Court Opinion

ID: 9531945
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:16:22.38291+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:37.856759
License: Public Domain

RILEY, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I would affirm the convictions of Thompson and Peterson. The instruction given by the trial court on accomplice liability is the statutory definition. In denying the appellant’s tendered instruction, the trial court stated that it was covered by the court’s instruction defining accomplice liability. I agree. The instruction given to the jury correctly states the law and does not explicitly or implicitly indicate that mere presence at the scene justifies a conviction based upon accomplice liability. The trial court’s instruction clearly states that a conviction is warranted only if the defendant knowingly or intentionally aided, induced or caused another person to commit an offense, (emphasis added).
An error in an instruction will not warrant a reversal unless the error is of such a nature that the entire charge of which it is a part misled the jury on the law of the case. Grossenbacher v. State, 468 N.E.2d 1056, 1059 (Ind.1984). The jury was not misled by giving an instruction that defined accomplice liability by reciting the statutory definition. Peterson has failed to show how his rights were substantially harmed by failing to give the tendered instruction.