Fraylon v. State
| Decision Date | 25 August 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 45S00-8803-CR-356,45S00-8803-CR-356 |
| Citation | 542 N.E.2d 559 |
| Parties | Stephen FRAYLON, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Daniel L. Bella, Appellate Division, Crown Point, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Wendy Stone Messer, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
A jury trial resulted in the conviction of appellant of Robbery, a Class A felony, and being an habitual offender. He was sentenced to thirty-five (35) years enhanced by thirty (30) years by reason of his habitual offender status.
The facts are: On August 26, 1985 at approximately 2:00 p.m., Elizabeth Moore was behind a display case in Woodmar Jewelers in Hammond, Indiana cleaning a tray of diamond earrings. Two black men entered the store, and one of them ordered her to put the tray of earrings in a bag he was carrying. The other man, later identified as appellant, was holding a black handgun. Moore called out for "Fred" Messman, the owner of the store. The man with the gun proceeded toward the back of the store where he met Messman, who was responding to Moore's call. When Messman saw the gunman, he turned toward the safe and was shot several times, wounding him in the face, arm, chest, and back. Jane Sullivan, Messman's daughter, also was working in the store at the time of the robbery and activated a silent alarm button. Following the shooting, the robbers left hurriedly.
Joseph Spriggs, who testified that he was employed by the Indiana State Police as a weighmaster, had just entered his automobile near the jewelry store when he observed two black males running down the street. He watched the men run to a gangway and enter. He noted that one of the men was carrying what appeared to be a briefcase and that one of them was carrying a pistol. He continued to watch the gangway and shortly saw a white Camaro emerge with a lady driving. No one else was visible in the car. Spriggs wrote down the license number of the car. Spriggs then went to the store and aided the victims. After hospitalization and several operations, Messman is recovering from his wounds.
Allen Smith testified that he is employed by Fayva Shoes near the Woodmar Jewelry Store. He stated that just prior to the robbery of the jewelry store, two black men, one of whom he identified as appellant, were in his store and that he heard one of them say, "She's at the jewelry store, let's go to the jewelry store." He testified that one of them was carrying a blue nylon bag with a red, white, and blue strap. A bag of similar description was later recovered from the white Camaro which had been observed by Spriggs.
Barbara Brown, the driver of the white Camaro, testified that appellant was her boyfriend, that the Camaro was registered in her mother's name, and that she used her mother's car to take appellant and a friend of his to the Woodmar Shopping Center on the day of the robbery. She said she remained in the car in a nearby parking lot and that appellant's friend left the car first, saying he was going to the Fayva Shoe Store. Shortly thereafter, appellant left and presumably joined his friend. She said that after ten or fifteen minutes she heard gunshots and appellant and his friend came running toward the car, appellant carrying a black handgun and a black tray. The two men got into the car and both lay down and directed Brown to drive away. As she was driving, she heard the friend ask appellant, "Did you shoot him?" To which appellant responded, "Yes, I think I killed him."
Later, with Brown's consent, the police searched the automobile and found a blue tote bag fitting the description of the bag carried by the robbers during the robbery. Brown was arrested for assisting a criminal, a Class C felony, and later entered into a plea agreement calling for her to cooperate in the prosecution of appellant.
Jack Schafner testified that he is a pawnbroker with his shop located on Broadway in Gary, Indiana. He testified he purchased six to eight pairs of earrings for $200 from appellant in the early part of September 1985. Later, the earrings were identified by Messman and returned to him.
Appellant claims the trial court erred in refusing to allow fees for attendance of out-of-state witnesses and in refusing his request for a continuance when out-of-state alibi witnesses were not returned to Indiana to testify on appellant's behalf. Shortly after charges were filed against appellant, an alibi notice was filed. Hearing was held before the court, at which time counsel for appellant moved that the court provide public funds to obtain three alibi witnesses--Delphine Anderson, Kim Anderson, and Sherry Anderson--from St. Louis, Missouri.
The trial court found at that time that the witnesses should be subpoenaed and...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wade v. State, 49A02-9806-CR-538.
...589, 592 (Ind.1992); see also Wolfe v. State, 562 N.E.2d 414 (Ind.1990); Neal v. State, 522 N.E.2d 912 (Ind.1988); and Fraylon v. State, 542 N.E.2d 559 (Ind.1989). In McGowan, the Court found that a photo array containing the defendant's photo was not impermissibly suggestive where each pho......
-
McGowan v. State
...nor impermissibly suggestive. Wolfe v. State (1990), Ind., 562 N.E.2d 414; Neal v. State (1988), Ind., 522 N.E.2d 912; Fraylon v. State (1989), Ind., 542 N.E.2d 559. Although the persons pictured in the array containing appellant's photograph were of varying ages, the difference was slight ......
-
Webster v. State
...suggestive if it raises a substantial likelihood of misidentification given the totality of the circumstances. Fraylon v. State (1989), Ind., 542 N.E.2d 559, 562. The mere variation in the appearance of individuals in an array does not render an array impermissibly suggestive. Id.; see also......
-
Hampton v. State
...variation in the appearance of individuals in an array does not automatically render the array impermissively suggestive. Fraylon v. State (1989), Ind., 542 N.E.2d 559. A review of the photos at issue here shows that the East Chicago Police Department did a commendable job of assembling a n......