Smith v. State
| Decision Date | 19 November 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 79S00-9609-CR-583,79S00-9609-CR-583 |
| Citation | 702 N.E.2d 668 |
| Parties | Ernest T. SMITH, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Steven Knecht, Vonderheide & Knecht, Lafayette, Bruce W. Graham, Trueblood & Graham, Lafayette, for Appellant.
Jeffrey A. Modisett, Attorney General, Randi F. Elfenbaum, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, for Appellee.
Defendant Ernest Smith ("defendant") was sentenced, after a jury trial, for murder and robbery while armed with a deadly weapon, a class B felony. In this appeal, defendant raises five issues: 1) whether the trial court erred in admitting DNA evidence; 2) whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence obtained in violation of a court order; 3) whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence a deposition from an unavailable witness; 4) whether the State's comments during closing argument warrant a reversal; and 5) whether the State presented insufficient evidence to convict defendant of murder and robbery while armed with a deadly weapon. We answer each issue in the negative and affirm the trial court.
At approximately 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of April 7, 1995, defendant was in a tavern named Mom's Place in Lafayette, Indiana. Defendant had been in Mom's Place before and knew, as he told a one-time cell-mate, that the owner, Barbara "Mom" Nobile, would be alone in the tavern at that time, that she often did not pay attention while she was in the tavern, and that she kept money in a cigar box at the bar. Defendant told his previous cell-mate that Nobile "would be easy to knock off." (R. at 3882.)
J.C. Dallas Long and his son David arrived at Mom's at approximately 2:00 that afternoon. They saw both Nobile and defendant in the bar. When the Longs left sometime between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m., defendant was still in Mom's Place. Around 3:15 or 3:20, Richard Barrett walked into Mom's Place. After a few minutes, during which time he did not see Nobile, Barrett became suspicious and looked around. He found Nobile in the utility room of the building. Her throat was slit and she had bled to death through a wound to her jugular vein. Nobile had also been stabbed on her palms, arms, chest, and back. Several hundred dollars was missing from the bar.
At some point during the afternoon of April 7, defendant's girlfriend saw him near her home. She observed what appeared to be blood on his pants leg between his knee and ankle. He told her that he had fallen and cut himself. Defendant was also seen later on April 7 at several bars where he spent money freely, though he had needed to borrow money the previous night. He also stayed in a hotel room that night, though he had stayed on a cousin's porch the night before.
The police arrested defendant on April 9, 1995. When photographed by police on April 12, defendant had no marks on his legs but did have scratch marks on his hands and neck. Defendant, while in jail, told his cell-mate that he and another man were drinking in Mom's Place on April 7 and that they talked of robbing and killing Nobile. Defendant also told his cell-mate that he must have blacked out and, when he awoke, he was covered in so much blood that he figured Nobile's throat had probably been cut. Defendant further confided that, if the police found his hunting knife, then he "figured he would be screwed." (R. at 3891.) Finally, defendant admitted that he had gotten blood on his pants and went to see his girlfriend.
At trial, the State introduced DNA evidence based upon two pieces of evidence: a towel found near the rear entrance to Mom's and the shoes that defendant was wearing when arrested. Testing determined that blood was on the towel and on defendant's right tennis shoe. The State then conducted DNA testing on the towel and the shoe. The results indicated that Nobile's DNA profile was consistent with that found in the blood on the shoe. The results also indicated that defendant's DNA profile was consistent with that found in the blood on the towel.
Defendant argues that the trial court erred by allowing the State to present the DNA evidence in this case. At trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress the DNA evidence. The court held a lengthy and thorough suppression hearing. The motion was denied. This was reversible error, defendant argues, because several of the DNA tests conducted were scientifically unreliable, and thus inadmissible under Indiana Evidence Before advancing to the specifics of defendant's argument, we find it necessary to provide some background information. DNA, an acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the genetic material found in the nucleus of our cells; it provides the master plan for the cells of our body. Ninety-nine percent of everyone's DNA is exactly the same. The remaining small percentage is unique to each individual but identical twins.
