Grider v. State, 2--774A169

• Decision Date: 10 December 1974
• Docket Number: No. 2--774A169,2--774A169
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court
• Parties: Gary W. GRIDER, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

Page 668

319 N.E.2d 668

162 Ind.App. 354

Gary W. GRIDER, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 2--774A169.

Court of Appeals of Indiana, First District.

Dec. 10, 1974.

Herbert W. Johnson, Jr., White & Johnson, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Robert E. Dwyer, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

LYBROOK, Judge.

Defendant-appellant Grider appeals from a conviction of first degree burglary raising a single issue for review--whether there was sufficient evidence to support the trial court's finding. We affirm.

The evidence most favorable to appellee reveals that on the evening of September 19, 1973, three members of the Indianapolis Police Department responded to a radio call which reported two male prowlers in the vicinity of 838 North Gray Street. As the officers approached the residence, they heard the sound of breaking glass and observed a man wearing a blue shirt running from the side door of the house. The fleeing suspect ran within six to ten feet of two of the officers and was pursued without success. At trial, both officers identified the appellant as being the person they observed running from the house.

Upon inspection of the premises at 838 North Gray Street, it was discovered that a pane of glass in one of the doors had been broken, and the door forced open. Dresser drawers had been opened, and the bedroom appeared to have been ransacked. It was later learned, however, that nothing had been taken.

One of the investigating officers, Sergeant Campbell, broadcast a description of the suspect over the police radio. Shortly thereafter Officer Goff, also of the Indianapolis Police Department, observed a subject matching the broadcast description in Persley's Grill, a restaurant approximately a mile and a half from the burglarized premise. Goff detained the subject, Grider, until the two officers who had seen the man flee earlier arrived and identified Grider as that person. Grider was arrested and charged with first degree burglary. At the time of his arrest Grider was wearing a blue shirt.

In reviewing Grider's conviction to determine whether it was supported by sufficient evidence, we are mindful that this court can neither weigh the evidence nor resolve questions of witness' credibility. Rather, we may consider only that evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom which support the trial court's verdict. If, from that viewpoint, there is substantial evidence of probative value to establish each material element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, the verdict will not be disturbed.

In the case at bar, it matters not that the evidence supporting Grider's conviction was circumstantial in nature, for it is well settled that a criminal conviction may be sustained on circumstantial evidence alone. See Wright v. State (1974), Ind.App., 316 N.E.2d 385 and cases cited therein. However, as stated by our Supreme Court in Easton v. State (1967), 248 Ind. 338, 228 N.E.2d 6:

'Where the evidence of an issuable fact is wholly circumstantial in nature the evidence must be so conclusive and compelling in character that it excludes every reasonable hypothesis of the presumption of innocence of the...