Flowers v. State
| Decision Date | 23 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-CR-322 |
| Citation | 154 N.E.3d 854 |
| Parties | Bryan L. FLOWERS, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Attorneys for Appellant, Todd L. Sallee, Brooke N. Russell, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Attorneys for Appellee, Curtis T. Hill, Jr., Attorney General of Indiana, Evan Matthew Comer, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana.
[1] Bryan Flowers ("Flowers") appeals his conviction by jury of murder1 and the sentence imposed thereon. He argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it: (1) granted the State's motion to continue Flowers' trial; (2) admitted evidence; and (3) ordered Flowers to pay $5,000 in restitution; and that (4) his eighty-five (85) year sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and his character. Concluding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion and that Flowers' sentence is not inappropriate, we affirm Flowers' conviction and sentence.
[2] We affirm.
[3] In the early morning hours of December 23, 2017, Flowers, Javon Rolan ("Rolan"), and Deandre Voss ("Voss") were at a party at an upstairs apartment in building 2A at the Villages of Hanna ("the Villages of Hanna") in Fort Wayne. Rolan had known Flowers for nine years, and Flowers was the father of Rolan's sister's child. Voss was a friend of Rolan's family. Flowers and Voss also knew each other. At some point, Voss and Flowers left the party at the same time.
[4] Shortly thereafter, Rolan heard loud voices coming from outside the apartment. Rolan left the party and went downstairs, where he saw Voss and Flowers arguing at the entrance to building 2A. As the argument between Voss and Flowers became more heated, Rolan saw Flowers pull out the Glock 9 that Flowers regularly carried. Voss, who had a beer bottle in each hand and who had kept his hands at his sides throughout the verbal altercation, told Flowers, "I got guns too" as he turned and walked away from the confrontation. (Tr. Vol. 2 at 152). When he got to the end of the sidewalk, Voss turned around and walked back to Flowers, and again said, "I got guns too." (Tr. Vol. 2 at 153). Rolan attempted to intervene and told Voss to go home and Flowers to go back to the party. However, Flowers pulled the chamber back on his gun and loaded it before shooting Voss in the face. Voss fell to the ground, and Rolan ran back to the party. Flowers walked back into the apartment building and down the hallway. He exited the building through a rear door.
[5] At approximately 4:00 a.m., an anonymous caller contacted 911 and reported hearing a shot fired and seeing a man on the ground in front of building 2A at the Villages of Hanna. Fort Wayne Police Department officers were dispatched to the scene and found a critically injured Voss lying on the ground. Voss died before medical personnel arrived. Fort Wayne Police Department officers searched the scene of the shooting and found a spent shell casing and two beer bottles near Voss' body.
[6] Shortly thereafter, Fort Wayne Police Department Sergeant Thomas Strausborger ("Sergeant Strausborger") arrived at the scene to investigate the homicide. Sergeant Strausborger, who was also the security director for Millenia Companies, which owns the Villages of Hanna, was familiar with the Villages of Hanna's security camera system. Specifically, Sergeant Strausborger understood how the security camera system worked and had access to all of its recordings. He knew that there was a camera focused on the front door of building 2A, and he accessed footage from the security camera that had recorded the confrontation between Flowers and Voss as well as the shooting.
[7] Sergeant Strausborger watched the video of the confrontation, which showed Flowers, Voss, and Rolan. Flowers was standing in the doorway of building 2A, Voss was standing face to face with Flowers, and Rolan, who was shorter than both Flowers and Voss, was attempting to intervene in the altercation. Flowers brought his arm up and pointed the gun in his hand at Voss' face. A few seconds later, Voss fell to the ground. Because Flowers was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and there was no clear view of his face, Sergeant Srausborger was not able to immediately identify the shooter.
