Huddleston v. State, 1268S211

• Decision Date: 18 May 1973
• Docket Number: No. 1268S211,1268S211
• Parties: Marvin Wayne HUDDLESTON, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 812

295 N.E.2d 812

260 Ind. 398

Marvin Wayne HUDDLESTON, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 1268S211.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

May 18, 1973.

Harrietee Bailey Conn, Public Defender, for appellant.

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., A. Frank Gleaves, III, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

GIVAN, Justice.

Appellant was indicted for the first degree murder of his wife, Betty Jean Huddleston. Appellant entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Jury trial resulted in a verdict of guilty as charged. Appellant was sentenced to the Indiana State Prison during life.

It is unnecessary for the purposes of this opinion to go into the details surrounding the appellant's killing of his wife.

Appellant claims the trial court erred in giving its Final Instruction No. 13 to the jury, which reads as follows:

'The defense of insanity is one very frequently made in cases of this kind, and is one which should be very carefully scrutinized by the jury. The evidence at this point should be carefully considered and weighed by the jury, for the reason that if the accused were in truth insane at the time of the commission of the alleged acts, then he ought not to be punished for such acts.

'The evidence on this question of insanity ought to be carefully considered by the jury for another reason, and that is, because a due regard for the ends of justice and the peace and welfare of society demands it, to the end that parties charged with crime may not make use of the plea of insanity as a means to defeat the ends of justice, and a shield to protect them from criminal responsibility in case of violation of law.'

Subsequent to the filing of this appeal, this Court held that a similar instruction dealing with temporary insanity was reversible error. Dipert v. State (1972), Ind., 286 N.E.2d 405, 32 Ind.Dec. 382. In so doing this Court overruled Baker v. State (1921), 190 Ind. 385, 129 N.E. 468, and adopted the reasoning of Aszman v. State (1890), 123 Ind. 347, 24 N.E. 123 wherein the Court made the following statement:

'It can hardly be said to contain the statement of any proposition of law, but is rather in the nature of a general disparagement of the defense of insanity, which the accused had pleaded, as provided by statute. A case might possibly arise in which such a statement could be appropriately made by the court. As the judgment in the present case must be reversed for other reasons, we do not determine whether or not it constituted reversible error in this case. It is sufficient to say that, as at present constituted, the court does not regard with favor any statements by the trial court which are designed to cast discredit or suspicion upon any defense which is recognized by the law as legitimate, and which an accused person is making in apparent good faith. In this respect, we are unable to appreciate any well-grounded distinction between the defense of insanity, self-defense, or...