Campbell v. State

• Decision Date: 20 November 1986
• Docket Number: No. 1184S446,1184S446
• Citation: 500 N.E.2d 174
• Parties: Carl CAMPBELL, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 174

500 N.E.2d 174

Carl CAMPBELL, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 1184S446.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Nov. 20, 1986.

Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender, June D. Oldham, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Richard C. Webster, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

SHEPARD, Justice.

Appellant Carl Campbell was convicted after a jury trial of murder, Ind.Code Sec. 35-42-1-1 (Burns 1985 Repl.), robbery, a Class A felony, Ind.Code Sec. 35-42-5-1 (Burns 1979 Repl.), and confinement, a Class B felony, Ind.Code Sec. 35-42-3-3 (Burns 1979 Repl.). He was sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment of 30 years for murder, 20 years for robbery and 10 years for confinement.

In this direct appeal, Campbell raises five issues:

1) Sufficiency of the evidence;

2) Whether the trial court properly admitted the defendant's confessions in light of Campbell's claims that the statements resulted from an illegal detention and that the State had not proven corpus delicti;

3) Whether a police log book was properly admitted into evidence;

4) Whether the court correctly excused a juror who was ill; and

5) Whether the court properly denied the defendant's motion for continuance sought after the State filed an expanded witness list on the first day of trial.

The facts most favorable to the judgment show that Campbell and three companions were driving around the town of Laurel in Campbell's vehicle on July 30, 1979. After hearing that one Robert Rose had several hundred dollars, the four youths decided to rob him. Rose subsequently accepted their invitation to join them in Campbell's automobile, and they drove about for a short time. They stopped in an area east of Laurel called Redgate. One of the youths, Mitchell Hurd, began beating the victim, who fell in some glass while attempting to escape. The assault continued until the victim was unconscious. All four men helped to remove the victim's wallet and clothing, but they found only a few dollars. As the victim bled profusely, they discussed ways of killing him. Rose's hands and legs were tied with a belt, and Campbell helped lift him into the trunk.

Campbell drove the car to a gas station where one of the group bought a gallon jug of gas and then proceeded to a secluded area by the river near Cedar Grove. According to Campbell, Hurd poured gasoline on the victim but the unleaded fuel would not ignite. It was undisputed that Hurd wrestled with the victim at the river bank and they fell into the water. Hurd and Maxie attempted to drown the victim, and all three were immersed for 15 to 20 seconds. Hurd and Maxie returned to the bank and looked for the victim, who surfaced about 15 feet away and began swimming in the opposite direction. Campbell testified that Maxie pulled the victim back to the bank and held him under the water for several minutes. Rose was never seen again by either the youths or the victim's family.

The original police investigation yielded no explanation for the victim's sudden disappearance. Covy France, one of the four youths in Campbell's car that day, was arrested on an unrelated charge several years later. France volunteered details of Rose's murder in exchange for favorable treatment by the prosecutor. After taking France's statement, police questioned Campbell and obtained his confession in October 1983.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

When reviewing a sufficiency claim, this Court will consider only the evidence most favorable to the State and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom which support the jury's verdict. A conviction will be affirmed if there was evidence of probative value from which the jury could determine that appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Loyd v. State (1980), 272 Ind. 404, 398 N.E.2d 1260, cert. denied, 449 U.S. 881, 101 S.Ct. 231, 66 L.Ed.2d 105.

Campbell claims the State failed to prove to the jury that the crime occurred in Franklin County. The county was never specifically mentioned as the site of the crimes during the trial, although many references were made to towns or areas within the county. At the end of trial, outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel sought a directed verdict based on insufficient proof of venue. The trial court took judicial notice that the locations mentioned during trial were within Franklin County and denied the motion.

