Barnes v. State

• Decision Date: 06 May 1994
• Docket Number: No. 83S00-9303-CR-287,83S00-9303-CR-287
• Citation: 634 N.E.2d 46
• Parties: William F. BARNES, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 46

634 N.E.2d 46

William F. BARNES, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 83S00-9303-CR-287.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

May 6, 1994.

Bruce V. Stengel, Beardsley and Stengel, Clinton, for appellant.

Pamela Carter, Atty. Gen., Joseph F. Pieters, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

GIVAN, Justice.

In June of 1992, appellant was charged with the murder of Irene Bruce Curry. The trial court entered a plea of not guilty and appointed counsel for Barnes. Defense counsel then filed a notice of insanity defense and a motion to determine competency. The court appointed two doctors to examine Barnes as to the insanity defense and also requested that the doctors examine him for competency to stand trial.

After a hearing, the court ruled that the defendant was competent to stand trial. A jury found appellant to be guilty of murder but mentally ill. The trial judge sentenced appellant to sixty (60) years.

The facts are: Appellant was a regular customer at Sharp's Mini-Mart, located in Clinton, Indiana. From time to time, he made purchases and loitered there for extended periods of time. He would "patrol" the parking lot of the mini-mart to prevent others from using drugs, although according to Steve Sharp, the owner of the mini-mart, there was no drug problem. Due to appellant's unusual activity, the owner asked him not to return. Eventually he did return and met Irene Curry, the decedent, who on one occasion asked appellant to leave the store because he was harassing customers. Following that incident, appellant told Sharp that he hated Curry and wanted him to fire her. On a later occasion, appellant told Sharp that he did not like Curry and was going to kill her. However, Sharp testified that he did not believe that Curry was in any real danger.

Late in the evening of June 8, 1992, appellant left his home in Clinton, Indiana dressed in military fatigues and wearing a hat marked "C.I.A." He took a rifle with him and drove to the mini-mart. When he arrived, he exited his vehicle, placed a pair of sound suppressors over his ears, picked up his rifle, and walked to the front of the store. At that time, Curry, Patricia Dressler, another employee, and Linda Greggs, a customer, were the only people in the store. Greggs was the first to notice appellant and called the others' attention to him. As she did so, appellant raised the gun and aimed it at Curry. Dressler hid as Curry yelled at appellant to "stop it." Appellant then entered the store as Curry moved behind the counter.

Appellant fired a shot at Curry but missed her. A second shot struck Curry in the head. It later was determined that this was the fatal shot. While Curry lay face down on the floor, appellant fired six additional shots into her head, arms, and buttocks. Appellant made several statements in which he admitted killing Curry; however, he contended he was required to kill her as part of a government mission.

Appellant claims the trial court erred in allowing gruesome and cumulative photographs to be introduced over his objection. Appellant also contends the trial court erred when it failed to grant a mistrial based upon what appellant describes as a false or misleading statement of the prosecutor to obtain admission of one of the photographs. Appellant first objects to Exhibits 9, 10, 11, 12, and 25. These were photographs taken of the decedent's body at the scene of the crime. Exhibits 9 and 12 show the decedent's body lying in the prone position face down. Exhibit 25 shows the decedent's body after the police had rolled her over exposing her bloody face and chest area.

Officer Michael Goldner of the Indiana State Police testified as to what he found when he arrived upon the scene and identified the photographs in question. Admission of photographic evidence is within the trial court's discretion. This Court will not disturb that discretion except for an abuse. Perigo v. State (1989), Ind., 541 N.E.2d 936. The fact that the photographs depict gory, revolting, or inflammatory details of the crime is not a sufficient basis for reversal unless they are without relevance to any matter at issue. Id. Photographs are admissible if they depict the subject of the testimony received from a witness. Id. We see no error in the admission of State's Exhibits 9, 10, 11, 12, and 25.

Later, the State offered three color photographs, Exhibits 78, 85, and 88, taken at the autopsy. Defendant objected to these photographs as being cumulative and inflammatory. The main thrust of appellant's objection centered around Exhibit 85, which was a photograph of the victim's pelvic area. In response to appellant's objection, the prosecutor stated to the court that Exhibit 85 indicated gunshot wounds to the pelvic area of the victim and that this evidence would be relative to the prosecutor's final argument as to his theory of the motive for the shooting as demonstrated by the evidence. Following this statement by the prosecutor, the court admitted the exhibits in evidence.

Appellant now claims that the prosecutor misrepresented his final argument to the judge in that he did not mention Exhibit 85 in his final argument; however, we cannot agree with appellant in this regard. It is true the prosecutor did not refer to the exhibit as Exhibit 85. However, he did refer to the injuries suffered by the victim as shown by the exhibit. During the trial, appellant had claimed that he was on a government mission and that he was there to kill Curry. The prosecutor argued to the jury that the single shot to the head had killed Curry and that the subsequent shots fired by appellant into her prone body demonstrated a personal animosity toward her and not a methodical execution as appellant claimed.

The prosecutor pointed out that the subsequent shots fired indicated "a clear case of overkill. It's a case of shooting someone to hurt them and to punish them in an act of anger, not just an act of killing someone unemotionally." During the trial, Dr. Swaim, the doctor who had performed the autopsy, described the wounds which the victim had incurred. She testified that the bullets which entered Curry's buttocks exited through her pelvic area. This photograph, of course, was illustrative of her testimony and thus was admissible. Green v. State (1992), Ind., 587 N.E.2d 1314. Although the prosecutor did not refer to the exhibit by its number, he was obviously referring to it, along with the other exhibits, to demonstrate his theory concerning appellant's testimony of a methodical execution. The prosecutor did not make any misrepresentation to the trial court as to his planned use of the exhibits. We find no error here.

Appellant claims the trial court erred in finding him competent to stand trial. The trial court had appointed Dr. Mehta and Dr. Cerra to examine appellant both as to his defense of insanity and as to his competency to stand trial. Dr. Mehta testified that he was of the opinion that appellant was incompetent to stand trial. Dr. Cerra testified that in his opinion appellant was competent to stand trial; thus, the trial court had a conflict of evidence upon which to make its decision under the provisions of Ind.Code § 35-36-3-1(b).

This Court will review such a decision only for an abuse of the trial court's discretion. Adams v. State (1987), Ind., 509 N.E.2d 812. Where there is a conflict of the evidence submitted by the physicians, this Court generally will not overturn the trial court's determination as long as reasonable grounds exist to support it. Id.; Bramley v. State (1989), Ind., 543 N.E.2d 629.

Subsequently, the doctors were asked to testify concerning their opinions as to whether appellant was insane at the time he committed the offense. Dr. Mehta testified that in his...