Opinion ID: 853635
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Claimed Bruton Violation

Text: Fayson first claims that the trial court erred by failing to separate his trial from Wright's. In Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 124-26, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), the United States Supreme Court held that in a joint trial, admission of one defendant's confession that implicates another defendant is a violation of the second defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses. The confessing defendant cannot be required to take the stand, and the result is a denial of the other defendant's right to cross-examine. See id. at 137, 88 S.Ct. 1620. Citing this doctrine, Fayson moved for a severance both before and during the trial based on police testimony recounting the reasons Wright gave to the police for lying to them about Fayson's whereabouts. In ruling on the pretrial motion, the trial court concluded that Wright's statements did not incriminate Fayson, and therefore refused to sever the two trials. At trial, the court admitted testimony reporting Wright's statements over Fayson's objection, but admonished the jury that the testimony was to be considered only as to Wright's guilt, and was not to be considered as to Fayson. Fayson contends that this procedure violated Bruton. On appeal the State correctly contends that a co-defendant's statements present a Bruton problem only if they facially incriminate another defendant. See Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U.S. 200, 211, 107 S.Ct. 1702, 95 L.Ed.2d 176 (1987); Brock v. State, 540 N.E.2d 1236, 1240 (Ind. 1989); Smith v. State, 516 N.E.2d 1055, 1060 (Ind.1987). However, we do not agree that the statements attributed to Wright failed to meet that standard. Detective Michael Jackson testified that after Jermaine told him of the murder, he went to Wright's house in search of Fayson. Jackson testified that Wright told him that she did not know where Fayson was, but a search of the house revealed Fayson lying in bed. Jackson testified that he then asked Wright why she had lied and informed her of the penalties for concealing information with regards to this homicide or hiding a suspect. Jackson testified that Wright responded that she didn't want [Fayson] to go to jail. Wright's explanation may not be as devastating to Fayson's case as the prototypical Bruton problema confession by a co-defendant that details the commission of the crime and the objecting defendant's role in it. Nonetheless, a reasonable juror could conclude that it implied that Wright had knowledge that Fayson had committed a crime. Indeed, when arguing in favor of the admissibility of Wright's statements at trial, the State claimed that Wright's statements prove that she [Wright] knew or had good knowledge of the fact that [Fayson] had committed a felony. Fayson was charged with only one countmurder. The State itself contended that Wright's statement indicated that she knew Fayson had committed the murder. Under these circumstances, admitting this statement in the face of Wright's immunity from cross-examination violated Bruton. Violations of the right of cross-examination do not require reversal if the State can show beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict. See Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 684, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986) (citing Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967)); see also Smith v. State, 721 N.E.2d 213, 219 (Ind.1999) ([V]iolations of the right to cross-examine are subject to harmless-error analysis.). The same is true of Bruton violations, which are a species of the denial of the right of cross-examination. See Wright v. State, 593 N.E.2d 1192, 1198 (Ind.1992); Morrison v. State, 516 N.E.2d 14, 15 (Ind.1987). In this case, there was substantial other evidence that Fayson murdered Ford. Jermaine was an eyewitness to the crime and testified that he saw Fayson and Ford argue, that Fayson had a gun, and that he heard a shot immediately before Fayson's hand fell down and Ford's body fell to the ground. Jermaine's testimony is corroborated by the coroner's report of a single shot to the head fired at close range. The police found blood and a bullet casing at the place outside of Wright's house where Jermaine's version put the crime. Finally, and significantly, Fayson admitted to James that he shot Ford. In the face of this evidence, Wright's statement, given with an admonishment to the jury, did not contribute to Fayson's conviction and the Bruton violation was harmless.