Opinion ID: 2085741
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Attempted Murder Jury Instruction

Text: Appellant contends that his conviction for the attempted murder of Stacy Reed must be reversed because the trial court gave an erroneous instruction on attempted murder. [1] Appellant argues that the instruction was erroneous because it did not adequately instruct the jury that it must find that Appellant intended to kill Reed as explained in Spradlin v. State, 569 N.E.2d 948, 950 (Ind.1991). It is now well established that an instruction setting forth the elements of attempted murder must inform the jury that the State is required to prove that the defendant, with intent to kill the victim, engaged in conduct that was a substantial step toward such killing. Id. By the Spradlin standard, the instruction given here fails to clearly inform the jury that Appellant must have intended to kill Reed when he discharged the gun. Normally, when the defendant timely objects to an erroneous instruction on the elements of attempted murder and the trial court fails to correct the instruction, the conviction will be reversed. Yerden v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1283, 1286 (Ind.1997). Here, however, because Appellant failed to object at trial, the trial court was deprived of an opportunity to promptly correct the error, and Appellant has failed to preserve this issue for our review. Ind.Criminal Rule 8(H); Hodges v. State, 524 N.E.2d 774, 787 (Ind.1988); see also State v. Daniels, 680 N.E.2d 829, 835 (Ind.1997). Appellant seeks to avoid this procedural forfeiture on the ground that the defective instruction constitutes fundamental error which deprived him of his right to a fair trial, and, on occasion, we have concluded that an erroneous attempted murder instruction resulted in fundamental error. See, e.g., Clark v. State, 668 N.E.2d 1206, 1210 (Ind.1996), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 117 S.Ct. 1438, 137 L.Ed.2d 545 (1997). However, not every defective attempted murder instruction results in fundamental error. Where, for instance, the primary issue at trial was not the defendant's intent, but the defendant's identity, we have found no fundamental error. Goudy v. State, 689 N.E.2d 686, 693-694 (Ind.1997); Jackson v. State, 575 N.E.2d 617, 621 (Ind.1991); see also Swallows v. State, 674 N.E.2d 1317, 1318 (Ind.1997) (on post-conviction). Such is the case here. Appellant's defense was one of innocence and mistaken identity; indeed, Appellant has maintained throughout that he was not the person who shot a gun at Reed. Appellant's cross examination of the witnesses at trial clearly demonstrates that this was the defense strategy, and this defense was expressly stated at the sentencing hearing. Therefore, no fundamental error occurred. See Jackson, 575 N.E.2d at 621.