Harris v. State
| Decision Date | 22 July 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 64S00-9110-CR-861,64S00-9110-CR-861 |
| Citation | 617 N.E.2d 912 |
| Parties | Ronald Jeffrey HARRIS, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
John E. Martin, Law Offices of James V. Tsoutsouris, Valparaiso, for appellant.
Pamela Carter, Atty. Gen., Arthur Thaddeus Perry, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.
A trial by jury resulted in the conviction of appellant of Felony Murder, Aiding and Inducing or Causing Murder, a Class A felony, and Assisting a Criminal, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced appellant to an enhanced eight (8) year term for assisting a criminal. The court merged the charge of aiding and inducing or causing murder into the murder conviction. He gave the maximum sentence on the murder conviction of sixty (60) years.
The facts are: Portage police Sergeant Osberg found filling station attendant Harchand Dahliwahl dead in the Hudson Oil gas station in Portage. Dahliwahl had suffered a massive head wound determined to have been caused by a blast from a shotgun. Approximately $327 was missing from the station. During their investigation, police learned that Chris Peterson was involved in the robbery and killing. Police obtained a search warrant and recovered a sawed-off shotgun in Peterson's automobile.
Following Peterson's arrest, his girlfriend, Marpessa Chase, informed police that Ronald Harris, appellant in this case, was a friend of Peterson. Police then interviewed appellant on two separate occasions. Harris denied having anything to do with the shooting. He also denied the shootings in a taped telephone conversation with Chase. During an interview with FBI agents, appellant told them that he and Peterson "were driving around drinking and snorting cocaine when Peterson went in and shot a man."
Following approximately six hours of interrogation, appellant made a statement to the officers wherein he acknowledged that he had known Peterson for many years and that following Peterson's service in the Marine Corps and his return home they renewed their friendship. He stated he knew that Peterson possessed a sawed-off shotgun and that he carried it with him.
Just prior to the killing, they were driving around using cocaine, marijuana and drinking beer and Peterson became very angry because another driver cut him off in traffic. Shortly thereafter, while Peterson was still quite angry, they stopped at the filling station and Peterson entered and shot the attendant.
Appellant claimed that after the shooting Peterson returned to the vehicle and that he yelled at him and asked him why he had done such a thing. Appellant claimed he told Peterson he wanted nothing to do with the money Peterson obtained in the robbery and that he became frightened of Peterson fearing that he might kill him.
The police then investigated a very similar shooting which had occurred in Cedar Lake, Indiana. Appellant admitted being with Peterson on the night of the Cedar Lake shooting and then made a statement that he and Peterson had been driving around in Peterson's car and went to Cedar Lake. He said Peterson stated he wanted to buy some "Tops" rolling papers and parked in a dark area near a filling station in Cedar Lake.
Appellant claims he remained in the automobile. Peterson took the shotgun and entered the station. Thereafter appellant stated that he heard a loud noise like an automobile backfire. Shortly thereafter Peterson returned to the vehicle, placed the shotgun in the back seat, and covered it with his coat or a small blanket. He was carrying a dark colored purse which he handed to appellant. Various items from the purse and the purse itself were thrown from the car as they proceeded down the road and later were recovered.
In his statement, appellant acknowledged that since the shooting in Cedar Lake he had changed his physical appearance in that he had grown a moustache and a short beard. In addition, he cut his hair. He stated that on the night of the shooting his hair was at least collar length and described it as stringy in appearance.
After giving the second statement to the police, Harris was arrested for the Hudson Oil station shooting. During his statements and at trial, appellant claimed he merely accompanied Peterson and did not participate in the robberies or the shootings. Evidence concerning the Cedar Lake shooting was presented at the trial. Carrie Jillson testified that she and Rhonda Hammersley (the person killed at the Cedar Lake robbery) were working from 2:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Petro Mart gas station in Cedar Lake. As they were closing the station, they noticed a two-door car drive by slowly and the occupants looked at them. Approximately three to five minutes later, a man ran from behind the car and shot Hammersley in the head with a shotgun. Jillson testified that the gun then was placed against the back of her head but she heard someone say,
After the assailants left, she summoned police officers. Jillson aided police officer Carl Grimmer in making a composite drawing of one of the assailants. During this drawing, she described the person as having dark eyes, dark hair, Hispanic eyebrows, wide cheek bones and a long chin. However, she stated she believed the subject to be white, whereas appellant is a light-skinned black man.
Michael Lynn testified that he was incarcerated with appellant. During that time, appellant told Lynn that Peterson was his best friend, that they had been going out doing robberies and doing drugs and that they were shooting people during the robberies with a .12 gauge shotgun. He stated that he was nervous about this activity and that Peterson told him he could change his appearance with his haircut and his moustache. Appellant told Lynn specifics concerning the robbery at the Hudson Oil station and also stated that he had been involved in the Cedar Lake shooting although he claimed that Peterson was the triggerman.
Appellant claims the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the Cedar Lake robbery and murder. Appellant cites Gibbs v. State (1989), Ind., 538 N.E.2d 937 and Williams v. State (1986), Ind., 489 N.E.2d 53, for the proposition that evidence of extrinsic offenses ordinarily is not admissible in the prosecution of a subsequent crime. It is true that both of these cases make that statement of the law. However, in both cases, the convictions were affirmed. This Court held in Gibbs that the extrinsic offenses were admissible in four of the charged counts to show Gibbs's identity. Williams held that the evidence was admissible on the issue of identification.
In the case at bar, in both his statements to the police and his testimony at trial, appellant takes the position that although he was present at the Hudson Oil robbery and murder he did not know it was going to take place, he did not aid Peterson in any way and that he was surprised when Peterson entered the station and shot the attendant. Appellant thus raised the issue in the case as to his state of mind and his intent before, during, and after the robbery.
In Lannan v. State (1992), Ind., 600 N.E.2d 1334, this Court adopted in its entirety Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), which is consistent with our prior holdings concerning the exceptions to the inadmissibility of prior crimes. Operating under this rule, the federal court in United States v. Nolan (7th Cir.1990), 910 F.2d 1553, cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1402, 113 L.Ed.2d 457, held it was proper to show prior uncharged crimes to establish a defendant's intent and knowledge when he committed the charged crime. Such is the situation in the case at bar. The main fact for determination by the jury was the intent and knowledge of appellant at the time the Hudson Oil robbery took place--that is, whether he was intentionally participating in the robbery with Peterson, and his knowledge as to Peterson's intentions and probable conduct during the robbery. The trial court did not err in admitting evidence of the Cedar Lake robbery.
Appellant contends the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the prosecuting attorney's statement, "If they had witnesses that would lead you to believe he [defendant] wasn't at Cedar Lake, that ain't my job to bring them in." Appellant claims this is an unfair comment on his lack of presentation of evidence and would tend to inform the jury that he had the burden of proof when in fact it lay with the State.
Appellant had filed an alibi notice pursuant to ...
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