Goodwin v. State
| Decision Date | 08 November 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 82A01-0112-CR-00483.,82A01-0112-CR-00483. |
| Citation | 777 N.E.2d 1216 |
| Parties | Chad Leroy GOODWIN, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Jon Aarstad, Vanderburgh County Public Defender Agency, Evansville, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Richard C. Webster, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Chad Leroy Goodwin appeals his conviction for Armed Robbery as a Class B felony.1 Goodwin argues that numerous references during his trial to other misconduct deprived him of his right to a fair trial. Goodwin also argues that the Prosecution's comments during closing argument deprived him of a fair trial. Because we conclude that introduction of improper character evidence in this case constituted fundamental error, we reverse Goodwin's conviction and remand for a new trial.
On August 5, 2001, Goodwin expressed to a number of friends who were staying at his house his desire to rob the Pantry store in Evansville, Indiana. Goodwin told Travis Kiselewski that he needed money so he was going to rob the Pantry. Goodwin also told Robert Ohning that he was going to rob the Pantry. In addition, Goodwin asked his then girlfriend, Amanda VanScyoc, where a deserted Pantry was located and if he could get a car ride to the store because he wanted to rob it. However, none of his friends provided him with a ride to the Pantry, so Goodwin had to go about robbing the store on his own.
At about 2:30 a.m. on August 6, 2001, Goodwin entered the Pantry and told Linda Alldredge, the only employee on duty in the store, "I want to rob you if that's all right." Tr. p. 3. Goodwin was wearing a light gray hooded-sweatshirt with a blue bandanna covering the lower part of his face and black electrical tape on his fingertips. Goodwin was carrying a big wooden stick, which was probably part of a pool cue. After Goodwin unsuccessfully tried to open the store's cash register, Alldredge opened it for him. Goodwin took between $50 and $60 from the register and a number of cigarette packs. Goodwin then became agitated when he could not resolve what to do with Alldredge. While Alldredge did not feel particularly intimidated by her robber, she followed his directions and positioned herself in the store's bathroom in order for Goodwin to make his escape. Upon hearing the store's door buzzer go off when Goodwin left the building, Alldredge got out of the bathroom and called 911 to report the robbery.
After the robbery was complete, Goodwin returned to his home where he bragged to VanScyoc, Ohning, and Kiselewski about the robbery. Goodwin showed them the stolen money and cigarettes and even gave out some of the cigarette packs. Goodwin described the robbery to Kiselewski telling him that:
[H]e wore a black hood, a bandanna. He told me he was on foot and bicycle. He used the fat end of a pool stick. He said he taped his fingertips with black electrical tape so no fingerprints. He told me he hit her in the head with the stick and dragged her in the bathroom and then took the money.... Threw the stick in the trash can and the hood I guess or whatever, the bandanna. He got rid of everything.
Tr. p. 60-61. Goodwin told a similar story to VanScyoc except in that version he locked the attendant in a freezer. Tr. p. 36.
Unfortunately for Goodwin, boasting to friends proved to be his undoing. Kiselewski was arrested later in the day on August 6 on an unrelated case, and he promptly told Officer Doug Hamner of the Evansville police department that he knew that Goodwin robbed the Pantry. When Officer Hamner went to Goodwin's house to investigate, Goodwin allowed him into the home. Officer Hamner observed two blue bandannas hanging on the wall of Goodwin's bedroom and a black pool cue case containing only the top half of a pool cue. Officer Hamner took Goodwin into custody. Later, Alldredge went to the police station and identified Goodwin out of a photographic array as the robber.
On August 9, 2001, the State charged Goodwin with armed robbery. Goodwin's jury trial was held on October 15-16, 2001. On October 16, 2001, the jury returned its verdict finding Goodwin guilty of armed robbery. On November 27, 2001, the trial court sentenced Goodwin to an executed sentence of ten years. This appeal ensued.
Goodwin asserts that a fair trial was impossible in his case because of the numerous references to his past misdeeds. In addition, Goodwin contends that he was deprived of a fair trial by comments made by the Prosecution during closing arguments asking the jury to return a guilty verdict in order to Tr. p. 170. Because we find the issue concerning the admission of character evidence to be dispositive, it is unnecessary for us to address Goodwin's argument surrounding the Prosecution's closing argument.
