Evans v. State

Decision Date08 September 1992
Docket NumberNo. 49S00-8704-CR-453,49S00-8704-CR-453
PartiesCharles EVANS, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

DeBRULER, Justice.

Appellant Evans was convicted in a jury trial of five offenses, namely, confinement, two rapes, intentional murder and felony murder. In a second phase of the trial, the issues presented by a death sentence count were tried by jury and the jury recommended the death sentence. In a third phase of the trial, the capital sentencing hearing before the judge occurred. In a combined sentencing order, the trial judge ordered consecutive sentences of 20 years, 50 years, and 50 years for the three felonies and the death sentence for felony murder. No separate sentence for intentional murder was given. On appeal this Court affirmed the convictions and the sentences. Evans v. State (1990), Ind., 563 N.E.2d 1251. Thereafter a petition for rehearing was filed in this Court on behalf of appellant Evans. Such petition for rehearing is now granted for the purpose of reconsidering the propriety of the death sentence.

The capital part of the sentencing order of the trial court was based upon two aggravating circumstances and a single mitigating circumstance, as follows:

6. The State proved beyond a reasonable doubt the following aggravating circumstances with regard to Count IV, Felony Murder, to-wit: The Defendant ... did intentionally kill Darlene Hendrick by stabbing ... while committing rape ... and ... did intentionally kill Darlene Hendrick by stabbing ... while committing ... deviate conduct.

9. The Court finds it was a mitigating circumstance that defendant ... was imbibing alcoholic beverages at the time of the crime.

17. The Court finds that the aggravating circumstances ... in paragraph six ... outweigh the mitigating circumstances set out in paragraph nine ... and ... Charles G. Evans shall suffer the penalty of death for ... felony murder....

The gravamen of the offenses was that on October 3, 1985, appellant, age 26, met the victim, Darlene Hendrick, age 20, at a bus stop in downtown Indianapolis. They bought whiskey and drank it in an abandoned building, where appellant raped her at knife point. They proceeded to a bar together and then returned to the building where appellant forced her to perform oral sex and again raped her. He then stabbed her 45 times, killing her. He then removed small items from her purse, cut her hair, and applied lipstick to her. He pulled her body from the building. He then went to a nearby phone booth, where he called the police and awaited their arrival. He thereafter gave a full confession, and later testified during the sentencing phase before the jury at which time he admitted each criminal act and described his state of mind at the time of the acts.

At the first phase of the trial the defense was insanity. Psychiatric testimony was heard. At the sentencing phase before the jury many witnesses, including one psychiatrist, testified for the defense and many medical and police records were introduced. A complex and detailed chronicle of appellant's background from birth was presented. The state rested upon the evidence given at the first phase, which was incorporated at both sentencing phases.

Appellant's physical development and make-up bear upon the propriety of the sentence. Appellant is a black male of small stature, 5 ft. 4 inches tall, and weighing 120 lbs. He was born 4-14-59, in a premature birth. His testicles did not descend into their normal position in the scrotum, and his father absolutely refused to permit him to have a simple operation to remedy this condition. At age 15, after his father had died, and after being referred to a community mental health facility by school authorities, his mother permitted the operation to be performed. Through the age of 15 appellant was subjected to constant ridicule. The injury from this ridicule was a major factor in producing appellant's psychiatric disorder and is the product of parental neglect. The psychiatrist witnesses, while finding no psychosis, uniformly diagnosed the resulting disorder and its bearing upon appellant's behavior. The sentencing court was in error in failing to accord this background mitigating value in the death sentencing process. It is entitled to substantial weight.

Having no history of juvenile arrests, made to leave the family home by his mother, and after being discharged from the military because of unsuitability, appellant developed at age 18 a bizarre pattern of public conduct as a means of dealing with his psychiatric disorder. Having no home, unable to maintain a job, in a filthy and disheveled state and under the influence of alcohol and drugs, he began to repeatedly show up at the police station and demand to be arrested so as to prevent him from carrying out a desire to...

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19 cases
  • Smith v. Farley
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of Indiana
    • 31 Octubre 1994
    ...v. State, 620 N.E.2d 17 (Ind.1993); James v. State, 613 N.E.2d 15 (Ind.1993); Bellmore v. State, 602 N.E.2d 111 (Ind.1992); Evans v. State, 598 N.E.2d 516 (Ind.1992); Castor v. State, 587 N.E.2d 1281 (Ind.1992); Landress v. State, 600 N.E.2d 938 (Ind.1992) (aff'd on remand, 638 N.E.2d 787 (......
  • Bivins v. State, 06S00-9105-DP-00401
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Indiana
    • 4 Noviembre 1994
    .......         In Evans v. State (1991), Ind., 571 N.E.2d 1231, this Court stated: . The general rule is that a criminal defendant is not to appear before the jury in bonds ......
  • Harrison v. State, 65S00-9105-DP-380
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Indiana
    • 4 Enero 1995
    ...... Evans v. State (1986), Ind., 489 N.E.2d 942, 948. .         Here, the reason the continuance was requested was to permit the requested defense ......
  • Bowen v. State
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Arkansas
    • 20 Noviembre 1995
    ...of a jury's failure to consider mental illness of the accused. E.g., Magwood v. Smith, 791 F.2d 1438 (11th Cir.1986); Evans v. State, 598 N.E.2d 516 (Ind.1992). His argument that the jury failed even to consider the evidence of his mental illness is based on the fact that the jury left Form......
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