Webb v. State

• Decision Date: 12 September 1983
• Docket Number: No. 582S168,582S168
• Citation: 453 N.E.2d 180
• Parties: Michael Ray WEBB, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 180

453 N.E.2d 180

Michael Ray WEBB, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 582S168.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Sept. 12, 1983.

Steven C. Smith, Anderson, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Latriealle Wheat, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

PIVARNIK, Justice.

On September 15, 1981, Defendant-Appellant Michael Ray Webb was found guilty by a jury in the Madison Circuit Court of felony murder. He subsequently was sentenced by the trial judge to a term of forty years imprisonment. Appellant now directly appeals and raises the following issues:

1. whether the State was collaterally estopped from pursuing the instant prosecution;

2. whether the State was barred by statute from pursuing the instant prosecution;

3. whether Appellant's right to a speedy trial was denied;

4. whether the trial court erred by granting the State's Motion in Limine regarding evidence that Appellant previously was acquitted for the murder of Max Williams; and

5. whether the trial court erred by permitting evidence of Appellant's drug use.

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on May 9, 1980, Max and Margaret Williams were found murdered in their home at 121 Haverhill Drive, Yorktown, Indiana. Lucille Hodson and Brenda Thornburg had gone to the Williams home to investigate why neither Max or Margaret appeared for work. They found the garage door closed but unlocked and Mrs. Williams' car parked inside the garage with its trunk open. The door from the garage to the dining room was open. Mr. Williams' car was not parked where it usually was. Max Williams was found dead sitting in a chair in the family room and Margaret Williams was found dead lying on a bed with her hands and feet bound behind her with neckties. Hodson and Thornburg called the police. The coroner estimated that Max and Margaret died late at night on May 8. Both died from multiple stab wounds. Joan Morris, a co-worker, testified that she talked with Margaret on the telephone at 9:30 p.m. on May 8. The police found empty jewelry cases scattered in the bedroom and other household items in disarray. Telephone cords had been cut in the bedroom and family room; approximately $100 in cash which Mr. Williams was known to have and his gold watch and wallet were not found on his body or elsewhere in the house.

At the time of the instant murder, Appellant was living in an apartment in Muncie with his girlfriend, Cindy Murphy, her two daughters and a friend, Gina Groce. Murphy was receiving $400 to $500 per month in Social Security benefits; Appellant was unemployed and had been so for at least one year. Both Murphy and Appellant had a history of using illegal drugs which Appellant supplied. Appellant's drug habit cost him as much as $60.00 a day. Murphy testified that she and Appellant argued on May 8 such that she called the police. Appellant left the apartment. They had exhausted their drug supply. Murphy further testified that when Appellant left on May 8, he had no money and was wearing blue jeans, a shirt, shoes and a jacket. At approximately 1:00 a.m. on May 9, Appellant called the apartment from a bar and asked Groce whether she could get him some drugs. Groce testified that she asked Appellant if he had any money; he told her he had "plenty of money." Groce arranged for drugs to be delivered to the apartment to which Appellant returned at 2:00 a.m. carrying some clothes under his arm and wearing clothes different from those he wore when he left the apartment. Appellant "dumped" approximately $20.00 in change onto the dining room table for Groce to count while he counted some bills. Appellant told Groce that he found the money and gave her $42.00 for the drugs. He gave Murphy some change to pay for a long-distance telephone call which he proceeded to place to his father in New Orleans. In said call, Appellant stated that he was in trouble, needed help and was going to New Orleans. At daylight on May 9, Appellant visited his mother at the home of his grandmother in Muncie and got money for a bus ticket to New Orleans. Appellant later returned to the apartment between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and unsuccessfully tried to sell a gold wristwatch to Groce's boyfriend, Jimmy Stewart. Appellant was wearing the watch when he arrived at the apartment early that morning. Groce had never seen Appellant wear a watch before that time.

Murphy testified at trial that Appellant told her that he and Arthur Morrison went to the Williams home to burglarize it. Appellant tied up Mrs. Williams with neckties and looked around for items to steal. Mrs. Williams told Appellant not to hurt her since she was dying from cancer. Appellant then heard a noise and went to investigate it and came upon Mr. Williams sitting in a chair with blood all over him. Appellant then told Morrison that the killing was dumb, since Mrs. Williams could identify him. Morrison said that he would take care of "it" whereupon he ran into the bedroom and killed her. Appellant and Morrison attempted to put the house back in order and left. Appellant later gave these same details to the police.

