Court Opinion

ID: 9535769
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:52:47.776495+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:19.679895
License: Public Domain

DeBRULER, Justice,
concurring in result.
The pawn ticket record for the stolen ring, identified as Exhibit No. 18, admitted over the objection of defense counsel, carried appellant’s name upon it. The jury, presented with this ticket, would be led to conclude from it that appellant pawned the stolen ring. It seems perfectly obvious to me that this ticket provides no reliable or trustworthy basis for such an inference, since there is no proof that an employee of the pawnshop had first hand knowledge of the identity of the person who pawned the ring. It was error to admit this written document with appellant’s name upon it. Wells v. State, (1970) 254 Ind. 608, 261 N.E.2d 865. It is however my further opinion that the erroneous admission of this document was harmless in light of the strong evidence of guilt, which included the testimony of appellant’s brother which described his participation in the charged crime itself.