Opinion ID: 852465
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Life Without Parole and Accomplice Liability

Text: The State sought sentences of life without parole for the murders of Hobert and Myrtle. To support its request, the State charged three aggravating circumstances listed in Indiana Code section 35-50-2-9(b). These are that Pittman committed the murders by intentionally killing while committing or attempting to commit burglary (subsection (b)(1)), committed the murders by lying in wait (subsection (b)(3)), and committed the murders while on probation after receiving a sentence for a commission of a felony (subsection (b)(9)). As to Myrtle, the jury found all three aggravators proved beyond a reasonable doubt. As to Hobert, the jury found the (b)(1) and (b)(9) aggravators proved beyond a reasonable doubt, but did not find that Pittman committed the murder by lying in wait. Pittman raises several challenges to these findings.
Pittman argues that the jury instructions for the first aggravator found by the jury  that he intentionally killed while committing or attempting to commit burglary  improperly incorporated a theory of accomplice liability. The trial court instructed the jury that to consider recommending a sentence of life without parole for the murders of Hobert or Myrtle, it must unanimously find that Pittman by acting alone or in concert with John Michael Naylor, did intentionally kill another human being, while committing or attempting to commit burglary. Pittman contends that this instruction was phrased in such a way that the jury may have improperly imputed Naylor's intent to Pittman. Pittman concedes that he did not raise this issue at trial but argues that we may consider it as fundamental error even though it was not preserved for appeal. We see no merit in this claim. The allegation that Pittman intentionally killed, either alone or in concert with Naylor, does not suggest that Naylor's intent could be imputed to Pittman. Even if improvement in the language is possible, that certainly does not rise to the level of fundamental error. See Brown v. State, 799 N.E.2d 1064, 1066-67 (Ind.2003) (To constitute fundamental error, the error must constitute a blatant violation of basic principles, the harm or potential for harm must be substantial, and the resulting error must deny the defendant fundamental due process.) (citation and internal quotations omitted).
Pittman also contends that the State did not present sufficient evidence to prove that Pittman intentionally killed Hobert or Myrtle. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the Eighth Amendment requires a showing of the defendant's major participation in a crime and reckless indifference to human life before imposing a death sentence. Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137, 157-58, 107 S.Ct. 1676, 95 L.Ed.2d 127 (1987). Because Indiana's death penalty statute applies equally to life without parole sentences, we have held that Tison also applies to life without parole sentences. Ajabu v. State, 693 N.E.2d 921, 937 (Ind.1998). Additionally, because Indiana Code section 35-50-2-9(b)(1) permits a sentence of life without parole only if the defendant has committed a murder by intentionally killing a victim while committing another crime, the State must prove that the defendant was a major participant in the killing and the killing was intentional in order to impose a sentence of life without parole under subsection (b)(1). Id. at 939. A person engages in conduct `intentionally' if, when he engages in the conduct, it is his conscious objective to do so. Ind. Code § 35-41-2-2(a) (2004). In Ajabu, we found that the State did not establish that the defendant had intentionally killed even though he helped plan and substantially participated in the crimes leading to the murders, was present and armed with a loaded weapon when violence escalated, and was aware of the high probability of a victim's death at the hands of an accomplice. Ajabu, 693 N.E.2d at 939. Pittman's argument is in substance a claim that the evidence is insufficient to support a finding of the (b)(1) aggravator. We disagree as to Myrtle and find that the State presented sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Pittman intentionally killed Myrtle. Linda testified that when she pulled the van into her driveway, Pittman emerged from the garage and began shooting into the occupied van from a very close range. After getting into the Explorer and driving past the van, Pittman got out of the Explorer and fired additional shots into the van. Only after Linda played dead did Pittman return to the Explorer and leave the scene. These facts are sufficient to allow a jury to find that Pittman intentionally killed Myrtle either alone or in concert with Naylor. Hobert's killing presents a different picture. There is no evidence that Pittman killed Hobert, who died from a single wound. An expert testified that he could not determine what type of firearm was used. There is clear evidence that both Pittman and Naylor were at the scene, but no evidence as to who shot Hobert, even assuming one of the pair did. We agree that the State has not established beyond a reasonable doubt that Pittman killed Hobert. Imposition of life without parole based on this aggravator is therefore not permitted under Indiana law.
