Capps v. State, 49A02-9807-PC-605
| Decision Date | 21 April 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A02-9807-PC-605,49A02-9807-PC-605 |
| Citation | 709 N.E.2d 24 |
| Parties | Richard A. CAPPS, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Richard A. Capps ("Capps") appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm.
Capps presents three issues for our review which we restate as:
1. Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct by withholding material exculpatory evidence.
2. Whether the trial court committed fundamental error when it read to the jury Instruction Number 13.
3. Whether Capps received the effective assistance of appellate counsel.
The relevant facts recited by this court on direct appeal follow:
Before dawn on November 17, 1988, the bodies of Roland and Margaret Capps, married, both aged sixty, were found lying in the street in front of their house on Buick Drive in Speedway. They had been shot to death. A trail through the autumn leaves covering the lawn and bloodstains on the front porch indicated that the bodies had been dragged into the street from within the house. When an officer dialed the Capps' home telephone number, their twenty-three year old son Richard answered. He said he was the only person in the house. Shortly thereafter, he came out and was arrested. While being handcuffed, he stated that he was Jesus Christ, that his parents were evil and had tried to kill him, and that he was ridding the world of evil. The murder weapon and spent shells were found inside the house, as well as bloodstains suggesting that the shootings had taken place there, after which the bodies had been dragged out to the street.
Capps v. State, 573 N.E.2d 459, 460 (Ind.Ct.App.1991). Despite an insanity defense, following a jury trial, Capps was convicted of two counts of Murder. On direct appeal, this court affirmed Capps' conviction. See id.
Thereafter, on April 28, 1994, Capps filed his pro se petition for post-conviction relief. Counsel subsequently appeared on Capps' behalf and filed an amended petition on February 25, 1998. After evidentiary hearings, the post-conviction court entered its findings and conclusions denying Capps' amended petition.
The purpose of a petition for post-conviction relief is to raise issues unknown or unavailable to a defendant at the time of the original trial and appeal. Lockhart v. State, 632 N.E.2d 374, 375 (Ind.Ct.App.1994), trans. denied. "Thus, post-conviction relief is not a 'super appeal' which allows the rehashing of prior proceedings regardless of the circumstances surrounding them." Collier v. State, 572 N.E.2d 1299, 1301 (Ind.Ct.App.1991), trans. denied. When the petitioner has already been afforded the benefit of a direct appeal, post-conviction relief contemplates a rather small window for further review. Montano v. State, 649 N.E.2d 1053, 1056 (Ind.Ct.App.1995), trans. denied. The petitioner must establish his grounds for relief by a preponderance of the evidence. Ind. Post-Conviction Rule 1, § 5.
On appeal from the denial of a petition for post-conviction relief, we neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses. Montano, 649 N.E.2d at 1056. To prevail on appeal from the denial of his petition, the petitioner must show that the evidence is without conflict and leads only to a conclusion opposite that reached by the post-conviction court. Id. It is only where the evidence is without conflict and leads to but one conclusion, and the trial court has reached the opposite conclusion, that the decision will be disturbed as being contrary to law. Spranger v. State, 650 N.E.2d 1117, 1119 (Ind.1995).
Where the post-conviction court enters findings of fact, we will affirm if the findings are sufficient to support the judgment. Coleman v. State, 703 N.E.2d 1022, 1027 (Ind.1998). The post-conviction court's findings and judgment will not be reversed unless clearly erroneous. Id. "In short, the question before us is only 'whether there is no way the court could have reached its decision.' " Id. (quoting Spranger, 650 N.E.2d at 1120).
Capps first contends that he is entitled to post-conviction relief because the prosecutor committed misconduct by withholding material exculpatory evidence. 1 See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) (). However, as noted by the post-conviction court, this issue was available but not raised on direct appeal. As our supreme court recently has noted, failure to raise a Brady violation on direct appeal results in forfeiture of the issue on post-conviction except to the extent that such claim may support a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Minnick v. State, 698 N.E.2d 745, 750-51 (Ind.1998). Because Capps' claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel addressed infra does not include the Brady violation, we need not address the issue in any context. Capps has waived review of this issue. 2
Capps next contends that the trial court committed fundamental error when it read to the jury Instruction Number 13 which stated:
The rule of law which clothes every person accused of a crime with the presumption of innocence, and imposes upon the State the burden of establishing his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, is not intended to aid anyone who is in fact guilty of a crime to escape from just and merited punishment; but, is a humane provision of the law which is intended, so far as human agencies can, to guard against the danger of any innocent person being unjustly accused or punished.
Trial Record at 1142-43. Capps is correct that our supreme court, in Spradlin v. State, 569 N.E.2d 948 (Ind.1991), recommended that such instruction not be used. However, our supreme court has also held that the use of such instruction is not error in cases where the instruction was given before Spradlin was decided. Nichols v. State, 591 N.E.2d 134, 139 (Ind.1992). Capps' trial occurred on March 10, 1990, prior to the Spradlin decision. At the time of Capps' trial, existing case law approved the instruction. See Heald v. State, 492 N.E.2d 671, 680 (Ind.1986).
Moreover, it is well-settled that jury instructions are not to be considered in isolation, but are to be read as a whole and with reference to each other. Gambill v. State, 675 N.E.2d 668, 674 (Ind.1996). As noted by the post-conviction court, the jury was properly instructed in other instructions as to the presumption of innocence and the State's burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. P-C Record at 103. In light of the instructions as a whole, the giving of Instruction Number 13 did not...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Law v. State
...relief is to raise issues unknown or unavailable to a defendant at the time of the original trial and appeal. Capps v. State, 709 N.E.2d 24, 25 (Ind.Ct.App.1999). When the petitioner has already been afforded the benefit of a direct appeal, post-conviction relief contemplates a rather small......
-
Allen v. State
...prosecutorial misconduct based upon suppression of exculpatory evidence if such claim is not brought on direct appeal. Capps v. State, 709 N.E.2d 24, 26 (Ind.Ct. App.1999), trans. denied. In post-conviction proceedings, a petitioner may assert prosecutorial misconduct only in the context of......
-
Jeffries v. State
...the post-conviction court has reached the opposite conclusion, that the decision will be disturbed as contrary to law. Capps v. State, 709 N.E.2d 24, 25 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), trans. Jeffries contends that the aggregate three-year sentence he received for the violations of probation in Cause No......
-
Martin v. State
...relief is to raise issues unknown or unavailable to a defendant at the time of the original trial and appeal." Capps v. State, 709 N.E.2d 24, 25 (Ind.Ct. App.1999), trans. denied. Post-conviction relief contemplates a rather small window for review, particularly when the petitioner has been......