Blaize v. State
| Decision Date | 01 March 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 26S00–1410–LW–771.,26S00–1410–LW–771. |
| Citation | 51 N.E.3d 97 |
| Parties | Austin BLAIZE, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Ivan A. Arnaez, Arnaez Law Offices, Evansville, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, James B. Martin, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
RUCKER
, Justice.
Arising out of a confrontation at the home of his ex-girlfriend's father, Austin Blaize was convicted of murder, attempted murder, felony murder, burglary resulting in serious bodily injury, intimidation with a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm, and carrying a handgun without a license. The jury recommended and the trial court imposed life without parole for the murder conviction, and the trial court imposed a term of years for the remaining convictions. In this direct appeal Blaize complains his convictions should be reversed and a new trial granted because of comments the trial judge made to the jury. We disagree and affirm the convictions and sentences.
Austin Blaize and Brittany Monier began dating in 2010 when she was 17 and he was 20. Their contentious and at times violent relationship produced two children, a daughter born in 2011 and a son born in 2012. A mostly unemployed Blaize failed to support his children. Instead his parents and Brittany's parents filled the void. In May 2012, ending the relationship and declining Blaize's marriage proposal, Brittany moved in with her father, Terry Monier, who lived in the Indian Hills subdivision of Fort Branch in Gibson County, Indiana. One of Terry's conditions on Brittany living at his house was that Blaize was not allowed to visit. And Brittany told Blaize not to come to Terry's house.
According to Brittany, Blaize “went crazy” when she ended the relationship and told her that if she dated anyone else he would kill her, their children, and the person she was dating, adding, “[i]f I can't have you, no one else can.” Tr. at 72
. Though the relationship was over, Blaize continued to pester Brittany regularly by telephone and text messages, inquiring whether she was dating anyone and whether she would resume their relationship. Blaize would monitor Brittany's activity on Facebook to determine with whom she was socializing. And occasionally he would show up at Terry's home uninvited while Terry was at work.
On the morning of January 16, 2013, Blaize called Brittany and told her he had a new job and asked her if she would move back with him. Brittany declined, again telling Blaize their relationship was over. By this time, Brittany was in the early stages of a relationship with Josh Webb who was visiting her daily and in fact was visiting at the time Blaize called. Webb had previously dated Blaize's sister, so the two men were acquainted with one another. Not satisfied with Brittany's rejection, Blaize called her several times that evening. And at some point Blaize and Webb had a brief conversation, with Blaize telling Webb they would meet “m[a]no to m[a]no” in Francisco. Tr. at 210. Blaize called again at 6:52 p.m. telling Webb they would meet up sooner.
Brittany then followed Webb into the attached garage where he intended to smoke a cigarette. When the light was turned on they saw Blaize standing there in a dark-colored hoodie. Following a brief exchange between Blaize and Webb, Blaize pointed a handgun at Webb's head and pulled the trigger. The handgun clicked but it did not discharge, and Blaize looked at it, exclaiming, “What the hell?” Tr. at 218.
Webb ran back into the house, and hearing screams Terry—who was home at the time—ran towards the garage door. Terry and Blaize struggled over the weapon as Terry tried to keep Blaize out of the house. Blaize then fired two shots. In a later autopsy examination, the pathologist recovered two .25 caliber bullets from Terry's body. The examination revealed Terry suffered “two gunshot wounds
, one to the back of the head behind his left ear and the other to the left side of his chest.” Tr. at 168. “They were both fatal wounds.” Tr. at 178.
In the meantime Webb fled the house with Blaize in pursuit. A witness visiting the home of Terry's neighbor saw a person he was “[n]inety-eight percent” certain was Blaize walk by at a fast pace. Tr. at 363. And about one minute later he saw Webb, who appeared to be in shock, run into the neighbor's house yelling Blaize's name and hollering that someone had been shot and killed. The witness identified a dark colored hoodie found at the home of Blaize's grandmother as the hoodie he saw Blaize wearing on the evening of the shooting.
