Eagan v. State

Citation480 N.E.2d 946
Decision Date02 August 1985
Docket NumberNo. 284S45,284S45
PartiesGary James EAGAN, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
CourtSupreme Court of Indiana

Dennis J. Stanton, Crown Point, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Theodore E. Hansen, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

PRENTICE, Justice.

Defendant (Appellant) presents this direct appeal from his conviction following a jury trial of attempted murder, Ind.Code Secs. 35-42-1-1, 35-41-5-1 (Burns 1979 Repl.). He was sentenced to thirty-five (35) years imprisonment.

We restate Defendant's contentions as the following three issues:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in admitting Defendant's two custodial statements into evidence, and in admitting evidence police officers discovered, with Defendant's (2) Whether the trial court erred in failing to give an instruction, sua sponte, concerning attempted voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense, and erred in giving the court's Final Instruction No. 12, concerning the defense of voluntary intoxication.

assistance, after the statements were made.

(3) Whether a new trial is required because the trial judge, after instructing the jury, left the proceedings in charge of a judge pro tempore who performed no judicial act except to receive the jury's verdict. We find no reversible error and affirm the judgment below.

Although the evidence sharply conflicted in certain details, the record demonstrates that Defendant and several companions were driving through south Chicago and offered the victim a ride during the late evening hours May 16, 1982. Eventually Defendant, his companions and the victim joined a larger group of men, drove into Indiana and parked along the Lake Michigan shoreline. There the victim, either for payment or under coercion, engaged in sexual activities with at least several members of the group.

Defendant, his companions and the victim then separated from the larger group, and returned to the same area along the shoreline a short time later. Defendant and his companions apparently desired to continue their sexual activities with the victim, but, for reasons which are not clear from the record, she refused. A struggle ensued which ended with the Defendant stabbing the victim about nine times, then leaving her on the shore.

Defendant and his companions drove back to Chicago and stopped at his sister's home; then Defendant proceeded to his own apartment and called a Chicago police officer whom he knew. Defendant led Chicago police to the victim, who immediately asked the Defendant why he had stabbed her.

After determining that the incident had occurred in Indiana, Hammond police officers interviewed the Defendant the next day. He gave a statement admitting that he had been with the victim near the scene of her attack, but claimed that she had been attacked by a group of men who also had attacked the Defendant. After further investigation, Hammond police obtained a second statement from Defendant in which he admitted stabbing the victim. Several days later Defendant assisted police in locating a knife and other items he had thrown into Lake Michigan after the stabbing.

Other relevant facts are stated below.

ISSUE I

Defendant claims that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting into evidence his two statements made while in custody of police officers, and in admitting a knife and other items of physical evidence that Defendant assisted police officers to locate, after he had made these statements.

Specifically, Defendant contends that, prior to giving his first statement, he was not adequately advised that if he wished to consult with counsel prior to or during interrogation but could not afford a lawyer, one would be provided for him. He argues that the first advisement of rights given by police officers indicated only that Defendant would be provided with counsel during court appearances. Although Defendant's brief appears to concede that the advisements given before the second statement were adequate, he claims that the second statement was so tainted by the first statement that neither should have been admitted. He further argues that the trial court should not have admitted various items of physical evidence that Defendant had helped police to find in Lake Michigan several days after his second statement, during which Defendant had told the officers he had thrown his knife and other items into the lake. We reject these contentions.

Before a confession may be admitted into evidence, the State must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect intelligently and knowingly waived Prior to taking Defendant's first statement police officers read to Defendant, and had him read and sign, a waiver of rights form which included the following advisements:

his rights not to incriminate himself and to have an attorney present. See, Chamness v. State (1982), Ind., 431 N.E.2d 474, 476; see generally, Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694. However, this Court will not reweigh the evidence in evaluating a trial court's decision to admit a confession, but will only determine whether the record includes sufficient evidence to sustain the trial court's ruling that the confession was voluntarily made. See, e.g., Ortiz v. State (1976), 265 Ind. 549, 553, 356 N.E.2d 1188, 1191 and authorities cited.

