Davis v. State

• Decision Date: 01 September 1992
• Docket Number: No. 49S00-8705-CR-510,49S00-8705-CR-510
• Parties: Greagree DAVIS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 1041

598 N.E.2d 1041

Greagree DAVIS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 49S00-8705-CR-510.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Sept. 1, 1992.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 4, 1993.

Alex R. Voils, Jr., J. Murray Clark, Clark Quinn Moses Clark, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Joseph N. Stevenson, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

DICKSON, Justice.

The defendant Greagree Davis was charged with Class B Burglary, Class B Criminal Confinement, Class A Rape, Class A Criminal Deviate Conduct, and Murder. The State sought imposition of the death penalty. The jury found the defendant not guilty of Criminal Deviate Conduct, but guilty on all other counts. The jurors were unable to agree upon a recommendation regarding the death penalty. The trial court, following a further sentencing hearing, ordered the death penalty. This direct appeal presents the following issues: 1) sufficiency of evidence; 2) excusal of prospective jurors; 3) limitation on voir dire of prospective jurors; 4) admissibility of past misconduct evidence; 5) admissibility of forensic evidence; 6) admissibility of hearsay evidence; 7) admissibility of telephone conversation testimony; 8) sentencing final argument; and 9) ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm the conviction and the sentence.

1. Sufficiency of Evidence

The defendant makes a general challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the conviction and imposition of the death penalty. Specifically, he contends that there is insufficient evidence to prove a) that he had the requisite intent to commit a felony at the time he broke and entered the victim's house; b) that the defendant and the victim were not engaged in consensual sexual practices; and c) that the killing was not accidental.

In addressing the issue of sufficiency of evidence, we will affirm the conviction if, considering only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict, without weighing evidence or assessing witness credibility, a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Case v. State (1984), Ind., 458 N.E.2d 223; Loyd v. State (1980), 272 Ind. 404, 398 N.E.2d 1260, cert. denied, 449 U.S. 881, 101 S.Ct. 231, 66 L.Ed.2d 105. Where the verdict rests on circumstantial evidence, this Court need not find that the circumstantial evidence is adequate to overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence but only that inferences may reasonably be drawn to enable the jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See, Robinson v. State (1989), Ind., 541 N.E.2d 531, 532; Myers v. State (1989), Ind., 532 N.E.2d 1158, 1159; Mills v. State (1987), Ind., 512 N.E.2d 846, 848; and Lovell v. State (1985), Ind., 474 N.E.2d 505, 507.

The evidence supporting the verdict is substantial. The defendant was acquainted with the victim's former roommate and had visited the victim's residence on many occasions during the summer of 1983. The defendant told the roommate several times of his sexual interest in the victim. About 7:00 p.m. on April 2, 1984, the defendant knocked on the door of the victim's neighbors, asking them whether the victim lived there, and was told that that she did not. The defendant then left. Sometime after 9:00 p.m., the victim arrived home and telephoned her brother. She told him that someone had broken into her residence through a back window and had removed all the light bulbs. The victim believed that the intruder might still be present. Her brother told her to leave immediately, and assumed that she would come to his residence. When she failed to arrive as he expected, he reported the incident to the police. The responding officer did not find the victim at her residence, but found a broken window. Later investigations discovered the keys to her new car on the porch and the missing light bulbs in a waste paper basket.

On April 4, a police officer found the gagged and substantially disrobed body of the victim at the top of a ramp under a bridge near her residence. An autopsy revealed chipped teeth; broken fingernails; abrasions on the hands, chin, and knees; multiple bruises to the lips and gums; and 113 stab or puncture wounds. The stab wounds were caused by two different knives. The victim's neck evidenced manual strangulation. Seminal fluid was found in her vaginal cavity. The cause of her death was determined to be multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.