After briefly chasing Webb, Blaize returned to Terry's house, confronted Brittany, and pointed his handgun at both her and their young daughter. Blaize accused Brittany of cheating on him, declaring, “I can't believe you did this to me.” Tr. at 127. He told Brittany to promise not to tell the police that he was the shooter and directed her to tell the police Webb shot Terry. Blaize then left and Brittany called 911 as did Webb who by this time was at a neighbor's home. Police received the calls at 6:55 and 6:56 p.m. and soon arrived at Terry's house, where Brittany told them Blaize shot Terry and fired at Webb. Shortly before that time a neighbor's surveillance camera captured a white pickup truck driving through the area. Blaize would sometimes drive his grandfather's white pickup truck without permission.
Members of the Fort Branch Police Department arrested Blaize later that night at his grandmother's home in Francisco, a small community in Gibson County, and located a few blocks from the home of Blaize's grandfather. They seized Blaize's cell phone, and during an interview at the police station, Blaize acknowledged his possession of the phone throughout the evening.
While Blaize was in custody a cellmate heard Blaize say that “he took two [.]25 caliber pistols from his grandfather and took them both to make it into one that worked.” Tr. at 1141. Blaize's grandfather testified that as of January 16, 2013, his .25 caliber handgun was missing from his home. And previously one of Blaize's friends had fired a small caliber handgun that Blaize had in his possession, but it Tr. at 796–97. The weapon used in this case was never recovered.
A long-time friend of Blaize observed that Blaize had been keeping track of Brittany on Facebook. He noted that on the date of the shooting, Blaize was upset with Brittany for “hanging out with other guys,” Tr. at 509, and he was upset while talking on his cell phone around 5:30 p.m. When he talked to Blaize later that evening between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Blaize was crying and saying he didn't want to go to jail for something he didn't do.
On January 17, 2013 the State charged Blaize with Count I murder; Count II attempted murder; Count III felony murder; Count IV burglary causing serious bodily injury; Count V intimidation with a deadly weapon; Count VI pointing a firearm; and Count VII carrying a handgun without a license. The State also sought a sentence of life without parole alleging two aggravating circumstances: (1) intentional killing during a burglary or attempted burglary1 and (2) murder by intentional discharge of a firearm into an inhabited dwelling.2
Jury selection began August 18, 2014, and the presentation of evidence commenced the following day. At the ten-day-long trial, in addition to evidence of the facts recited above, the State introduced the call records for Blaize's Verizon cell phone. To interpret those records the State presented Byron Lee, a Verizon engineer.
Lee testified about cell phone towers in Gibson County; the coverage areas of towers; explained how cell phone towers route calls; and how Verizon's call records contain a tower number and sector designation to indicate from what direction a phone call is coming. He referred to areas surrounding those towers as “sites,” each of which is divided into three “sectors.” Lee concluded that a person using Blaize's cell phone during the relevant time period on January 16 started out in Francisco and gradually moved closer to the lower section of the Fort Branch coverage area and eventually back into the Francisco coverage area. Lee testified that cell tower 217 sector 2 primarily covered the Francisco area, and cell tower 204 covered the Fort Branch area. According to Lee cell tower site 204–2 covered the Monier's house, and on the night of the killing Blaize's cell phone registered on that site at 6:52 p.m. According to Lee, by 7:13 p.m. Blaize's cell phone was again registering on site 217–2, in Francisco. This evidence was consistent with the State's theory of events placing Baize at or near the Monier residence when Terry was killed.
Blaize's counsel cross-examined Lee at length and elicited his acknowledgment that: (i) sometimes the coverage of towers overlaps; (ii) calls being placed will go to the tower with the strongest signal, not always the closest tower; (iii) usually but not always the closest tower has the strongest strength; (iv) a tower's signal can be affected by conditions like weather and terrain; and (v) information related to towers cannot be used to determine a phone user's specific location. The witness' cross-examination testimony contained numerous references to towers, sites, and sectors.
After the close of cross-examination the trial court announced a lunch recess and admonished the jurors which included the following exchange:
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Taylor v. State
...wore; and he made incriminating threats afterwards. This compelling evidence militates against fundamental error. See Blaize v. State, 51 N.E.3d 97, 102–03 (Ind. 2016). The strong evidence against Taylor, considered as a whole, also undercuts Taylor's reliance on Oldham, where the Court of ......