"YOUR RIGHTS

Before we ask you any questions, you must understand your rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions, and to have him with you during questioning. You have this right to the advice and presence of a lawyer even if you cannot afford to hire one. We have no way of giving you a lawyer, but one will be appointed for you, if you wish, if and when you go to court. If you wish to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering questions at any time. You also have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer."

The record contains no indication that Defendant questioned the officers or expressed any confusion concerning the content of these advisements, nor any indication that Defendant requested an attorney before or during his statement. Defendant's first statement claimed that the victim, after spending part of the evening with Defendant, had gone with other persons in a van to the Lake Michigan shoreline while Defendant followed at a distance, that the persons in the van had then approached Defendant, told him they had "dropped off" the victim, and that they then beat him. Thus, outside of Defendant's having admitted that he was with the victim the evening of the crime near the crime scene, facts which he had already reported to police officers before they took him into custody, Defendant's first statement contained nothing implicating himself in the attack upon her.

Following further investigation, police officers asked Defendant to make a second statement one day later, and he agreed. Prior to taking the second statement, police read to Defendant and had him read and sign a waiver form which included the following advisements:

"1. Before making this statement, I was advised that I have the right to remain silent and that anything I might say may or will be used against me in a court of law.

"2. That I have the right to consult with an attorney of my own choice before saying anything, and that an attorney may be present while I am making any statement or throughout the course of any conversation with any police officer if I so choose.

"3. That I can stop and request an attorney at any time during the course of the taking of any statement or during the course of any such conversation.

"4. That in the course of any conversation I can refuse to answer any further questions and remain silent, thereby terminating the conversation.

"5. That if I cannot hire an attorney, one will be provided for me."

Defendant then, in his second statement, admitted that he had stabbed the victim. He also told the officers he had discarded a knife and other items in the lake. He later led police officers along the shoreline to where he had discarded the items, and police divers recovered them.

Defendant argues that the first waiver form indicated that he could be provided with counsel only at some future point, i.e. during court hearings. He cites California v. Prysock (1981), 453 U.S. 355, 101 This Court's prior decisions in Dickerson v. State (1972), 257 Ind. 562, 276 N.E.2d 845, cited by Defendant, and Goodloe v. State (1969), 253 Ind. 270, 252 N.E.2d 788, are distinguishable. In Dickerson a suspect was presented with a waiver form very similar to the form used before Defendant's first statement in this case, but the officers did not make sure that the defendant could read the form, nor did they read and explain the form to him. Id., 257 Ind. at 567-72, 276 N.E.2d at 848-51. Although we determined that the defendant was not given adequate Miranda warnings, the error was deemed harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt. Id., 257 Ind. at 572-74, 276 N.E.2d at 851. In Goodloe the arresting officer's advisements were patently inadequate and incomplete, and clearly did not inform the appellant that "she had a right to an attorney prior to [or during] interrogation." Id., 253 Ind. at 275-76, 252 N.E.2d at 791-92.

S.Ct. 2806, 69 L.Ed.2d 696, to support his position. While Prysock does support the proposition that a suspect must be clearly told that counsel will be provided during interrogation, the opinion does not otherwise support Defendant's position here regarding his first statement. The Prysock Court found that the interrogating officer's specific statements to a juvenile suspect and his parents satisfied Miranda requirements.

This case is more analogous to Jones v. State (1969), ...

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  • Duckworth v. Eagan, 88-317
    • United States
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    ...murder, but acquitted him of rape. He was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment. The conviction was upheld on appeal. Eagan v. State, 480 N.E.2d 946 (Ind.1985). Respondent sought a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, claiming, inter ......
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    ...of the mens rea. The issue was simply not present, hence the giving of the instruction, although error, was harmless." Eagan v. State, 480 N.E.2d 946, 951-52 (Ind.1985). The petitioner has not persuaded me that the Indiana Supreme Court committed error in concluding that the voluntary intox......
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