Court Opinion

ID: 9714946
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:49:54.932538+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:29.896543
License: Public Domain

PIVARNIK, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I would dissent from the majority opinion in Issue I in this cause wherein it is determined that the trial court’s refusal to separate the conspiracy and possession charges was error having a substantial potential for harm.
I agree with the majority that whether or not charges should be severed for trial lies within the trial courts discretion and that, therefore, clear error must be demonstrated if we are to interfere with the exercise of that discretion. This is consistent with the statutory provision of Ind.Code § 35-3.1-1-11(a) (Burns 1975) and also with our case law on the subject.
In Spencer v. Texas, (1967) 385 U.S. 554, 87 S.Ct. 648, 17 L.Ed.2d 606, the United States Supreme Court held that a 14th Amendment due process claim does not arise under circumstances such as this, where the jury hears two different charges, one of which requires the proof of a previous felony conviction. Spencer involved a habitual criminal statute in which the defendant was charged with a crime and, in an additional count, charged with being a habitual criminal. ' The habitual criminal charge required, of course, the proof of prior felony convictions. The Supreme Court found in Spencer that there was no constitutional violation involved, although the Court did suggest that this is an area warranting extreme caution, and that the states would be well-advised to adopt procedures such as bifurcated submissions to the jury that would remove the problems of prejudice to the jury in regard to the charge that did not require the showing of a previous conviction. This Court requires such a bifurcation in habitual criminal proceedings. Lawrence v. State, (1972) 259 Ind. 306, 314, 315, 286 N.E.2d 830, 835, 836.
The question here is whether the court abused its discretion by refusing to sever the two charges appellant faced in this particular case under the facts and circumstances presented. Here, Duncan, and his accomplice (Marvin) were observed attempting to make an entry into the roof of the drugstore. Several police officers observed them for some time from different angles and were able to testify about their bringing with them the burglary tools, climbing onto the roof and prying open the air conditioner vent to gain entry into the building. They were arrested at the scene before they could make their escape and before they could complete the burglary. Accomplice Marvin also testified to all of *604this, and confirmed that their purpose was to gain entry through the roof in order to commit a burglary in the drugstore. He further testified that he and Duncan had committed a burglary in a drugstore in Rensselaer, Indiana, about a week prior to this incident, in which they had obtained entry by drilling through the roof, such as they had done here. The accomplice’s testimony concerning the crime in Rensselaer was admissible, because of the nature of admissible evidence in a conspiracy charge, and the rule of evidence that permits admission of a prior crime where it shows motive, intent, identity, or a common scheme or plan.
The question is then, in the face of all of this evidence against the defendant in this case, whether the trial court abused its discretion by allowing the jury to hear that he had previously been convicted of burglary in Oklahoma. There is no claim here that the jury was not properly instructed to use that conviction only for the purpose of finding a necessary element in the possession of burglary tools charge, rather than evidence of guilt of the burglary charge. We have never said there is no time when a previous conviction cannot be shown to a jury. It is only when the showing of that conviction would so prejudice the jury over and above the considerations for justifying its showing that it would be reversible error. Spencer v. Texas, supra, said that, and Drew v. United States, 331 F.2d 85, (D.C. Cir. 1964), relied on by the appellant, said that. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed the trial court for refusing to sever in the Drew case because it found that two separate and unrelated charges were joined and tried by the jury. That case involved a robbery and an attempted robbery that occurred on different days in different places. The Drew court noted that such a joinder might be justified in certain cases, but found that it was not justified for appellant Drew because the record showed a confusion of the facts as they related to each of the crimes charged, and a tendency for the State on final argument to bunch together all of the facts that would tend to have the jury find the defendant guilty of both charges if they were convinced by the evidence that he was guilty of one of them.
We should reverse a trial judge’s discretionary ruling only if we find the exercise of his discretion was clear error. Under the facts and circumstances in this case, it is apparent no such appraisal can be made and therefore I do not see that we are justified in reversing the trial judge and ordering a new trial. Tewell v. State, (1976) 264 Ind. 88, 399 N.E.2d 792; Frith v. State, (1975) 263 Ind. 100, 325 N.E.2d 186. I concur with the majority on all other issues.