery. The defendant was convicted on May 13, 1968, as charged.
The first question presented for our consideration on this appeal is the refusal of the trial court to grant the appellant a continuance. The defendant's counsel orally moved the court for a continuance on the day of the trial. The motion was based upon the alleged illness of one of trial counsel, there being two. The motion was not supported by affidavit and was denied by the trial court. After the trial and conviction, defendant filed a motion for a new trial and accompanied the same by affidavits, the body of which read as follows:
The affidavits filed with the motion for a new trial cannot enhance the position of the appellant when he made his oral motion for a continuance prior to the commencement of the trial. The court at the time of this ruling had only the appellant's oral motion and nothing else upon which to base its ruling. When a motion for a continuance is *468 made on other than statutory grounds or is not made in conformity with the statute, the granting of such a continuance rests within the sound discretion of the trial court, absent a clear showing of abuse of discretion. Jay v. State (1965), 246 Ind. 534, 206 N.E.2d 128, reh. den. 246 Ind. 539, 207 N.E.2d 501.
The matters alleged in appellant's affidavit with the motion for a new trial do not appear in the record to have been urged upon the court at the time the oral motion was made prior to the trial. The affidavits do not state the time of the commencement of the hospitalization of appellant's attorney, how much time the appellant had to retain new counsel, or whether appellant was unable to get counsel. Neither do the affidavits show why the application for a continuance was not made more promptly and some time before the trial date. In such a case, if a continuance had been denied, appellant would have had sufficient time to have gotten his witnesses for trial, as originally set. We find no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in denying the continuance.
The appellant next contends that the court, over objections, erroneously permitted the State to introduce evidence of an assault and battery by the appellant upon one Forrester, which occurred about two weeks prior to the assault and battery charged in this case. The State points out that the objection was not made at the time the questions were asked and that the only objection was that it was "what happened two weeks before," which is not a sufficient reason or ground in itself. The colloquy between counsel and the court brought out the contention of the State that there was a "pattern" with reference to the prior assault and battery by appellant on Forrester and the alleged assault and battery here. Following the overruling of appellant's objection, Forrester testified as follows:
The evidence shows that at the time there was considerable ill-will and hard-feelings existing between certain employees over a labor representation election. The evidence brought out that the appellant was active in making his views known. It was the contention of the State that appellant was attempting to intimidate those opposing his views.
It is urged that the appellant, upon taking the witness stand, had no greater privileges that any other witness, and upon cross-examination he openly and freely admitted he had attacked Forrester two weeks prior over the union election and had the same feeling of enmity toward the prosecuting witness. However, in our opinion, we do not need to support the admissibility of this evidence on that basis.
Motive is always relevant in the proof of a crime. The evidence here shows that the prosecuting witness Gibson took the same view as Forrester with reference to the union representation election and that appellant was fully aware of their opinions. It has been said:
8 I.L.E., Criminal Law, § 226.
Here the conduct of appellant toward Forrester was closely connected in character and manner with the alleged assault and battery on Gibson. Both were unprovoked and union sentiments were the apparent basis of the incident. No doubt the ultimate purpose to be accomplished by the incidents was the same.
Thirdly, the defendant argues that he sustained his burden of proving self-defense. It is clearly settled, however, that the trial court weighs the evidence and has the prerogative of determining which witnesses to believe. The only testimony tending to show the possibility of self-defense was that of the defendant, which the trial court had the right to reject. We will not substitute our judgment for that of the trial court.
Judgment is therefore affirmed.
Hunter, C.J., and Givan, J., concur. Jackson, J., dissents with opinion in which DeBruler, J., concurs.
JACKSON, J.
I am unable to agree with the majority opinion herein and dissent thereto.
I am of the opinion the court abused its discretion in denying the appellant a continuance of his case on counsel's oral motion therefor. The affidavits of the defense lawyers appear in the majority opinion and hence need not be repeated here. The only question raised by the majority opinion with reference thereto is that originally the motion for continuance was oral and the written affidavits were filed later.
In that regard I would point out that counsel who requested orally the continuance and his partner, whose signatures are appended to the above affidavits, are officers of the court, as are the Judge and the Prosecuting Attorney. There is nothing *471 in any of the record that denies or contradicts the statement contained in the affidavits.
It seems to me that the following argument presented by the State as appellee in Webb v. State (1970), 254 Ind. 341, 259 N.E.2d 651, fits exactly the situation at bar. The argument reads as follows:
The appellee there came to the following conclusion:
I am in thorough agreement therewith and submit the same result should obtain here.
The second point on which I dissent is that the admission of the testimony concerning the assault by appellant upon one Forrester two weeks prior to the assault and battery charged in the case at bar, over the objection of the appellant, constituted reversible error. Meeks v. State (1968), 249 Ind. 659, 234 N.E.2d 629.
The cause should be reversed and remanded with instructions to grant appellant's motion for a new trial.
DeBruler, J., concurs.
NOTE.  Reported in 260 N.E.2d 782.