Opinion ID: 2209972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Issues Affecting Further Proceedings

Text: Two other claims asserted by Penley must be resolved in order to determine what further proceedings are appropriate. Prosecutorial Vindictiveness. Penley was tried in Wayne Superior Court in December 1980 and April 1981 for earlier rapes. Each trial resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial. The instant rape charge had also been filed in Superior Court. After the two unsuccessful prosecutions for the earlier rapes, however, the State dismissed the charge which is the case at bar and refiled it in Wayne Circuit Court, adding the burglary count. Penley claims the State's dismissal of one count in Superior Court and the refiling of two counts in Circuit Court after two unsuccessful prosecutions constituted prosecutorial vindictiveness and multiple and piecemeal prosecution, requiring reversal of his convictions. Penley made a pre-trial motion to dismiss on these grounds, and a hearing was held. Deputy Prosecutor Hunyadi testified that he assisted Prosecutor Gerald Surface in the two unsuccessful prosecutions of Penley. After those trials ended in hung juries, the prosecutor's office reevaluated its strategy. They decided to transfer Penley's prosecution to another prosecutor, Douglas Van Middlesworth, who routinely practiced in Circuit Court. The prosecutor testified that he decided to add the burglary count to this case in the hope that the jury would be less reluctant to convict if presented with a property violation in addition to the more emotionally charged rape count. Penley complains in his brief that the testimony at the hearing on the motions clearly indicates that the burglary charge was added to enhance the State's chances in obtaining a conviction against him. Of course, this motivation itself is perfectly permissible. Furthermore, [A] prosecutor should remain free before trial to exercise the broad discretion entrusted to him to determine the extent of the societal interest in the prosecution. An initial decision should not freeze future conduct... . [T]he initial charges filed by a prosecutor may not reflect the extent to which an individual is legitimately subject to prosecution. United States v. Goodwin, 457 U.S. 368, 382, 102 S.Ct. 2485, 2493, 73 L.Ed.2d 74, 86 (1982). The State's pre-trial action was presumptively valid, although a showing by Penley that the enhanced charges were a direct, unjustifiable, and vindictive penalty for his exercise of a procedural right would bar the conviction. Id. No such showing was made. Although the dismissal of one charge and the filing of two charges occurred after Penley received a bond reduction in Superior Court, the evidence most favorable to the trial court's ruling revealed that the decision to dismiss and refile was made before the bond reduction. Actual dismissal did not occur until two weeks later, during which time Penley could have and did not bond out, as the court stated. Before a trial takes place, a defendant is expected to invoke myriad procedural rights that inevitably present an imposition to the prosecution. Id., 457 U.S. at 381, 102 S.Ct. at 2493, 73 L.Ed.2d at 86. We will not presume vindictiveness, and Penley has not demonstrated its existence. Penley's double jeopardy argument is misplaced. He was not twice placed in jeopardy for the present offense. His previous trials related to other rapes, and the dismissal of this charge and its subsequent refiling before jeopardy attached was permissible Dennis v. State (1080), Ind. App., 412 N.E.2d 303. Destruction of Evidence. Penley appeals the denial of his motion to dismiss in which he alleged the investigating police failed to collect and preserve material evidence. The essence of his argument is that the police did not investigate possible fingerprints and footprints at the various crime scenes. This issue falls squarely within that presented in Rowan v. State (1982), Ind., 431 N.E.2d 805, in which this Court rejected Rowan's claim that the investigative blunders denied him a fair trial. Rowan was unable to point to specific evidence which was not taken or preserved. We stated, His speculations about what might have existed do not offset the deference which must be given to the expertise of police officers in conducting the investigation. Id. at 819-20. Penley has attempted to substantiate his allegations with reference to some of the victims' statements that they thought good prints were left at the scenes. The testimony from the police was that the prints left were either too smudged or on a type of surface not conducive to lifting procedures. They did not attempt to take other prints from surfaces which had been handled by the victims subsequent to the crimes. Penley's argument is weakened further by the fact that the only print found and lifted after the attack charged in this case was preserved by the police, introduced at trial, and was not Penley's print. He cannot show prejudice by the manner of the police investigation. Id. The judgment of conviction is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial. DeBRULER and DICKSON, JJ., concur. GIVAN, J., dissents with separate opinion in which PIVARNIK, J., concurs.