I

In the instant case, Appellant was tried and found guilty of the felony murder of Mrs. Williams. He had been tried previously in the Henry Circuit Court for the murder of Mr. Williams and was found not guilty. Specifically, he was tried and acquitted on the charge of having knowingly killed Max Williams, Ind.Code Sec. 35-42-1-1(1) (Burns 1979). Ind.Code Sec. 35-41-2-2(b) (Burns 1979) dictates: "A person engages in conduct 'knowingly' if, when he engages in the conduct, he is aware of a high probability that he is doing so." Appellant now contends that the State was collaterally estopped from prosecuting him for the felony murder of Mrs. Williams by his previous acquittal on the murder charge for Mr. Williams. Appellant's sole claim is that the ultimate issue of fact determined by the first jury was that Appellant was not present at the scene of these murders. The State contends, however, that the ultimate issue of fact determined by the first jury was that Appellant did not "knowingly" murder Max Williams and that the jury never determined that Appellant was not present at the murder scene.

We find persuasive the State's argument. Our examination of the evidence before the jury indicates that although the jury found Appellant not guilty of the murder of Max Williams, the jury did not determine whether or not Appellant was present at the murder scene and took part in the burglary and murder of Mrs. Williams. It is apparent from the evidence that Art Morrison killed Max Williams while Appellant was in a different part of the house and unaware of Max's presence. It also is apparent that the jury felt they could not hold Appellant responsible for Max's murder under those circumstances even though they were instructed that a person who aids or abets in the commission of a crime is responsible with the primary perpetrator. The trial court specifically instructed the jury that a person who engages in the commission of an unlawful act is legally responsible for all of the consequences which may naturally or necessarily flow therefrom. The only criminal act described in the instructions to the first jury, however, was that of knowingly murdering Max Williams. The first jury was neither instructed on burglary nor told that if Appellant aided or abetted in the commission of the burglary of Max Williams, he could be found responsible for the resulting murder of Max Williams.

The United States Supreme Court has held:

" 'Collateral estoppel' is an awkward phrase, but it stands for an extremely important principle in our adversary system of justice. It means simply that when an issue of ultimate fact has once been determined by a valid and final judgment, that issue cannot again be litigated between the same parties in any future lawsuit."

Ashe v. Swenson, (1970) 397 U.S. 436, 443, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d 469, 475. The application of the principle of collateral estoppel involves a two step process: (1) determine what the first judgment decided; and (2) examine how that determination bears on the second case. United States v. Mespoulede, (2d Cir.1979) 597 F.2d 329. Ashe further provided:

"Where a previous judgment of acquittal was based upon a general verdict, as is usually the case, this approach requires a court to 'examine the record of a prior proceeding, taking into account the pleadings, evidence, charge, and other relevant matter, and conclude whether a rational jury could have grounded its verdict upon an issue other than that which the defendant seeks to foreclose from consideration.' "

Ashe, 397 U.S. at 444, 90 S.Ct. at 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d at 475. Accordingly, it was Appellant's burden to prove that the first jury acquitted him of the murder of Max Williams because that jury resolved in his favor the very issue. Appellant now seeks to foreclose from consideration, namely that he was not present at the murder scene when these crimes were committed. We do not find that the trial court erred by holding that Appellant failed to carry his burden here. Taking into account the pleadings, evidence, and charge in this case, it is clear that the rational first jury could have grounded its verdict upon an issue other than that which Appellant now seeks to foreclose from consideration. The jury in the first trial reasonably could have found that Max Williams was knowingly killed by someone other than Appellant and that Appellant did not knowingly aid that other person when that other person knowingly killed Max Williams. The jury in the first case did not have to find as an ultimate fact that Appellant was not present at the scene of the burglary and killing of Margaret Williams. In the instant case, Appellant went to trial on the felony murder charge of killing Margaret Williams while committing burglary. The jury was instructed as follows:

"Under the charge of Murder in this information, the defendant is...