Goodwin argues that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial because improper character evidence was admitted. The admission or exclusion of evidence is a matter left to the sound discretion of the trial court, and we will reverse only upon abuse of that discretion. Craun v. State, 762 N.E.2d 230, 236 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), trans. denied. In determining admissibility of evidence, the reviewing court will only consider the evidence in favor of the trial court's ruling and unrefuted evidence in the defendant's favor. Dumes v. State, 718 N.E.2d 1171, 1174 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), supplemented on reh'g by 723 N.E.2d 460 (Ind.Ct.App.2000).
reh'g denied, trans. denied. The well-established rationale behind Evidence Rule 404(b) is that the jury is precluded from making the "forbidden inference" that the defendant had a criminal propensity and therefore engaged in the charged conduct. Thompson, 690 N.E.2d at 233.
In evaluating the admissibility of evidence under Evidence Rule 404(b), a trial court must (1) decide if the evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is relevant to a matter other than the defendant's propensity to commit the charged act; and (2) balance the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial effect pursuant to Indiana Evidence Rule 403. Craun, 762 N.E.2d at 236. Even if evidence of prior bad acts is admissible, its probative value must still be weighed against the unfair prejudice against a defendant that its admission may cause. Jones v. State, 708 N.E.2d 37, 40 (Ind.Ct.App.1999) (citing Ind. Evidence Rule 403), trans. denied. Evidence of prior, uncharged bad acts can be highly and unfairly prejudicial, requiring an accused to defend both against the charged crime and the alleged uncharged misconduct. Lay v. State, 659 N.E.2d 1005, 1009 (Ind.1995),reh'g denied.
In this case, Goodwin's criminal history was first presented to the jury during his cross-examination of VanScyoc. While asking VanScyoc why she did not take Goodwin seriously when he first announced that he planned to rob the Pantry, the following exchange occurred:
Tr. p. 47-48. Goodwin does not protest the admission of this evidence of his prior misdeeds; indeed, because he was the one that induced this response, he cannot claim that it warrants reversal. A party may not invite error, then later argue that the error supports reversal, because error invited by the complaining party is not reversible error. Kingery v. State, 659 N.E.2d 490, 495 (Ind.1995), reh'g denied. This type of invited error is not fundamental error. Id.
However, while VanScyoc's comment about Goodwin's prior misdeeds on cross-examination did not warrant reversal, it also did not open the door on redirect examination to further inquiry by the Prosecution into those misdeeds. Although otherwise inadmissible evidence under Rule 404(b) may become admissible where the defendant "opens the door" to questioning on that evidence, the "evidence relied upon to `open the door' must leave the trier of fact with a false or misleading impression of the facts related." Ortiz v. State, 741 N.E.2d 1203, 1208 (Ind.2001). In this case, the jury was not left with a false impression because VanScyoc's comment about Goodwin's prior bad acts straightforwardly summarized her knowledge of his past misdeeds, previous thefts that had never risen to the level of armed robbery. Therefore, the door was not open for the Prosecution to make further inquiry into Goodwin's character during redirect examination in order to rebut her testimony. In addition, while Indiana Evidence Rule 608(b) allows inquiry on cross-examination of a witness into specific instances of conduct of the person about whose character the witness is testifying, the rule does not authorize the party calling the witness to inquire into specific instances of conduct nor introduce extrinsic evidence during direct or redirect examination. 13 Robert Lowell Miller, Jr., INDIANA EVIDENCE § 608.205 at 148 (2d ed.1995).
Nevertheless, the Prosecution began its redirect examination of VanScyoc with a series of questions into Goodwin's prior misconduct:
To continue reading
Request your trial
- Sallee v. State, 55A04-0202-CR-67.
- Sallee v. State
-
Goodwin v. State
...A divided Court of Appeals held that its admission constituted fundamental error requiring reversal. Goodwin v. State, 777 N.E.2d 1216 (Ind.Ct.App.2002) (Baker, J., dissenting). Failure to object at trial customarily means that a party has not preserved any claim for appeal. The fundamental......