Beverly v. State
| Decision Date | 22 January 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A02-0304-CR-298.,49A02-0304-CR-298. |
| Parties | Jeremiah BEVERLY, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Kathleen M. Sweeney, Marion County Public Defender Agency, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Matthew D. Fisher, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Jeremiah "Jerry" Beverly appeals his convictions for voluntary manslaughter and carrying a handgun without a license. The victim's statement to a paramedic at the scene of the crime that Beverly shot him was properly admitted as a dying declaration where the victim suffered a single gunshot wound to the back of his head while driving his car and was slumped over and in a decreased state of consciousness. Furthermore, the deputies had reasonable suspicion to stop Beverly because several people called 911 with generally the same information about the shootings, thereby corroborating each other. Lastly, the evidence is sufficient to support Beverly's conviction for voluntary manslaughter because he fired shots at the victim's car while engaged in a high speed chase, retrieved a second gun when his first gun ran out of bullets, and then fired more shots, this time shooting the victim in the back of the head.
The facts most favorable to the verdict reveal that on November 9, 2001, Beverly pulled his gold GMC Yukon into the parking lot of the Creekwood Apartments on the northwest side of Indianapolis, where he lived off and on with his girlfriend. As Beverly walked away from his Yukon, a blue-gray older model Oldsmobile, driven by Tony Robinson, pulled in behind it. Although the facts are unclear about what transpired next, it appears that a passenger in Robinson's Oldsmobile, who was never identified, exited the Oldsmobile, and shots were exchanged between the unidentified passenger and Beverly. As the unidentified passenger started running away, Beverly fired two more shots in his direction. Robinson then sped off in his Oldsmobile, and Beverly jumped into his Yukon and followed him.
After exiting the apartment complex, Beverly chased Robinson south on Michigan Road. Joseph Gianforte, a motorist traveling southbound on Michigan Road at the same time, heard popping noises and then observed a "golden-colored SUV" closely following an "old looking car." Tr. p. 202. As the cars passed him, Gianforte saw the driver of the SUV "hanging out of his driver's side window holding a gun and firing it" at the older car. Tr. p. 203. Charles Smith was also traveling southbound on Michigan Road around the same time when he heard three "pops." Tr. p. 184. He then heard a single pop to his left as a "[b]lond" or "brown" SUV passed him. Tr. p. 185. After the SUV passed him, Smith observed the driver of the SUV "leaning or hanging out the window." Tr. p. 186.
Anthony Smith, Jr., who knew Beverly from high school, was driving north on Michigan Road in his Chevrolet Caprice when he saw Beverly driving south in his Yukon. Beverly waved to Anthony, so Anthony followed him. Anthony eventually pulled his Caprice alongside Beverly's Yukon as both cars were traveling southbound on Michigan Road, and Beverly asked Anthony if he had his gun with him. Anthony then passed his revolver to Beverly through the car windows. Anthony stopped at a gas station, and Beverly drove on.
Thereafter, witnesses observed the Oldsmobile driven by Robinson, which was being pursued by another car, collide with a third car at the intersection of Michigan Road and Kessler Boulevard. Robinson then crashed into two other cars and landed in a ditch. Witnesses also saw a gold SUV in the vicinity of the crash.
Beverly eventually returned to the gas station where Anthony was waiting, exited his Yukon, and entered Anthony's Caprice. Beverly then instructed Anthony to drive "to a certain spot on Michigan Road," where Anthony observed a car with bullet holes in the rear windshield in the ditch. After Beverly confirmed that Robinson was still in the car, Anthony drove him back to the gas station where he left his Yukon. After Beverly exited Anthony's car, Anthony observed two guns on the seat, the one he had given Beverly and another one.
Thomas Adams, a firefighter/paramedic with the Washington Township Fire Department, arrived at the intersection of Michigan Road and Kessler Boulevard and discovered Robinson slumped over in his car. Adams asked Robinson, who was in a "decreased" state of consciousness and "lethargic," if he had been shot. Tr. p. 395. When Robinson did not respond, Adams more forcefully asked, "Who shot you?" Tr. p. 397. This time, Robinson responded, "Jerry shot me." Tr. p. 397. As Adams was removing Robinson from his car, he noticed a gunshot wound to the back of Robinson's head. Robinson was then taken to the hospital, where he died the next day from the gunshot wound.
