Opinion ID: 853724
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Instruction on Reckless Homicide

Text: The defendant next claims error in the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of reckless homicide. To determine whether an instruction on a lesser-included offense is warranted, the trial court applies the three-part test set forth in Wright v. State, 658 N.E.2d 563, 566-67 (Ind.1995). The first two parts require the trial court to determine whether the offense is either inherently or factually included in the charged offense. Id. If so, the trial court must determine whether there is a serious evidentiary dispute regarding any element that distinguishes the two offenses. Id. at 567; Brown v. State, 703 N.E.2d 1010, 1019 (Ind.1998). If, in light of such a dispute, `a jury could conclude that the lesser offense was committed but not the greater, then it is reversible error for a trial court not to give an instruction, when requested, on the inherently or factually lesser included offense.' Id. (quoting Wright, 658 N.E.2d at 567). Because the defendant did not inform the trial court of the specific evidentiary dispute claimed, we review the trial court's ruling for abuse of discretion. Brown, 703 N.E.2d at 1019-20. At trial, the defendant claimed voluntary intoxication. The defendant's expert on intoxication, Dr. Dinesh Mehta, admitted that some of the defendant's actions and statements were consistent with an awareness of his actions. The defendant now states only that [h]is admission that he shot and killed her at point blank range did not preclude the possibility his conduct involved an unjustifiable disregard of possible harm rather than a knowing killing, and that the threats he made toward the victim are consistent with a knowing killing, but those threats do not conclusively establish whether he acted knowingly. Brief of Defendant-Appellant at 49. The evidence in the record established the following. The defendant and the victim had previously been involved in a relationship, but the victim had ended it and started dating someone else. The defendant told others that, if he could not have her, he would see that no one else could either. He told a friend that he intended to go inside the victim's parents' home and kill the victim and her parents, although he never carried out that intention. The defendant also repeatedly harassed the victim and her new boyfriend in person and by telephone. On the night of the murder, the defendant followed the victim to her new boyfriend's house. After seeing her enter the house, he walked back to his car, took a sawed-off shotgun from the trunk, and approached the front door of the house. When the victim told him to leave, the defendant shot through the door. Part of the shot hit the victim in the face. The defendant then entered the home and followed the victim through the house and into the bedroom, where she called 911. While on the telephone, the victim stated that the defendant was shooting at her and begged him not to shoot her again. The defendant then shot the victim just below the right ear, from a distance of three to six feet, killing her almost instantly. Fleeing in the victim's car, the defendant drove several miles to the home of friends and told them: I shot her, I killed her, I shot her point blank. Record at 1461. Both friends testified that the defendant did not appear intoxicated. The element distinguishing murder and reckless homicide is intent. Brown, 703 N.E.2d at 1021. Murder requires a knowing or intentional state of mind, but reckless homicide requires only a reckless state of mind. Brown, 703 N.E.2d at 1021. In light of the evidence and circumstances in this case, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to instruct the jury on reckless homicide.