Daniels v. State

• Decision Date: 12 January 2001
• Docket Number: No. 49S00-9411-SD-1079.,49S00-9411-SD-1079.
• Citation: 741 N.E.2d 1177
• Parties: Michael William DANIELS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

741 N.E.2d 1177

Michael William DANIELS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 49S00-9411-SD-1079.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

January 12, 2001.

Mark Earnest, Eric K. Koselke, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellant.

Karen M. Freeman-Wilson, Attorney General of Indiana, Arthur Thaddeus Perry, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellee.

ON APPEAL FROM THE DENIAL OF SUCCESSIVE PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

Michael William Daniels was convicted of felony murder, attempted robbery, and four counts of robbery arising out of a crime spree in Indianapolis on the evening of January 16, 1978. He was sentenced to death on the felony murder count. In this appeal from the denial of his successive petition for post-conviction relief, Daniels contends that (1) his trial counsel were ineffective; (2) the attorney who filed his motion to correct error was ineffective; and (3) counsel from the first post-conviction proceeding was ineffective. We affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

Factual and Procedural Background

On January 16, 1978, Daniels and two other individuals committed a series of crimes. Daniels v. State, 453 N.E.2d 160, 164 (Ind.1983). The three men drove around residential neighborhoods in Indianapolis and stopped at four different residences where they saw people outside their homes. Id.

Shortly after 8 p.m., Steve McCloskey was shoveling snow in his driveway at East 52nd Place in Indianapolis when he heard a gunshot. (T.R. at 756, 760-61.) His mother came out of the house carrying a broom. (T.R. at 761.) Two men then approached McCloskey and said, "This is a stick-up. Don't you move. I have a gun on you." (T.R. at 762.) Daniels, the gunman, ordered McCloskey to drop his snow shovel and hand over his wallet, which McCloskey did. (T.R. at 764, 766.) McCloskey's mother tried to knock the gun out of Daniels' hand with her broom, and Daniels hit the woman on the jaw. (T.R. at 766.) Both intruders then fled. (T.R. at 767.)

At the second residence, fifteen-year-old Timothy Streett and his father Allen were shoveling snow at approximately 9:30 p.m. (T.R. at 791-92, 812.) Two men came up behind Timothy and one said, "Don't move and no one will get hurt." (T.R. at 799.) Timothy turned and saw Daniels waving a gun at him. (T.R. at 799-800.) Daniels ordered Timothy and his father to hand over their wallets. (T.R. at 800.) When the father responded that he did not have his wallet with him, Daniels shot and killed him. (T.R. at 800, 817.) Timothy handed his wallet to the other intruder, who then fled with Daniels. (T.R. at 800-01.)

The perpetrators then accosted Jack Beem and his daughter Mary Ann. Jack had picked Mary Ann up from work at about 10:10 p.m. (T.R. at 827-29.) As they arrived at home and got out of their car, Jack heard footsteps and a voice crying out, "Don't move, don't move, this is a hold-up." (T.R. at 829.) Daniels took Jack's wallet at gunpoint and a second man took Mary Ann's purse. (T.R. at 829-31, 847.)

Finally, at a fourth residence, Dr. Robert Barnett took his dog outside and began to shovel snow at about 11 p.m. (T.R. at 863-64.) Daniels, who was holding a gun, ordered Barnett to freeze. (T.R. at 868, 873.) Barnett turned and walked toward the house and Daniels shot him once, then twice more after Barnett started swinging his snow shovel at Daniels. (T.R. at 869-70.) Barnett survived.

Each of the six surviving victims testified at Daniels' trial. When the prosecutor asked Steve McCloskey if there was any question in his mind that Daniels was the perpetrator, he responded, "No question. I see his face every night when I go to bed." (T.R. at 767.) McCloskey's mother, whose vision was poor, was unable to confirm or rebut her son's identification. (T.R. at 788.)

On cross-examination, defense counsel questioned McCloskey in detail about his original description to the police of the perpetrators. McCloskey described the gunman to police as a light-complexioned fifteen- to sixteen-year-old African-American, around 5'8" tall and 150 pounds, wearing a stocking cap.¹ (T.R. at 771, 776-77.) Counsel pointed out that, although McCloskey cited the gunman's hazel eyes and separated front teeth as particularly distinctive features, McCloskey omitted these details from that original description. (T.R. at 781.) Counsel then obtained McCloskey's admission that, at an earlier trial,² he had described the gunman as 4'8" tall. McCloskey explained that he meant to say 5'8". (T.R. at 772).

