Hall v. State

Citation259 Ind. 131,284 N.E.2d 758
Decision Date21 July 1972
Docket NumberNo. 871S230,871S230
CourtSupreme Court of Indiana
PartiesGeorge Edward HALL, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

Malcolm G. Montgomery, Evansville, for appellant.

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Stephen D. Clase, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

DeBRULER, Justice.

The appellant was convicted by a jury in the Vanderburgh Superior Court the Honorable Morton W. Newman, presiding of theft of property of less than $100.00 in value, and automobile banditry. He was subsequently sentenced to one to five years on each count, the two sentences to run concurrently. On this appeal he raises four allegations of error in his trial, and requests this Court to grant him a new trial.

The appellant first alleges that the evidence against him on both charges was insufficient as a matter of law. We agree with the appellant that, as to his conviction for automobile banditry, the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law and therefore reverse that conviction. However, the evidence supporting the conviction for theft was sufficient and that conviction is affirmed.

In reviewing the allegation of insufficient evidence this Court will not weigh the evidence nor resolve questions of credibility of witnesses, but will look to that evidence and the reasonable inferences therefrom which support the verdict of the jury. Asher v. State (1969), 253 Ind. 25, 244 N.E.2d 89. The conviction will be affirmed if from that viewpoint there is evidence of probative value from which the trier of fact could reasonably infer that the appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Smith v. State (1970), Ind., 260 N.E.2d 558.

At the trial a service station attendant testified that while he was waiting on a customer, he went back into the office to get some change and saw two males inside looking up a number in the telephone book. The attendant got his change and went back outside to his customer, and when he walked back into the office he noticed that the two men had left and that money had been taken out of the cash register. He testified that he saw one of the men running off down the street while the other man walked away at a leisurely pace in another direction. The attendant called out to the man walking away and the man returned to the station for a short period, but slipped away unnoticed before the police arrived.

The police arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and while they were discussing the theft with the station attendant the appellant drove up in an automobile and stopped at a nearby intersection. The attendant pointed him out to the police as one of the men who had been in the office. Another station attendant testified that he had known the appellant for some time prior to the night in question and identified him as being present in the office just prior to the time that the money was found missing. Pursuant to the information received from the service station attendants, the officers drove after the appellant. One of the officers testified that:

'A. Well, when we went after him, he turned left onto Denby from Lincoln and that's when we put the red light on him and he went a half a block and turned right into the alley going east and we had the red light and siren on at the time and he crossed Bedford and Grand simultaneously and we were in pursuit and he hit a telephone pole off and hit a garage and kept on going and at Kentucky he pulled out and turned right on Kentucky. When we got to Kentucky, a semi-trailer truck stopped our path.'

The officer testified that the vehicle was discovered some ten to fifteen minutes later in another alley. Two other officers who were converging on the scene apprehended the appellant a short distance away. He was placed under arrest at that time and searched, and the officer testified that he found over one hundred dollars in his pockets.

The evidence concerning the theft is sufficient to sustain the conviction. While there is no direct evidence as to which one of the two men in the service station actually took the money, events which transpired subsequent to the taking do provide adequate circumstantial evidence to support the conviction. The evidence indicates that whereas the appellant's companion walked away from the station and voluntarily returned for a short time before slipping away, the appellant fled on foot from the station. Later, when the appellant drove by the scene, he attempted to flee from the police as described above. Furthermore, after wrecking the automobile he abandoned it and fled through several yards before he was captured. When captured he was found in possession of over one hundred dollars in currency. On this evidence the jury could reasonably infer that the appellant was guilty of the theft beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, we agree with the appellant that the evidence in this case was insufficient to support his conviction for automobile banditry, and therefore reverse the appellant's conviction for automobile banditry. The statute authorizing this conviction reads, in relevant portion, as follows:

'If any person or persons shall commit or attempt to commit a felony, having at the time on or near the premises where such felony is attempted or committed, an automobile . . . by the use of which he or they escape, or attempt to escape or intend to escape . . . he, they and each of them shall be guilty of automobile banditry. . . .' I.C.1971, 35--12--2--1, being Burns § 10--4710.

The evidence in this case indicates that one or both of two men in a service station office took money from the cash register and fled. The two men left in different directions, one walking and the other running. After the police had arrived on the scene, and while they were investigating the incident, the appellant, who had run away from the station, drove toward the station at a normal rate of speed and stopped at a stop sign. He looked over toward the station and was identified by the attendants as one of the men who had been in the station earlier. The police drove out to intercept him, and at that time, the appellant made a right turn and took off in a burst of speed. The chase described above followed and the appellant was apprehended a short time later.

In this case we think that the inference needed to sustain this conviction can only be based on conjecture, and, therefore, the conviction must be reversed. As Judge Landis stated in Roark v. State (1955), 234 Ind. 615, 130 N.E.2d 326:

'It was essential to a conviction in this case for the state to prove that appellants, at the time the alleged felony was committed, had on or near the premises an automobile which they intended to use, or did use, in an attempt to escape or in which they did escape. As Judge Bobbitt said in Todd v. State, 1951, supra, 230 Ind. 85, 101 N.E.2d 922, 924, 'The mere possibility that appellant may have had an automobile on or near the premises . . . for the purpose of escaping . . . will not sustain an inference upon which such possibility can be established as a fact." 234 Ind. at 620--621, 130 N.E.2d at 328.

Where the appellant was seen running off on foot from a service station and later was identified when he drove up and stopped at the intersection near the station, it would be mere conjecture to infer that he had an automobile parked near the service station which, at the time he snatched the money from the cash register, he intended to use to make his escape. Freeman v. State (1967), 249 Ind. 211, 231 N.E.2d 246; Todd v. State (1951), 230 Ind. 85, 101 N.E.2d 922. In cases in which convictions under this statute have been affirmed the evidence has indicated an intent to use the automobile to escape at the time the crime was committed. Burnett v. State (1970), Ind., 255 N.E.2d 529; Metz v. State (1963), 244 Ind. 536, 194 N.E.2d 617; Lenovich v. State (1958), 238 Ind. 359, 150 N.E.2d 884; McCoy v. State (1958), 237 Ind. 654, 148 N.E.2d 190; Barrick v. State (1954), 233 Ind....

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  • Ballard v. State
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Indiana
    • April 18, 1974
    ...that Opal (the declarant) testified at trial, positively identified Ballard, and was subjected to cross-examination. See, Hall v. State, (1972) Ind., 284 N.E.2d 758 (analogous facts); Skaggs v. State, (1973) Ind., 293 N.E.2d 781; Wolfe v. State, (1928) 200 Ind. 557, 159 N.E. 545; Carlile v.......
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    • November 12, 1974
    ...that Opal (the declarant) testified at trial, positively identified Ballard, and was subjected to cross-examination. See, Hall v. State, (1972) Ind., 284 N.E.2d 758 (analogous facts); Skaggs v. State, (1973) Ind., 293 N.E.2d 781; Wolfe v. State, (1928) 200 Ind. 557, 159 N.E. 545; Carlile v.......
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    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Indiana
    • September 22, 1972
    ...are permitted only to view that evidence, and the reasonable inference to be drawn therefrom, which support the judgment. Hall v. State (1972), Ind., 284 N.E.2d 758, Asher v. State (1969), 253 Ind. 25, 244 N.E.2d 89. If that evidence and the permissible inferences which may be drawn meet th......
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