Hope v. State

Decision Date06 August 1982
Docket NumberNo. 881S224,881S224
Citation438 N.E.2d 273
PartiesEugene HOPE, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

Robert E. Stochel, Merrillville, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

GIVAN, Chief Justice.

Appellant was convicted by a jury of two counts of Murder. He was sentenced to a forty-five (45) year term of imprisonment.

The record discloses that on May 10, 1980, two men were found shot to death in Gary, Indiana. An eyewitness testified he saw appellant shoot the two victims. Appellant's girlfriend, Donna, stated appellant told her he had shot two men. Appellant's hat was found near the bodies. Appellant was also linked to the murder weapon.

The facts relevant to this appeal revolve around two letters written by appellant to his girlfriend who was then residing with her mother in Tennessee. The letters implicated appellant in the murders. Donna testified she read the letters, kept them in her purse and did not make any copies. Nonetheless, her grandmother, a Gary resident, gave copies of the letters to the Gary Police Department. The record does not reveal how Donna's grandmother came into possession of the copies. The day before trial, Donna gave the letters to the prosecutor.

Appellant claims the trial court erred in admitting over defense objection the two letters penned by him to his girlfriend. He argues the letters were illegally seized without a warrant in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

A defendant has no constitutional right to challenge the search or seizure of another person's property. Johnson v. State, (1979) Ind., 390 N.E.2d 1005, cert. denied, 444 U.S. 944, 100 S.Ct. 302, 62 L.Ed.2d 312; Greer v. State, (1970) 253 Ind. 609, 255 N.E.2d 919. Thus, appellant lacks standing to assert this contention.

Because the alleged search and seizure was made without a warrant, appellant argues the State carried the burden of showing the police action fell within one of the specific exceptions to the warrant requirement. Although a correct statement of law, Murrell v. State, (1981) Ind., 421 N.E.2d 638; Bruce v. State, (1978) 268 Ind. 180, 375 N.E.2d 1042, the principle is misapplied to the factual situation at bar.

In the case at bar, there is no evidence that Donna's grandmother had been solicited to gather information for or act as an agent of the police. There was no testimony how the grandmother had come into possession of the letters. We liken these facts to those presented in State v. Bryant, (1975) 167 Ind.App. 360, 338 N.E.2d 690 in which the appellant's son removed notes written by her from her home and without her permission. Her son, not acting as an agent for law enforcement officials, voluntarily turned them over to police. The trial court granted appellant's motion to suppress the notes based on the ground they had been illegally seized without a warrant in violation of...

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11 cases
  • Smith v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • 24 July 1984
    ...of error on the part of the trial court in denying the motion to suppress and permitting the admission of the evidence. Hope v. State, (1982) Ind., 438 N.E.2d 273; Lance v. State, (1981) Ind., 425 N.E.2d 77; Humes v. State, (1981) Ind., 426 N.E.2d 379; Murrell v. State, (1981) Ind., 421 N.E......
  • Burris v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • 29 June 1984
    ...given. A defendant has no constitutional right to challenge the search and seizure of another person's property. Hope v. State, (1982) Ind., 438 N.E.2d 273; Johnson v. State, (1979) 271 Ind. 145, 390 N.E.2d 1005, cert. denied, 444 U.S. 944, 100 S.Ct. 302, 62 L.Ed.2d 312. In Fourth Amendment......
  • Johnson v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • 11 January 1985
    ...426 N.E.2d 379. A defendant has no constitutional right to challenge the search or seizure of another person's property. Hope v. State, (1982) Ind., 438 N.E.2d 273. This is so even if the search was without probable cause. Pollard v. State, (1982) Ind.App., 439 N.E.2d 177, 183, reh. denied.......
  • Tabor v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • 2 April 1984
    ...426 N.E.2d 379. The defendant has no constitutional right to challenge the search or seizure of another person's property. Hope v. State, (1982) Ind., 438 N.E.2d 273. Defendant was not using the Nichols' property either as a temporary residence or in any other manner that would give him an ......
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