Anderson v. State
| Decision Date | 19 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 49S00-9510-CR-1128,49S00-9510-CR-1128 |
| Citation | 681 N.E.2d 703 |
| Parties | Jesse ANDERSON, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Belle T. Choate, Indianapolis, for Appellant.
Pamela Carter, Attorney General, James A. Joven, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, for Appellee.
Defendant Jesse Anderson was convicted of Murder 1 for the death of 21-month old Marie Carter. He was sentenced to sixty years.
On the evening of June 10, 1994, defendant was at the home that he shared with his girlfriend, Marnie Stuller, while Stuller was working a night shift. Stuller's daughter, Marie Carter, was with defendant. At approximately 3:00 a.m. Marie woke up and began crying. Defendant contended that he went into Marie's bedroom, and in an effort to stop Marie's crying, struck her with his hand in the chest. Marie stopped crying, and rolled over. Defendant then returned to his bedroom. Defendant testified that at approximately 7:00 a.m., he went to check on Marie and found that she would not move. He then called 911 and the dispatcher instructed defendant on how to administer CPR, but Marie could not be revived. An autopsy revealed that Marie suffered blunt force injuries to the head, chest, abdomen, back, and extremities.
Defendant claims that the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, namely: (a) that defendant used marijuana on the evening of Marie's death before she went to bed; (b) that defendant hid drug paraphernalia after calling 911; and (c) evidence of prior physical injuries to Marie.
Defendant objected to the admission of a statement he made to an officer after Marie's death in which defendant stated that he smoked marijuana on the night of Marie's death before she went to bed.
The State claims that defendant's marijuana use on the night of Marie's death was properly admitted because it was part of the res gestae of the charged crime, citing Forehand v. State, 479 N.E.2d 552, 554 (Ind.1985): "evidence may be introduced which completes the story of the crime by proving its immediate context, even if this evidence also shows that the defendant committed other crimes during the course of the charged offense." This court has determined that the res gestae doctrine did not survive the adoption of the Indiana Rules of Evidence. Swanson v. State, 666 N.E.2d 397, 398 (Ind.1996). 2
To be admissible, evidence presented at trial must be relevant. Ind.Evidence Rule 402. Relevant evidence is "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Evid.R. 401. Relevant evidence is not always admissible, however, as it may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Evid.R. 403. In addition, evidence of crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible "to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith." Evid.R. 404(b). It may be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident. Id.
In a statement to police, defendant claimed that he struck the victim only once and that he did not believe it was hard enough to hurt her. His use of marijuana was relevant to assist the jury in evaluating and understanding defendant's claim in contrast to the evidence, to be discussed in parts II and III of this opinion, of blunt force injuries to Marie's head, chest, and abdomen, resulting in her death. The admission of the evidence of defendant's marijuana use on the night Marie died was not violative of Evid.R. 404(b).
As to the inquiry required by Evid.R. 403 into whether the probative value of the evidence of defendant's marijuana use is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, we acknowledge the danger of unfair prejudice that might result in such circumstances from a jury's antipathy towards illegal drug use. However, a trial court's evidentiary rulings are presumptively correct, and defendant bears the burden on appeal of persuading us that the court erred in weighing prejudice and probative value under Evid.R. 403. Cason v. State, 672 N.E.2d 74, 75 (Ind.1996). Given the evidence of guilt in this case, to be discussed infra, we find it within the trial court's discretion to find that the danger of unfair prejudice did not outweigh the probative value of the evidence here.
Defendant also objected to the State introducing Stuller's statements that she noticed certain drug paraphernalia missing and that defendant had told her he had hid those items in a closet while on the phone with 911. In defendant's statement to police, he stated that there was not any marijuana in the house but that the police might find a "roach" if they searched his house. Later at trial, Stuller testified that when she got home from work the morning Marie died, she noticed that some drug paraphernalia was missing. She stated that defendant later told her that he had walked through the apartment and collected these items and hid them in a hall closet.