The second robbery victim, Timothy Streett, testified at trial that he saw "Michael Daniels, the man right there" shoot and kill his father. (T.R. at 803.) In lineups a few weeks after the crime, Timothy identified both Daniels and Paul Rowley, who resembled Daniels, as subjects he "suspect[ed] to be involved in [his] particular incident." (S.P-C.R. at 2963-66.) When asked on cross-examination if he had previously identified Rowley "as a person involved in [the crime] in any way," Timothy responded, "I never positively identified anybody until I identified Mr. Daniels at the line-up. I said that there was a possibility, but I never positively did it." (T.R. at 810.)

Jack and Mary Ann Beem were also asked at trial if they could identify Daniels. Jack testified that "[t]here's someone in this court that resembles him very much. A positive identification, I would not say." (T.R. at 831.) However, when Mary Ann was asked if there was any question in her mind that Daniels was the man who had robbed her at gunpoint, she responded, "No, there is not." (T.R. at 856.) On cross-examination, defense counsel challenged Mary Ann's identification, because she had originally described the gunman as tall, and McCloskey had described the gunman as standing 5'8". (T.R. at 851.) Mary Ann responded that to her, 5'8" was tall. (Id.) Counsel then questioned Mary Ann's description of the gunman's cap, because Mary Ann described it as having no bill and Timothy Streett had described the shooter as wearing a cap with a small bill. (T.R. at 809, 852.) Defense counsel also elicited testimony that during at least part of the robbery, Mary Ann was farther away from the gunman than Jack was, and pointed out that Jack could not make a positive identification. (T.R. at 853-55.)

Robert Barnett was the final victim to testify. When reminded of the "seriousness of the charges" in the case and asked if there was any doubt Daniels was the person who shot him, Barnett responded, "I have no doubts. I know that he's the one." (T.R. at 899.) On cross-examination, defense counsel pointed out that Barnett made only a tentative identification when he first viewed an array of twelve to twenty mug shots several weeks after the incident. (T.R. at 883-84, 890.) Counsel also questioned Barnett in detail about how similar the photographs were, and whether anyone had suggested which photograph Barnett should identify as that of the perpetrator. (T.R. at 890-92.)

In addition to these victim eyewitness identifications, the State presented the testimony of Kevin Edmonds, who admitted that he accompanied Daniels on all four robberies. Edmonds testified that he, Donald Cox, and Daniels were together on the evening of January 16, 1978. (T.R. at 967-69.) Cox drove the trio to his house, went inside, and came back to the car with a gun. (T.R. at 970.) Cox handed the gun to Daniels, who responded, "Let's make some money." (Id.) Edmonds then recounted details of the crime spree that were consistent with the victims' accounts. (T.R. at 970-80.)

Edmonds testified that in each of the four robberies Daniels was the only one armed with a gun. (Id.) Edmonds stated that Daniels had the gun stuck down in his pants "[t]hrough a belt or something." (T.R. at 971.) As the two men approached McCloskey's home, Daniels tried to pull the gun out of his pants. (Id.) He instead pulled the gun's trigger and the bullet grazed his leg. (Id.) (McCloskey testified he heard a gunshot just before he was accosted. (T.R. at 756, 760-61.)) A later witness established that when Daniels was arrested eleven days after the series of crimes, he had a small abrasion on his left femur or thigh about three-quarters of an inch long, "like a scab had formed over it." (T.R. at 1065.)

Edmonds confessed to police on February 6, 1978, and was later released on bond. (T.R. at 986-87.) He entered into an interim plea agreement with the State on December 29, 1978. (T.R. at 990-91.) The agreement, which was admitted into evidence at Daniels' trial, provided that Edmonds would "testify credibly" for the State at the trials of Cox and Daniels. (Id.) In exchange for this testimony, the State agreed to forego prosecuting Edmonds for felony murder. (Id.)

Daniels' counsel cross-examined Edmonds at length about his release on a $350 bond despite a pending murder charge, and about his plea agreement with the State. (T.R. at 1002-11.) Counsel also asked about a statement Edmonds made to the police, before he named Daniels as the shooter, implicating Paul Rowley in the crimes. (T.R. at 1005-06.) Edmonds explained that Rowley "was pointing a finger at me, saying that I had did it, and I said, `How do you know [Rowley] didn't do it, since he knows so much about it?"` (T.R. at 1038.) Edmonds also testified that, after the robberies, Daniels gave the gun back to Cox who in turn gave it to Rowley. (T.R. at 1037.)

The jury found Daniels guilty on all six counts. It recommended a death sentence for the felony murder count, finding that the State proved an aggravating circumstance (that Daniels intentionally killed while committing the crime of robbery) and that any mitigating circumstances were outweighed by that aggravating circumstance. (T.R. at 302, 305.) The trial court imposed a death sentence. (T.R. at 320.) This Court affirmed the convictions and sentence on direct appeal. Daniels, 453 N.E.2d at 175.

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