Title: Allen v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

431 N.E.2d 478 (1982)
James Edward ALLEN, Appellant (Defendant below),
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
No. 181 S 21.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
February 23, 1982.
*480 William A. Kowalski, East Chicago, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
PRENTICE, Justice.
Defendant (Appellant) after trial by jury was found guilty of Murder, Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1 (Burns 1979), and of being an Habitual Offender, Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1 (Burns 1979) and was sentenced to a total of ninety (90) years imprisonment. This direct appeal presents the following issues:
(1) Whether the trial court erred in admitting Defendant's confession into evidence.
(2) Whether the trial court erred in allowing a witness to make an in-court identification of Defendant.
(3) Whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Defendant's flight from the police.
The evidence most favorable to the State reveals that on November 9, 1979 Defendant and a woman entered a drug store in Gary ostensibly to obtain a remedy for a pain in the woman's leg. After entering, both drew guns, and Defendant shot and killed the owner. Defendant took money, and both fled.
Defendant presents six claims with respect to the alleged error in the admission of his confession.
Defendant contends that the State did not prove that he knowingly and understandingly waived his Miranda rights.
The evidence upon this matter conflicts. Defendant points to his mental and physical debilitation, his lack of food and sleep, the absence of an attorney, and the duration of his detention, all of which occurred at the time just prior to his interrogation. The interrogating officer testified that he read Miranda advisements to Defendant from a card. Defendant also signed a waiver form, which appears in the record. The officer asked whether or not Defendant understood his rights after Defendant had read the form, and Defendant said that he understood. At the request of the officer, Defendant then initialed the waiver alongside each separate right advisement and signed it. From the evidence the trial court could find that Defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. Wade v. State, (1979) Ind., 387 N.E.2d 1309, 1311; Niehaus v. State, (1977) 265 Ind. 655, 658, 359 N.E.2d 513, 514-15, cert. denied, (1977) 434 U.S. 902, 98 S. Ct. 297, 54 L. Ed. 2d 188; Smith v. State, (1976) 264 Ind. 587, 595-96, 348 N.E.2d 635, 639-40.
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting his confession because it did not make detailed findings of fact pursuant to Ind. Code § 35-5-5-2 (Burns 1979) which provides:
This claim of error was not assigned by Defendant's Motion to Correct Errors, and therefore, is not available for review. Guardiola v. State, (1978) 268 Ind. 404, 405, 375 N.E.2d 1105, 1107.
Defendant argues that the trial court did not comment upon the statutorily enumerated factors, and that it would be a perversion of the statute to allow a trial court to remain silent about these factors. In Apple v. State, (1973) 158 Ind. App. 663, 671, 304 N.E.2d 321, 325-26, the Court referring to the predecessor of Ind. Code § 35-5-5-2, which contains the same language, stated the following:
We believe that this is a correct assessment of the law. Defendant does not tell us how he would have benefitted from detailed findings, which no doubt would have supported the trial court's ruling, in light of our standard of review.
Defendant next contends that the evidence fails to show beyond a reasonable doubt that his confession was not the product of his illegal detention. Again, this claim of error was not assigned by the Motion to Correct Errors and, therefore, is not available for review. Guardiola v. State, supra.
Defendant argues that his confession was inadmissible because it was given more than six (6) hours after his arrest and prior to his having been taken before a magistrate. Ind. Code § 35-5-5-3 (Burns 1979). Under the statute, however, delay is just one of many factors to be considered in determining the admissibility of the confession. Gutierrez v. State, (1979) Ind., 388 N.E.2d 520, 525.
Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a finding of voluntariness, because it shows that he was mentally and physically debilitated from drug withdrawal, that he suffered pain from a severe toe infection, that he lacked food and sleep, and that he was induced to confess upon promises of food and medical attention when he returned from Illinois to Indiana, which return would occur after completion of the statement.
