Opinion ID: 2232664
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Instruction on Flight and Accomplice Liability

Text: Baker argues the court erred when it instructed the jury that flight may be considered circumstantial evidence of guilt and that a defendant is responsible for the acts of his confederates. Each instruction was an accurate statement of the law. See, Potter v. State (1983), Ind., 451 N.E.2d 1080; See, Richards v. State (1985), Ind., 481 N.E.2d 1093. Baker argues, however, that there was no evidence to support the instructions. That Baker fled from the scene of the burglary was amply shown by the victims' testimony that they chased the driver of the white car from their driveway at a high speed until a bullet hit their windshield. The evidence supported an instruction to the jury on flight as circumstantial evidence of guilt. Cheney v. State (1986), Ind., 486 N.E.2d 508. Likewise, the evidence that Baker left Ellis' house with Frazier, that Baker sped away alone from the victims' house, that Frazier was found walking alone after the burglary, and that Frazier was convicted of the crime, supported an inference that the two acted in concert. The instruction on accomplice liability was properly given. Burdine v. State (1985), Ind., 477 N.E.2d 544. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. GIVAN, C.J., PIVARNIK and DICKSON, JJ., concur. DeBRULER, J., dissents with separate opinion.