Hobson v. State
| Decision Date | 18 September 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A04-0212-CR-578.,49A04-0212-CR-578. |
| Citation | 795 N.E.2d 1118 |
| Parties | Edward HOBSON, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Katherine A. Cornelius, Marion County Public Defender Agency, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Justin F. Roebel, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Edward Hobson appeals his Murder conviction, following a jury trial, and presents the following issues for review:
1. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to rebut his claim of self-defense.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it allowed a police officer to respond to hypothetical questions regarding shooting accuracy.
3. Whether the trial court committed fundamental error when it responded to a jury question.
We affirm.
Edward Hobson and Marcus Curd are both pre-operative transsexuals1 who dated Troy Wright. Curd believed that Hobson and Wright had an affair while Curd was still dating Wright. According to Hobson, he was unaware of Curd and Wright's relationship when he and Wright began dating. As a result of the love triangle, Curd and Hobson were at odds. Hobson claimed that after Curd discovered Hobson and Wright's relationship, Curd repeatedly called his residence and threatened him several times. Hobson had knowledge that Curd had spent time in prison and had allegedly stabbed other persons in the past. Curd also took responsibility for a break-in at Hobson's apartment.
On July 19, 2001, Hobson went with friends Stacie Adair and Shovonyai Jones to The Ten, a bar in Indianapolis. Curd was also at the bar with his cousin, William. Curd and Hobson's first confrontation that night occurred in the parking lot; the confrontation was verbal and lasted approximately five to ten minutes. Curd then went back inside the bar, and Hobson stayed in the parking lot. Later, Hobson entered the bar and had another verbal confrontation with Curd and William. Hobson then approached a security guard and told him that he "needed to get [Curd] out of the club, because he ... would go to jail that night for fighting him."
Hobson called 911 from the bar shortly after 2:00 a.m. and claimed he was being harassed. The 911 operator told Hobson to wait in the parking lot. But when an officer arrived a few minutes later, Hobson had already left. Shortly before 3:00 a.m., Curd returned to the parking lot and saw Hobson, who had changed clothes. Following another verbal confrontation, the two began fighting. Curd threw the first punch, and Hobson responded with his own punches. The two struggled with one another across the parking lot and eventually separated. Hobson then reached inside his purse, retrieved a .25 caliber Lorcin automatic pistol, and stated, "I am going to kill you."2 Next, Hobson fired the gun repeatedly until it clicked empty. Curd was running away from Hobson as he fired the multiple shots. Curd suffered five bullet wounds, including a "defensive wound" to his forearm, shots to his back, and a fatal shot that went through his heart and lungs.
After the shooting, William attacked Hobson until guards separated them by using pepper spray. Hobson ran from the scene and met Steven Gaddie, whom he told that he "shot the bitch, and if she keeps bothering me or comes back, I'll shoot her again." Gaddie and Hobson then returned to the parking lot at the bar.
The State charged Hobson with Murder and Carrying a Handgun Without a License, but later dropped the handgun charge. At trial, Hobson admitted that he shot Curd but argued that it was self-defense. Hobson testified that Curd also had a gun and that Curd shot at him before he began firing at Curd. However, none of the other witnesses stated that Curd had a gun and, in fact, April Moss, one of Curd's friends, stated that she looked in Curd's purse that night and he did not have a gun. In addition, Hobson did not mention that Curd had a gun in statements he gave during the initial investigation.
Also at trial, Hobson stipulated that David Brundage, a tool marks and firearms examiner for the Indianapolis-Marion County Crime Lab, was an expert in tool marks and firearms. After Brundage testified as a State's witness, Hobson called him as a witness for the defense. During the State's cross-examination, Brundage was asked whether, based on his experience with and investigation of cases involving firearms, he would be able to hit a moving target from a certain distance. The State also asked whether officers who had been trained in firearms would be able to hit the same moving target. Hobson objected on the basis that Brundage is "not a forensic pathologist," and the court overruled his objection.
After the jury began deliberations, the jury informed the court that it had questions, one of which was whether "multiple shots preclude[s] self-defense in and of itself." The court determined that it would allow counsel to give brief supplemental arguments on the issue, and neither side objected. The court also informed the jurors that they had the applicable law and that they should reread the jury instructions. Thereafter, the jury found Hobson guilty of murder, and this appeal ensued.
Hobson first asserts that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to rebut his claim of self-defense. Specifically, Hobson points to testimony concerning Curd's criminal past, including his contention that Curd had been stalking him as a result of his relationship with Wright. He also directs us to his testimony that Curd had shown him a gun on the night in question and that he heard shots fired before he began firing at Curd.
A valid claim of defense of oneself or another person is legal justification for an otherwise criminal act. Ind.Code § 35-41-3-2(a); Wilson v. State, 770 N.E.2d 799, 800 (Ind.2002). To prevail on such a claim, the defendant must show that he: (1) was in a place where he had a right to be; (2) did not provoke, instigate, or participate willingly in the violence; and (3) had a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm. Wilson, 770 N.E.2d at 800. When a claim of self-defense is raised and finds support in the evidence, the State has the burden of negating at least one of the necessary elements. Id. The standard of review for a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to rebut a claim of self-defense is the same as the standard for any sufficiency of the evidence claim. Id. at 801. We neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses. Id. If there is sufficient evidence of probative value to support the conclusion of the trier of fact, then the verdict will not be disturbed. Id.
Here, prior to the shooting, Hobson told a security guard that he would fight Curd that night if the guard failed to remove Curd from the bar. In addition, two eyewitnesses to the shooting testified that Hobson was a willing participant in the fight. In particular, Marcus King stated that while Curd threw the first punch, "they were both fighting." April Moss testified that, "they started fighting each other" and that "[Hobson] was hitting [Curd] back." And at some point when the two separated, Hobson did not withdraw. Rather, he grabbed one of the two guns he had in his purse, stated that he was going to kill Curd, and began shooting. It is reasonable to infer from this evidence that Hobson was a willing participant in the fight.
Further, in Wilson, 770 N.E.2d at 800, the defendant was standing on his porch when two acquaintances, Listenbee and Nesbitt, drove by in a car. The three had been involved in a physical altercation two days earlier. Listenbee drove the car past the house and into an alley and removed a gun from the glove compartment. Id. The defendant then went inside his house, retrieved a gun, returned to the porch and began shooting at the car. Nesbitt exited the car and fired a few shots before he got back in. As the car sped away, the defendant ran off the porch and into the road firing more shots, one of which hit and killed Nesbitt. Id. On appeal from the defendant's murder conviction, the defendant claimed he was not the initial aggressor and was only "returning fire." Id. at 801. But our supreme court held that the fact that the defendant continued to shoot after Nesbitt had ceased firing and the car was attempting to leave the area showed that he "could not have been laboring under a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm." Id. ().
Even though Curd was the initial aggressor in this case, like in Wilson and Hollowell, the fact that Hobson (1) chose to fight back after Curd threw the first punch, and (2) grabbed a gun after the two were separated and then shot Curd in the back as he ran away, supports the conclusion that he was not laboring under a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm. Hobson's arguments to the contrary amount to an invitation that we reweigh the evidence and the credibility of witnesses, which we cannot do. We conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence to rebut Hobson's self-defense claim.
Next, Hobson asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when it allowed David Brundage to give his opinion on shooting accuracy. Hobson claims that the State failed to lay a proper foundation for the court to find that Brundage was an expert in marksmanship. He further asserts that Brundage's testimony lacked scientific foundation and was the equivalent of Brundage testifying that Hobson's testimony concerning how the shooting occurred was not credible, which a witness may not do under ...
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