Defendant's testimony upon these matters contradicts the testimony of the Illinois authorities, who arrested and held Defendant, and that of the Indiana authorities, who questioned Defendant. Defendant also presented evidence with respect to his physical condition at the Lake County Jail at the time just after his confession and extradition. This evidence tends to corroborate Defendant's testimony; however, the trial court, as trier of fact, chose to credit the testimony of the police officers as it was entitled to do, and we cannot rejudge the credibility of these witnesses. The trial court ruled as follows:
Lastly Defendant argues that he was denied his right to counsel during the interrogation. He apparently asks us to infer this denial from police testimony that, had Defendant requested an attorney, they would have been unable to obtain one for him. We will make no such inference. Rather, we assume that, had a request for counsel been made, interrogation would have been terminated or suspended until counsel was available.
The remainder of Defendant's argument under this subheading treats whether or not his waiver of the right to counsel was voluntary. He cites Hatcher v. State, (1981) Ind., 414 N.E.2d 561, 565:
As related above, the record of Defendant's waiver of his rights, which included the right to speak to an attorney, is not silent.
We have reviewed the record and we find that the trial court faced conflicting evidence. Our standard of review requires us to resolve the conflicts in favor of the trial court's ruling. While the delay involved in obtaining the confession is one factor which must be weighed negatively, the remainder of the record shows that the trial court could properly have found that Defendant confessed knowingly and voluntarily and without having been subjected to threats, promises or other improper influences. Grey v. State, (1980) Ind., 404 N.E.2d 1348, 1351-52; Gutierrez v. State, (1979) Ind., 388 N.E.2d 520, 525-26; Franklin v. State, (1977) 266 Ind. 540, 546, 364 N.E.2d 1019, 1022.
Prior to trial, Defendant made a motion to prevent the in-court identification of Defendant by a witness, Cornelia Mailath. At a prior hearing it had been shown that Miss Mailath was unable to identify Defendant, whose picture was contained in a photographic array that the witness viewed. The trial court ruled that the motion was premature and informed defense counsel that he could object and would be heard at the proper time, if an attempt at identification were made. Thereafter, just prior to Miss Mailath's testimony, counsel renewed his motion:
*483 Miss Mailath, who is a part owner of the drug store, and who was present at the time, related the events of the Robbery. She did not actually see Defendant shoot her brother, the victim; however, she heard the sound of a gun shot from the area in the store where her brother and Defendant were located. She then identified Defendant as the perpetrator, whereupon Defendant moved for a mistrial:
Defendant argues as follows:
The State responds as follows:
We agree with the State. Nothing in the record shows that the State brought Miss Mailath into Court for the purposes of making any identification or attempted identification. See Nelson v. State, (1980) Ind., 401 N.E.2d 666, 669 (witness spontaneously identifies Defendant at a chance encounter); Cook v. State, (1980) Ind. App., 403 N.E.2d 860, 864 (same). If we were to adopt Defendant's position, the trial court would have to exclude any in-court identification where the witness identified anyone he or she may have seen seated at defense table while making his or her way to the *484 witness stand. Miss Mailath's inability to identify Defendant on a previous occasion reflected on the weight of her in-court identification; not its admissibility. Grimes v. State, (1980) Ind., 412 N.E.2d 75, 76; Young v. State, (1980), Ind., 409 N.E.2d 579, 582.
Defendant also argues the following:
Defendant cites Wooten v. State, (1981) Ind. App., 418 N.E.2d 538 (trans. denied) for the proposition that a Defendant may not compel a pretrial line-up. There the court stated:
Wooten does not treat a timely motion for a pretrial line-up, and we have found no authority which prohibited Defendant from making such a motion. The record further shows that this asserted error was not presented to the trial court at trial when Miss Mailath testified, and does not appear in the Motion to Correct Errors. Therefore, it is not available for review. Guardiola v. State, supra.
