Hill v. State
| Decision Date | 09 June 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 49S02-9306-CR-618,49S02-9306-CR-618 |
| Citation | 615 N.E.2d 97 |
| Parties | Eric Lamont HILL, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Eric Lamont Hill (Defendant-Appellant) seeks transfer after the Court of Appeals, in a memorandum decision, affirmed his conviction for attempted murder. 1 Hill v. State (December 29, 1992), Ind.App., 49A02-9204-CR-176. In his petition to transfer, Hill challenges the trial court's instruction on attempted murder.
The facts most favorable to the verdict are as follows: Michael Mahone and his cousin were waiting for a ride home. Hill approached them, pointed a gun at Mahone's head and told him to take off his coat. As Mahone started to run, Hill shot Mahone in the back of the leg.
Hill asserts the trial court improperly refused his tendered instruction regarding the intent necessary for an attempted murder conviction. Hill argues that the trial court's instruction on attempted murder was inadequate because it failed to inform the jury that in order to find him guilty of attempted murder, the jury must find that he acted with the specific intent to kill the victim.
The trial court instructed the jury on the attempted murder count as follows:
A person attempts to commit a crime when he knowingly or intentionally engages in conduct that constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the crime.
An attempt to commit a crime is a felony or misdemeanor of the same class as the crime attempted.
The crime of murder is defined by statute as follows:
A person who knowingly or intentionally kills another human being commits murder.
To convict the defendant of attempted murder, the State must have proved each of the following elements:
The defendant Eric Hill
1. knowingly or intentionally
2. engaged in conduct by shooting a deadly weapon; to-wit at and against the person of Michael Mahone
3. which conduct constitutes a substantial step toward the knowing or intentional killing of another human being.
If the State failed to prove each of the elements beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant should be found not guilty.
If the State did prove each of the elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then you should find the defendant guilty of attempted murder.
The appellate court found that this instruction was essentially the same as the instructions in Worley v. State (1986), Ind., 501 N.E.2d 406, and Santana v. State (1986), Ind., 486 N.E.2d 1010, and held that it sufficiently informed the jury as to the elements of attempted murder. We disagree.
In Spradlin v. State (1991), Ind., 569 N.E.2d 948, 950, a case decided subsequently to Worley and Santana, this Court stated:
that an instruction which purports to set forth the elements which must be proven in order to convict of the crime of attempted murder must inform the jury that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, with intent to kill the victim, engaged in conduct which was a substantial step toward such killing.
The requirements set out in Spradlin are those which the trial court should apply in instructing a jury, and which we will apply when we review an instruction on attempted murder.
A defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed correctly on an essential rule of law. Palmer v. State (1991), Ind., 573 N.E.2d 880, 880. An error in an instruction will not warrant reversal unless it is of such a nature that the entire charge of which it is a part misled the jury on the law of the case. Jackson v. State (1991), Ind., 575 N.E.2d 617, 621. Attempted murder is a specific intent crime and the jury must be so instructed. Id. at 948; Woodcox v. State (1992), Ind., 591 N.E.2d 1019, 1022; Price v. State (1992), Ind., 591 N.E.2d 1027, 1029. Although a person may be convicted of murder upon proof that he acted "knowingly," he may not be convicted of attempted murder without proof that he acted with the intent to kill. The present instruction did not inform the jury that the State must prove that Hill, at the time he shot the victim, intended to kill the victim, but, rather, the instruction permitted the jury to convict on the lesser intent of "knowingly." Because the instruction did not include the proper element of intent, it failed to instruct the jury on an essential element of the crime of attempted murder and was, therefore, erroneous.
Additionally, at trial Hill tendered an instruction regarding specific intent. Hill's tendered instruction stated:
DEFENDANT'S TENDERED INSTRUCTION NO. 1
You are instructed that Attempted Murder is a specific intent crime. That means the state must specifically prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Eric Hill acted with the specific intention of committing the crime of murder.
The trial court rejected the instruction because the trial court believed that the court's instructions adequately covered intent. Hill asserts it was improper to refuse the instruction.
When reviewing the refusal of any tendered instruction, we determine: (1) whether the tendered instruction correctly states the law, (2) whether there was evidence in the record to support...
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Williams v. State
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