Marion County Sheriff's Deputies Debora Oatis and Dennis Nike received a dispatch of a "shots fired call" involving a gold, full-size SUV driven by a light-skinned black male that was in the vicinity of Michigan Road and 71st Street. Tr. p. 283. Specifically, dispatch "had received numerous phone calls over a matter of maybe five or six minutes saying that this vehicle was driving up and down Michigan Road shooting," and dispatch had relayed that information to the deputies. Tr. p. 284. When Deputies Oatis and Nike arrived at Michigan Road and 71st Street, they observed a gold SUV pull into a gas station and stopped it. Beverly then "jumped out of" his Yukon and started walking toward the deputies yelling and waving his arms. Tr. p. 290. Beverly stated that Tr. p. 291. Eventually, the deputies handcuffed Beverly. When Sergeant Scott Scales from the Marion County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene, he read Beverly his Miranda rights and then questioned him. Beverly told Sergeant Scales that Tr. p. 250. Beverly also explained that his friend gave him a gun, and then he fired the gun at the other vehicle and returned it to his friend.
The State subsequently charged Beverly with murder and carrying a handgun without a license as a Class C felony. Before trial, Beverly filed a motion to suppress the statements he made to the deputies during the investigatory stop and a motion in limine to exclude Robinson's statement to the paramedic that Beverly had shot him. After a hearing, the trial court denied both motions. After a bench trial, the trial court found Beverly guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter as a Class A felony1 as a lesser-included offense of murder and Carrying a Handgun Without a License as a Class C felony2 and sentenced him to an aggregate sentence of forty years with five years suspended. This appeal ensued.
Beverly appeals his convictions raising three issues. First, he contends that the trial court erred in admitting Robinson's statement to the paramedic into evidence because it constitutes inadmissible hearsay. Second, Beverly contends that the trial court erred in admitting the statements he made to deputies during the investigatory stop into evidence because the deputies did not have reasonable suspicion to stop him in the first instance. Third, Beverly contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for voluntary manslaughter because he did not knowingly or intentionally kill Robinson. We address each issue in turn.
Beverly contends that the trial court erred in admitting Robinson's statement to the paramedic that "Jerry shot me" into evidence because it constitutes inadmissible hearsay. Hearsay is "a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." Ind. Evidence Rule 801(c). Hearsay is generally not admissible at trial. Evid. R. 802. Because Robinson's statement was offered to prove that Beverly shot him, it constitutes hearsay and is therefore inadmissible unless it falls under an exception to the hearsay rule.
Here, at the hearing on Beverly's motion in limine, the State argued that Robinson's statement was admissible either as a dying declaration pursuant to Indiana Evidence Rule 804(b)(2), an excited utterance pursuant to Rule 803(2), or a statement for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment pursuant to Rule 803(4). The trial court ultimately denied the motion in limine because it found that Robinson's statement qualified as one for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment. However, the trial court did not state whether the two other exceptions applied as well. On appeal, Beverly argues that Robinson's statement does not qualify as a statement for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment. The State apparently concedes this point and instead argues that Robinson's statement is admissible as a dying declaration.3 We first examine whether Robinson's statement qualifies as one for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment. In order for a hearsay statement to be admissible as a statement made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment, the following elements must be established: (1) it must be made for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment; (2) it must describe medical history, symptoms, pain, sensations, or the inception or general character of the cause or external source; and (3) it must be reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment. Ind. Evidence Rule 803(4); Nash v. State, 754 N.E.2d 1021, 1023 (Ind.Ct.App.2001),trans. denied. Hearsay is admitted under this exception because the reliability of the out-of-court statement is assured based upon the belief that the declarant's self-interest in seeking medical treatment...
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