The Murder/Robbery charged in this case occurred November 9, 1979. Over objection, Officer Candiano of the Gary Police related an incident, which occurred at about 1:00 a.m. on February 18, 1980. Candiano observed a vehicle parked next to a liquor store. The vehicle did not bear a proper registration plate. As the officer approached the vehicle, it moved onto the road, and he stopped it. The driver, a woman, walked back to the squad car. Candiano requested her license and registration.
The driver returned to the vehicle and drove off. Candiano pursued the vehicle during which time he saw what appeared to be two gunshots fired at his squad car. The pursuit continued and more shots were fired, as the cars entered the Interstate highway. The chase exceeded ninety (90) miles per hour until the driver lost control of her vehicle in Illinois, and it came to a stop. She jumped out of the car and was apprehended. She had identified herself as Sandra Evans, but her true identity was Lillian Davis, and she was alleged, at trial, to be the woman who had assisted Defendant in the pharmacy robbery.
Defendant also jumped from the car and ran but got but approximately twenty-five feet away when he was apprehended. He identified himself as James Link. The police recovered two guns from the Davis automobile and found three persons sitting in the backseat. All of the people were taken to the Calumet City jail where later that day the confession, which we discussed above, was made.
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting this evidence of flight from the police because there had been no foundation, which connected Defendant, who was only a passenger in the fleeing vehicle.
The exact ground for Defendant's in-trial objection to the officer's testimony is difficult to discern from the record:
During the direct examination of Officer Candiano that followed the objection and ruling and revealed the aforedescribed chase and capture, Defendant made three specific objections, each of which was properly overruled. None of these rulings has been here assigned as error. With reference to the very general objection set forth above, it does appear that counsel and the trial judge had some meeting of the minds; and we accept the objection and ruling as an assignable issue of whether or not the flight was admissible notwithstanding that it was remote in time to the crime charged and that the Defendant neither drove the vehicle nor fired the shots.
For the proposition that the flight and shots were not chargeable to him, Defendant cites no authority. Although the circumstances certainly do not compel the conclusion that Defendant was in control of the episode, a permissible inference is that he was acting in consort with the others. This inference is strengthened by his attempt to flee, after the vehicle came to a stop, and to conceal his identity.
We also reject Defendant's claim that such attempted escape was too remote, in point of time, to support an inference of consciousness of guilt, as to the crime charged. Trial courts have wide discretion regarding the exclusion of evidence for remoteness. Austin v. State, (1974) 262 Ind. 529, 319 N.E.2d 130. That substantial time had passed goes to the weight of the evidence but does not render it inadmissible. Garr v. State, (1967) 248 Ind. 295, 227 N.E.2d 171; Grey v. State, (1980) Ind., 404 N.E.2d 1348, 1353.
The evidence complained of did reveal other criminal activity without a substantial showing that it was relevant to the crime charged and thus had a potential to prejudice the jury, but this in and of itself did not render it inadmissible. Woodard v. State, (1977) 267 Ind. 19, 366 N.E.2d 1160; Clark v. State, (1976) 265 Ind. 161, 352 N.E.2d 762. Also, see Wigmore on Evidence (Third Edition) §§ 13, 215, 216.
Some jurisdictions have been rather restrictive in permitting the introduction of "flight" evidence and have required a nexus between the crime charged and the flight of much greater substance than is present in this case. However, we have been among those permitting considerable leeway. Rogers v. State, (1974) 262 Ind. 315, 315 N.E.2d 707; Finger v. State, (1973) 260 Ind. 524, 297 N.E.2d 819; Robinson v. State, (1971) 257 Ind. 38, 271 N.E.2d 727; Reno v. State, (1967) 248 Ind. 334, 228 N.E.2d 14; State v. Torphy, (1940) 217 Ind. 383, 28 N.E.2d 70.
We find no reversible error. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
GIVAN, C.J., and HUNTER and PIVARNIK, JJ., concur.
DeBRULER, J., concurs in result.