Defendant argues that any evidence that he disposed of drug paraphernalia was not admissible because it was not relevant and only went to show defendant's bad character. The State maintains it was admissible because it did not go to show defendant's bad character, but was presented to attack defendant's credibility with respect to his statements to the police. The State reasons that defendant's statements to police indicated that he was only a casual marijuana user, when in fact, the State claims, Stuller's statement that defendant hid quite a bit of drug paraphernalia proves that he was more than a casual user. The State claims this is important because it was used to show that other statements defendant made to the police were not truthful. This line of reasoning is tenuous at best. First, we do not see how defendant's statements to the police constitute a declaration by defendant that he was only a casual marijuana user and, second, even if that is so, we do not see how Stuller's statement that defendant hid drug paraphernalia proved that this statement was untrue. We do not agree with the State that these statements were offered to attack defendant's credibility with respect to his statements to the police. We think these statements that defendant was a drug user--casual or not--only go to show defendant was a "bad person." Evid.R. 404(b) excludes this type of evidence.
Although this evidence was not admissible, its admission must have effected the substantial rights of defendant to constitute reversible error. Fleener v. State, 656 N.E.2d 1140, 1142 (Ind.1995). Here we cannot conclude that defendant's substantial rights were affected. Because evidence of marijuana use was admissible, the fact that defendant had marijuana paraphernalia in the house added little to the picture the jury had of him. In light of this and in light of the other evidence presented by the State to show defendant knowingly killed Marie, to be discussed infra, we conclude that admission of this evidence did not result in reversible error.
Defendant also contends that the State should not have been permitted to introduce evidence of ten specific injuries to Marie. Defendant contends that this evidence was admitted in violation of Evid.R. 404(b) which, as discussed supra, prohibits use of evidence of wrongs or acts to prove the character of a person to create an inference that the person acted in conformity with that character. Defendant contends admission of the evidence of Marie's injuries was particularly inappropriate because they were not connected to him.
The reference in the record to the ten injuries cited by defendant is a pre-trial motion, not evidence introduced at trial. Our own inspection of the record convinces us that, to the extent the State introduced evidence of Marie's injuries, it was for the purpose of establishing the cause of death, not proving defendant's character. Most of the evidence of injuries came from the testimony of two doctors, Dr. Merk and Dr. Pless, concerning the autopsy report with regard to Marie's cause of death. The autopsy revealed numerous injuries on Marie's body, most of which were very recent but few of which were somewhat older. Stuller also testified as to the existence and cause of the older injuries; and that except for a cut above her left eye, Marie had no visible injuries prior to Stuller leaving for work that evening. We find in general that this evidence was probative of the cause of Marie's death and in particular that the distinction between old and new injuries was probative of the exact cause of death. Schoffstall v. State, 488 N.E.2d 349 (Ind.Ct.App.1986) ().
Defendant next contends that the evidence presented by the State was insufficient to establish the requisite mens rea of the crime of Murder. A mens rea of either knowledge or intent is an essential element constituting the crime of Murder in Indiana. Buie v. State, 633 N.E.2d 250, 253 (Ind.1994); Vance v. State, 620 N.E.2d 687, 690 (Ind.1993); Abdul-Wadood v. State, 521 N.E.2d 1299, 1300 (Ind.1988). Here defendant was charged with a knowing killing.
While "the Due Process Clause [of the Fourteenth Amendment] protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged," In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1072, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), it is not the function of this court to weigh evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses when reviewing a claim of insufficiency of the evidence. Pilarski v. State, 635 N.E.2d 166 (Ind.1994). If after considering reasonable inferences and evidence...
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...of injuries on the child evinces a conscious intent to seriously harm the victim."515 N.E.2d at 496-97. See also Anderson v. State, 681 N.E.2d 703, 708 (Ind. 1997) ("Marie was a 21-month old child.Defendant was a grown man. It would be reasonable for a jury to conclude that defendant was aw......
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