Proper venue must be proven by the State in the same manner as the essential elements of the crimes as defined by statute, but only by a preponderance of the evidence. Sizemore v. State (1979), 272 Ind. 26, 395 N.E.2d 783. Proof of venue is required because the defendant has a constitutional right to be tried in the county in which the crime was committed. Ind. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 13; Ind.Code Sec. 35-32-2-1. A claim on appeal that evidence was insufficient to prove venue must be treated in the same manner as other claims of insufficient evidence. Morris v. State (1980), 274 Ind. 161, 409 N.E.2d 608. Every intendment will be made in favor of the trial court on this issue. Smith v. State (1980), Ind.App., 408 N.E.2d 614. Circumstantial evidence is no different than other evidence for purposes of venue and may be sufficient standing alone. Morris v. State (1980), 274 Ind. 161, 409 N.E.2d 608.

The charging information alleged the crimes occurred in Franklin County. The unconflicting evidence traced the crime from its start in the town of Laurel to an area called Redgate about two to three miles east of Laurel. After the robbery, Campbell drove his automobile back to Laurel and then through Brookville to a place near Cedar Grove where the murder occurred. All these locations are in Franklin County. The jury was told that the Laurel sheriff's office and the Franklin County sheriff's office had investigated the crime. The jury, whose members obviously lived within the county, also viewed photographs of Redgate and Cedar Grove.

"[I]f the facts and circumstances are of a character to permit the jury to infer that the crime occurred in a given county, such a finding will not be disturbed on appeal." Sizemore v. State, 272 Ind. at 32, 395 N.E.2d at 787. We believe the jury could infer from the substantial circumstantial evidence that the crimes charged occurred in Franklin County.

Campbell incorrectly characterizes the trial court's action in taking judicial notice as depriving the jury of deciding the issue of venue. The trial court read the charging information during preliminary and final instructions. The jurors were told that the State would have to prove the crimes as charged. Thus, they were aware that they could not return a guilty verdict if the State did not prove that the crimes occurred in Franklin County.

Citing different grounds, Campbell also attacks the sufficiency of evidence supporting the individual convictions. He first claims the State failed to prove confinement as charged in the information, which read in relevant part:

"... did then and there unlawfully and knowingly confine Robert E. Rose without his consent by taking him to a secluded area in Franklin County, Indiana, and strike and beat him when Robert E. Rose attempted to leave...."

Relying on the language "by taking him to a secluded area," Campbell argues that the information charges confinement occurring only on the way to Redgate and that the evidence showed confinement only after the youths' arrival at Redgate. A reading of the information demonstrates that this distinction is without merit; the evidence showed without conflict that the act of confinement occurred when force was used to prevent the victim from leaving Redgate and that the confinement continued at Cedar Grove, where the victim received a second beating when he attempted to escape and then was drowned.

Campbell next alleges that the State failed to prove that Rose was killed, and therefore his murder conviction cannot stand. Circumstantial evidence alone is sufficient to support a murder conviction. Collins v. State (1980), 274 Ind. 619, 413 N.E.2d 264. The production of the victim's body is not required in a murder prosecution if circumstantial evidence shows that death did occur. Stocking v. State (1855), 7 Ind. 326. Both France and Campbell testified that the victim, already badly beaten, was held under water for several minutes. France last saw the victim's body, face down, floating down the river. The river level was high at the time, and the unsuccessful search for the body did not begin until four years later. The victim had not been seen since the day of the attack. This evidence, albeit circumstantial, was sufficient to support the jury's determination that the victim died and that Campbell aided his cohorts in committing that crime.

Campbell levels his final attack on the robbery conviction, claiming that the only supporting evidence is the "inherently incredible" testimony of France. A robbery conviction may be sustained on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Sumner v. State (1983), Ind., 453 N.E.2d 203. Campbell notes that France testified that he lied in two of his three statements to protect himself and others. The town marshall testified that France's reputation for honesty was poor. However, Campbell can hardly challenge France's testimony as "inherently incredible" when much of it corresponded to his own.

II. Confessions

Before trial, Campbell filed a motion to suppress the two statements which he had given to police when they initially questioned him. He alleged the taped statements were inadmissible because they resulted from an illegal detention in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The trial court denied the motion, and the tapes were admitted at trial over his objection.

Statements, however voluntary, are inadmissible under the Fourth Amendment if they are the product of an illegal detention and not the result of an independent act of free will. Dunaway v....