Court Opinion

ID: 9738478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:54:03.321605+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:06.388992
License: Public Domain

Concurring and Dissenting Opinion
Prentice, J.
I concur in the result inasmuch as the majority decision directs that two of the murder sentences be vacated. In my judgment, however, the felony murder (burglary) verdicts should be reversed for insufficient evidence.
It appears that the most likely means of defendant’s access was by breaking and entering, but such conclusion can only be reached by speculation. I agree that a reasonable inference could be drawn that the defendant was not an invited guest. But it cannot be reasonably inferred from that inference that access was gained in any other specific way. Every person who is present in the dwelling of another without invitation is, nevertheless, not a burglar. It was incumbent upon the State to prove the breaking and entering, as an element of the felony murder charges, beyond a reasonable doubt. Under the standards of Baker v. State, (1956) 236 Ind. 55, 138 N.E.2d 641, the inference that the defendant had not been invited supports only a suspicion that he gained access to the decedent’s home by breaking and entering and standing alone cannot support a verdict required to be susceptible to belief by a reasonable man, beyond a reasonable doubt.