Felony murder is a term usually used to describe a crime punishable as murder under Indiana Code subsections 35-42-1-1(2) and (3) but where the defendant did not necessarily intentionally or even recklessly kill the victim, or may not have been the killer at all. E.g., Palmer v. State, 704 N.E.2d 124 (Ind. 1999) (affirming felony murder conviction for death of accomplice when law enforcement officer killed the accomplice during course of kidnapping). The deaths of both Myrtle and Hobert were charged as felony murders defined in section 35-42-1-1(2). That crime requires no proof of mens rea other than that required for the underlying crime, in this case burglary. Palmer, 704 N.E.2d at 127 (citing Vance v. State, 620 N.E.2d 687, 690 (Ind.1993)). A sentence of death or life without parole under the (b)(1) aggravator requires a further showing that the defendant intentionally killed the victim. As explained above, this was proved as to Myrtle but not as to Hobert. Because an intentional killing is murder under both XX-XX-X-X(1) and, if committed in the course of a burglary, also under XX-XX-X-X(2), Pittman's conviction of felony murder with the additional finding of the (b)(1) aggravator supports life without parole as to the murder of Myrtle. Hobert's murder presents a more difficult problem. Indiana Code subsection 35-50-2-9(a) permits the death penalty or life without parole for murder if one of the aggravating circumstances listed under subsection (b) is found. In this case the State alleged three aggravators: subsection (b)(1), the defendant intentionally kill[ed] in the course of another listed felony; (b)(3), the defendant committed the murder by lying in wait; and (b)(9), the defendant was on probation after being sentenced for a felony. As to Hobert, the jury did not find the (b)(3) aggravator, and there is insufficient evidence to support the (b)(1) aggravator, leaving only the (b)(9) aggravator. Here, even if we assume Pittman or Naylor killed Hobert, and each was an accomplice of the other, and each is punishable for felony murder, the issue remains whether the (b)(9) probation aggravator is met by proof that Pittman is guilty of felony murder without proof that he was the killer. We think it is not. The (b)(9) aggravator, unlike the (b)(1) and (b)(3), turns on the defendant's status as a probationer, not on any act or omission. As such, it does not explicitly state that the defendant must have killed the victim, with or without a specified mens rea. But we think the structure of this statute leads to the conclusion that the defendant must have been the sole killer or an active participant in the killing to be eligible for death penalty or life without parole. Otherwise stated, we think subsection 35-30-2-9(a) uses murder as defined in subsection 35-42-1-1(1) (knowingly or intentionally kills another human being), and does not include felony murders defined in subsections 35-42-1-1(2) and (3) that do not also constitute murders under subsection (1). Murder as defined under the felony murder provision includes deaths, even accidental, that occur while the defendant is committing a specified felony. Subsection 35-50-2-9(b)(1) allows the death penalty or life without parole for intentional killing in the course of some, but not all, of these felonies, omitting, for example, consumer product tampering or dealing in a section 35-48-2-10 lower-scheduled controlled substance, such as Ambien, Valium, or Xanax. Most other eligibility aggravators require that the defendant have committed some act, such as lying in wait, hiring to kill, etc., that makes clear the defendant is assumed to be the killer. A few, however, require a murder but do not require some additional act by the defendant. If a felony murder satisfied the murder requirement, an accidental death caused by an accomplice in a felony not listed in subsection 35-50-2-9(b)(1), such as consumer product tampering, would subject the defendant to the death penalty. We think such a disproportionate result was not contemplated by the legislature. Rather, we think the statute contemplates the definition of murder as described in XX-XX-X-X(1). As discussed above, the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Pittman killed Hobert and therefore there is insufficient evidence to establish that the killing of Hobert was a murder as described in XX-XX-X-X(1). We reach this conclusion purely as a matter of statutory interpretation. We find one sentence of life without parole that is supported by the evidence as to all three aggravators and one that is not supported by any aggravators. We are required to set aside the life sentence as to Hobert's death for lack of proof as to a subsection 35-50-2-9(b) aggravator. We revise Pittman's sentence for the murder of Hobert to a term of sixty-five years, the current maximum sentence for murder under section 35-50-2-3, under our constitutional power to review and revise sentences. Ind. Const., art. 7, § 4.