[8] Sergeant Strausborger also accessed video footage of Flowers after the shooting. The videos, which were taken from several different buildings at the Villages of Hanna, showed Flowers running through the apartment complex to his van. In one video, Flowers raised his hand and made a gesture with his index and pinky fingers up and his middle and ring fingers down with his thumb. In another video, Flowers, who was smoking a cigarette, tossed the cigarette butt on the ground. A police officer later retrieved the cigarette butt, which tested positive for Flowers' DNA. Another video showed Flowers getting into his van in the parking lot and driving away with his lights off. Additional videos showed Flowers driving around the Villages of Hanna and parking in different areas of the complex as emergency vehicles responded to the scene of the shooting. Flowers returned his van to its original parking place at approximately 7:30 a.m. After viewing the videos from the Villages of Hanna's security system, Sergeant Strausborger preserved and saved them.
[9] Later that day, Fort Wayne Police Department officers towed Flowers' van. Police officers also questioned but did not arrest Flowers. A few days later, Flowers told Rolan that the police had questioned Flowers about the shooting. Flowers asked Rolan if the police had questioned him. Rolan responded that he had not been questioned, and Flowers told Rolan to "keep [his] mouth closed[.]" (Tr. Vol. 2 at 161). Flowers also told Rolan that if the police questioned him to say that he had heard a shot while he was at the party but had not seen anything. Flowers also told Rolan that the surveillance cameras at the Villages of Hanna were inoperable.
[10] A few months after the shooting, Rolan was arrested for domestic battery and resisting law enforcement. At the time of his arrest, Fort Wayne Police Department Detective Engelman ("Detective Engelman") questioned Rolan about Voss' murder. Rolan initially followed Flowers' instructions and told the detective that he had heard a shot but had not seen anything. When Detective Engelman told Rolan that a surveillance camera had recorded the confrontation between Flowers and Voss, Rolan admitted that he had seen Flowers shoot Voss in the face.
[11] On April 20, 2018, the State charged Flowers with murder and an enhancement for the use of a firearm during the murder. Four days later, on April 24, 2018, the trial court appointed a public defender to represent Flowers. The public defender filed an appearance on May 4, 2018. Five days later, after a hearing, the trial court scheduled Flowers' trial for September 25-27, 2018. The trial court's order specifically noted that Flowers "accept[ed] dates." (Chronological Case Summary, May 9, 2018 entry).
[12] However, on May 14, 2018, the trial court received a handwritten letter from Flowers stating that he wanted to exercise his right to a speedy trial. The letter was filed on the trial court's CCS as "correspondence to/from Court." (Chronological Case Summary, May 16, 2018 entry). On May 22, 2018, the State filed a motion to continue the trial until the end of October 2018. In the motion, the prosecutor explained that he was acting as a special prosecutor in a murder case in another county from October 1 through October 5, 2018 and that he should have reserved the week before trial for pre-trial motions and matters in that case. The trial court scheduled a hearing on the State's motion to continue for May 30, 2018.
[13] Two days after the State had filed its motion to continue, on May 24, 2018, Flowers sent the trial court another handwritten letter requesting a speedy trial. According to Flowers, he was a "complete[ly] in[nocent] man being detained in Allen County Jail." (Chronological Case Summary, May 24, 2018 entry). This letter was also filed as "correspondence to/from Court." (Chronological Case Summary, May 24, 2018 entry). A separate entry in the CCS states that the trial court sent Flowers' correspondence to Flowers' counsel of record.
[14] At the beginning of the May 30 hearing on the State's motion to continue, Flowers asked the trial court if he could speak and pointed out that he had sent the trial court two written requests for a speedy trial. The trial court responded that it had received his requests, and defense counsel told the trial court that defense counsel had had "two (2) conversations with Mr. Flowers concerning the issue, the concept of a speedy trial." (Supplemental Transcript of May 30, 2018 Hearing, Vol. 2 at 7). Defense counsel further explained as follows:
[T]here are times when ... as a strategy ... it is to the advantage of Defense to ask for a speedy trial.... [A]nd there are times when strategy dictates the necessity of preparation so that we are properly prepared for trial. I don't view this as a case where a speedy trial is an appropriate strategy.... I got last week ... twenty (20) discovery discs ... that involve surveillance, reports, other matters.... I spent this weekend looking at two (2) of them and that took me about six (6) hours. So, I'm anticipating that to get through these various discs is gonna require some exponential amount of time.... [The] police reports will be forthcoming.... There are quite a number of witnesses the State has listed...
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