Title: Hennings v. State
Citation: 256 Ind. 115, 267 N.E.2d 172
Docket Number: 1268S210
State: Indiana
Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court
Date: March 8, 1971

256 Ind. 115 (1971)
267 N.E.2d 172
THOMAS D. HENNINGS
v.
STATE OF INDIANA.
No. 1268S210.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed March 8, 1971.
*116 Lee F. Mellinger, of Elkhart, Wilmer L. McLaughlin, of Goshen, for appellant.
Theodore L. Sendak, Attorney General, Lon D. Showley, Deputy Attorney General, for appellee.
No petition for rehearing filed.
ARTERBURN, C.J.
On January 25, 1967, the Elkhart Grand Jury returned an indictment charging the defendant, Thomas D. Hennings, with the crime of first degree murder. Following a trial by jury, a verdict of guilty as charged was returned on April 24, 1968, and the defendant was thereafter sentenced to the Indiana State Prison for life.
The evidence most favorable to the State shows that on January 21, 1967, the defendant and his brother-in-law, Floyd Jackson, Jr., spent most of the day together, commencing at approximately 1:00 a.m. and terminating after a fight in which the defendant stabbed Floyd Jackson, Jr., ten times, and that Floyd Jackson, Jr., died as a result of multiple stab wounds. There is evidence that both the defendant and the decedent had consumed alcoholic beverages beginning at approximately 2:00 a.m. and continuing until after 2:00 p.m., and that they had slept at the Hennings' home between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
The defendant and Floyd Jackson had an argument at a filling station at approximately 3:00 p.m. Another argument between the two men took place at the defendant's home, after which both men left. Soon thereafter, however, the defendant *117 met Jackson in a road near defendant's house and still another argument occurred, resulting in a fight observed by defendant's step-daughter and by several other juveniles. The parties struck each other and then defendant kicked and stabbed Jackson. Several witnesses testified regarding a camera in Jackson's hand; no witness saw a gun. After the stabbing, defendant placed his brother-in-law in his automobile and drove him to Elkhart General Hospital where he soon died.
Only one issue requires consideration on this appeal. Captain Melvin Troyer of the Elkhart County Police Department was called as a witness by the State in its case in chief and in the course of his testimony, the following questions and responses resulted:
The court overruled this motion of the defendant. Proof by the State of crimes other than the one for which defendant is being tried is not admissible except in certain cases not pertinent here. 1 Ewbanks Indiana Criminal Law, Symmes Ed. § 384, p. 236. In Woods v. State (1968), 250 Ind. 132, 143, 235 N.E.2d 479, 486, we stated:
We note that the testimony objected to was offered during the State's case in chief and further that the State thereafter never offered any evidence that the defendant did in fact kill anyone in Chicago. This testimony had no relevancy whatever to the case being tried. Although the State contends that the testimony was admissible to establish the credibility of the defendant, the defendant had not yet taken the witness stand. It is very possible that the defendant *119 may have felt compelled to take the stand solely to meet this testimony, and for that reason we cannot hold it to be harmless error.
The judgment of the trial court is therefore reversed and a new trial is granted.
Givan, Prentice, DeBruler and Hunter, JJ., concur.
NOTE.  Reported in 267 N.E.2d 172.