The defendant told police investigators that he broke the back window of the victim's home, entered it, unscrewed the light bulbs, waited, and hid behind a door when she returned home and made a phone call. When she walked towards the door, he got behind her. With the victim's hands tied in front of her, he took her to nearby railroad tracks, under a bridge, and up a slope. At some point he gagged her. The defendant told police that he stabbed her. He described the disposal of the knife, and took police to the creek where he had dropped it while trying to wash it off. Two knives were discovered at this location. One was the victim's pastry knife and the other was a chef's knife from the victim's kitchen knife set. The defendant also admitted taking the victim's watch and later selling it.

Serological analysis of blood and seminal fluid obtained from the victim indicated characteristics representing less than one percent of the general population. The defendant's blood test results placed him within this category.

In a burglary case, evidence of a defendant's actions after breaking is relevant in determining his intent at the time of entry. Smith v. State (1971), 256 Ind. 603, 271 N.E.2d 133. Here, the defendant's removal of light bulbs to avoid detection and his lying in wait for the victim provide evidence of his intent to confine the victim upon her arrival. The likelihood that a guest does not normally break into a friend's home and conceal himself refutes the claim that on this occasion the defendant was a welcome visitor in the victim's home. The evidence is sufficient to enable a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant guilty of burglary beyond a reasonable doubt.

Regarding the criminal confinement and rape, the defendant presented evidence that the victim had previously enjoyed bondage during sexual intercourse with others. For this reason, he contends that the evidence is insufficient to prove that the confinement and intercourse were not consensual and that the killing was not accidental. We disagree.

As a question of fact, the issue of consent is for the jury. Roland v. State (1986), Ind., 501 N.E.2d 1034. The intent to kill can be inferred from the intentional use of a deadly weapon in a manner likely to cause death. Burse v. State (1987), Ind., 515 N.E.2d 1383; Mihay v. State (1987), Ind., 515 N.E.2d 498.

The evidence shows that the defendant concealed himself in order to attack or abduct the victim. The victim sounded disturbed and apprehensive when she called her brother. The defendant took the victim to an isolated area. Her hands were bound. She told him that she wanted to go home. She was gagged. Eleven stab wounds were inflicted before her death. The massive brutal injuries to the head, face, mouth, hands, chest, and abdomen of the victim clearly contradict the claim of consensual confinement and bondage. Sexual intercourse is proven by the presence in the victim's vaginal cavity of seminal fluid which, to an extremely high degree of probability, came from the defendant. From the totality of evidence the jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of Criminal Confinement, Rape, and Murder as charged.

Regarding imposition of the death penalty, the defendant makes only the general assertion of insufficiency of evidence (Brief of Appellant at 42), and does not present any separate argument concerning the evidence or findings as to aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The court's judgment ordering imposition of the death penalty expressly concluded that the defendant did intentionally kill the victim during the course of committing the burglary, criminally confining and raping her after lying in wait. These findings encompass the statutory aggravating circumstances enumerated in subsections (1) and (3) of Indiana Code Section 35-50-2-9(b). The court expressly found no mitigating factors that could be considered, and that to the extent that any mitigating factors might exist, they were outweighed by the aggravating factors.

The evidence is sufficient to support the trial court's finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant intentionally killed the victim while committing Burglary and Rape, and that the defendant committed the murder by lying in wait. Furthermore, the defendant does not demonstrate any inadequacy in the trial court's consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, or in its imposition of the death penalty in accordance with the Indiana Code. We find no error on the issue of sufficiency of the evidence to support the imposition of the death penalty.

2. Excusal of Prospective Jurors

The defendant claims that the trial court erred in excusing for cause two prospective jurors for their opposition to the death penalty. He contends that the jurors, while equivocating on the imposition of the death penalty, stated they could follow the law and, therefore, should not have been excused.

The standard to be applied is found in Adams v. Texas (1980), 448 U.S. 38, 44, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L.Ed.2d 581, 589, and expressly approved in Wainwright v. Witt (1985), 469 U.S. 412, 420, 105 S.Ct. 844, 850, 83 L.Ed.2d 841, 849:

[A] juror may not be challenged for cause based on his views about capital punishment unless those views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath. The State may insist, however that jurors...