Rule 702. The defendant also contends that the DNA evidence was unfairly prejudicial, and thus inadmissible under Indiana Evidence Rule 403.
DNA is structured in a double helix which, if straightened out, resembles a ladder. Each rung of the ladder is made of a pair of bases, of which there are four possibilities: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). To form the rungs, A always pairs with T and G always pairs with C. Thus, if the sequence on one side of a DNA strand is known, then the other side can be determined.
A gene is a segment of DNA and can comprise varying numbers of base pairs. Some genes are located on regions of the DNA which are called polymorphic sites; these sites contain the variability which make each of us unique. Each of the individual possibilities at a polymorphic site is called an allele. We receive one allele from each parent. If we receive the same allele from each parent, then we are homozygous at that site. If we receive a different allele from each parent, then we are heterozygous at that site. The combination of alleles for a gene is commonly referred to as its genotype. 1
Based upon the foregoing knowledge, scientists are able to analyze a DNA sample. One method, the one used in this case, is the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). PCR is a method by which chosen short polymorphic segments of a DNA strand can be amplified (or copied) millions of times. This amplification is done in steps. Essentially what happens is that a double strand of DNA is separated by heat into its single strands. Then, specified areas of each DNA strand are marked and replicas are made so that there are now two identical double strands of that area. This process is repeated 20-35 times, thus producing an enormous number of copies of the original marked strand. The PCR process makes it possible to analyze what was originally a very small quantity of DNA.
Once a large enough sample of DNA exists, tests can be done on the sample to determine what alleles are present at the specified areas. The tests that were used in this case are the DQ Alpha (DQA), Polymarker (PM), and D1S80. In total, these tests determine what alleles are present at seven different polymorphic sites. Based on the genotypes of these seven sites, the scientist can determine the DNA's profile. Once the profile is determined, it can be compared to anyone's profile. For example, in this case, the profiles of the blood from the towel and the shoe were compared to defendant's and Nobile's profiles.
If the profiles of the sample and an individual are different, then the individual can be excluded as a contributor of the DNA sample. If, however, the profiles match, then the individual cannot be ruled out as a contributor. Instead, the scientist must next determine how common it is to have that profile. This determination is made by comparing the genotypes from the sample to the genotypes of a database. The database is garnered from a larger population, separated into racial and/or ethnic groups, and shows, by percentage, how common each different genotype possibility is amongst each population. Once the comparison determines the percentage of the population that has each of the different genotypes, all of the percentages can be multiplied together (the "Product Rule") to determine what percentage of the population has all seven of the genotypes and, thus, fits the DNA's profile. 2
On appeal, defendant argues that the Polymerase Chain Reaction methodology or PCR process, and more specifically, the PM and D1S80 tests are scientifically unreliable, that the frequency calculations are unreliable, and that flaws in the handling of evidence and conducting the tests make the results unreliable. 3 Defendant also argues that the evidence presents a danger of unfair prejudice. As we have noted previously, "the words 'DNA test results' are not magic words which, once uttered, cause the doors of admissibility to open." Harrison v. State, 644 N.E.2d 1243, 1251 (Ind.1995), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 933, 117 S.Ct. 307, 136 L.Ed.2d 224 (1997). Like any other evidence, and notwithstanding Indiana Code section 35-37-4-13(b), DNA evidence presented by expert testimony must satisfy the requirements of the Indiana Rules of Evidence. See Jervis v. State, 679 N.E.2d 875, 881 (Ind.1997). In this case, the relevant rules require that the expert be qualified to testify, the trial court be satisfied that the scientific principles upon which the expert testimony rests are reliable, and the testimony's probative value is not substantially outweighed by the dangers of unfair prejudice. Ind. Evidence Rules 403, 702; see Harrison, 644 N.E.2d at 1252. We review the trial court's evidentiary decisions for an abuse of discretion. Jervis, 679 N.E.2d at 881; McGrew v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1289, 1290 (Ind.1997). Defendant's arguments concern only the reliability of the scientific principles and the potential prejudice. We will address each argument in turn.
Defendant argues that the PM and D1S80 tests...
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