Hutchinson v. State

Decision Date05 May 1967
Docket NumberNo. 30693,30693
Citation225 N.E.2d 828,248 Ind. 226
PartiesJames David HUTCHINSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

Sherwood Blue, Janet L. Roberts, Indianapolis, for appellant.

John J. Dillon, Atty. Gen., Charles J. Deiter, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

MOTE, Judge.

Appellant, James David Hutchinson, and one, Karen Janet Dodd, were indicted jointly by the Grand Jury of Marion County, Indiana, on January 25, 1962, and charged with the first degree murder of one Karrie Dodd, which indictment, omitting the formal parts, was as follows:

'The Grand Jury for the County of Marion in the State of Indiana, upon their oath do present that Karen Janet Dodd and James David Hutchinson on or about the 13th day of October, A.D. 1961, at and in the County of Marion and in the State of Indiana, did then and there unlawfully, feloniously, purposely and with premeditated malice kill and murder, Karrie Dodd, a human being by then and there unlawfully and feloniously, purposely and with premeditated malice, striking and beating at and against the body of the said Karrie Dodd, and did then and there and thereby inflict a mortal wound in and upon the body of the said Karrie Dodd, of which mortal wound the said Karrie Dodd, then and there and thereby died.

And so the Grand Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say and charge that the said Karen Janet Dodd, and James David Hutchinson, in the manner and form and by the means aforesaid, unlawfully, feloniously, purposely and with premeditated malice did kill and murder the said Karrie Dodd, then and there being.'

The parties were arrested and placed in jail. Efforts were made to release both by habeas corpus proceedings and by petition to be let to bail.

Eventually James David Hutchinson, one of the defendants, was tried separately by a jury who returned the verdict of guilty of second degree murder. Upon such judgment comes this appeal, after denial of motion for new trial. The assignment of errors, omitting the formal parts, is as follows:

'The Appellant avers that there is manifest error in the judgment and proceedings in this cause, which is prejudicial to the Appellant, in this:

1. The Court erred in overruling the Appellant's Motion for instructions to withdraw from the jury the issue of first degree murder and to discharge the Defendant from said offense.

2. The Court erred in overruling the Appellant's Motion for instructions to withdraw from the jury the issue of second degree murder and to discharge the Defendant from said offense.

3. The Court erred and abused its discretion in denying the Appellant's motion for instruction to withdraw from the jury the issue of second degree murder and to discharge the defendant from said offense, made at the conclusion of the opening statement by the prosecuting attorney for the State of Indiana.

4. The Court erred and abused its discretion in requiring the jury, when at the commencement thereof they were already physically and mentally depleted and fatigued, to continue deliberations for a period of more than five hours, from approximately 10:05 p.m., on April 16, 1964, until approximately 3:30 a.m. April 17, 1964, without providing said jurors with facility for rest and refreshment, and denying to them a night of sleep and renewal of mental and physical strength, so that said jurors were rendered deficient in power and capacity to give full, adequate, and fair consideration to the evidence and to the law in their deliberations upon said case, whereby the defendant-appellant was deprived of a fair and impartial verdict.

5. The Court erred in overruling and denying the Appellant's Motion in arrest of judgment.

6. The Court erred in disregarding the written statement of legal cause for not pronouncing sentence filed by the defendant-appellant on August 6, 1964.

7. The Court erred in sentencing the Appellant to the Indiana State Prison for life without pronouncing judgment on the verdict of the jury.

8. The Court erred in overruling the Appellant's Motion for a new trial.

9. The Court erred in sustaining the motion of Noble R. Pearcy, Prosecuting Attorney for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, to enter a Nolle Prosequi to the indictment against Karen Janet Dodd, joint co-defendant with James David Hutchinson for the reason: 'was re-submitted to the Grand Jury and no-billed' without first setting aside and verdict of the jury against the defendant-appellant James David Hutchinson and revoking the sentence imposed against said defendant, the appellant herein.'

The decision herein necessarily must hinge upon the sufficiency of the evidence. The record indicates that appellant was born in Indianapolis and enlisted in the Army, received training in various Army camps, and was sent to Korea after active hostilities had ceased where he spent thirteen months, after which he was returned to the United States and was stationed at Fort Lewis, near Seattle, Washington. Pending his discharge from the service he met Karen Janet Dodd, his codefendant, at a public dance hall and they promptly became intimately acquainted. Prior to his discharge the two of them had intimate relations at the home of her parents, in her own apartment, and at places of residence of her friends. After some time had elapsed, he proposed marriage and she then told him that she was married at the age of fifteen to one who was stationed on the East Coast and serving in the Navy, and that she had a child, Karrie Dodd, the decedent, then approximately three years of age.

The record is not exactly clear as to the date of discharge of appellant from the service, but thereafter appellant, together with Karen Janet Dodd and her daughter, Karrie Dodd, drove to El Paso, Texas, to see his mother and stepfather. They spent a week or ten days with them when trouble developed. Appellant's mother began to doubt lawful marriage of the two and also criticized the mother for her cruelty to the deceased. They then came to Indianapolis where appellant had a number of relatives with some of whom they first lived. For a short while thereafter, they resided in an apartment on North Alabama Street, in the City of Indianapolis, in an upstairs apartment of a building, which contained two upstairs apartments and two lower apartments, and was owned by a relative.

On Friday, October 13, 1961, appellant, then being an apprentice bricklayer, reported for duty, but due to the inclemency of the weather work ceased at about three o'clock. However, it appears that he remained at the job for about one-half hour to get the pay check due him.

Little Karrie Dodd was being attended that day by a baby sitter, who in her own home also looked after several children. Appellant picked up little Karrie around 3:40 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on that date and took her to their home on Edison Street. Apparently appellant had a date to meet Karen Janet Dodd, his codefendant, at her work at about 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and, in preparation to do so, he not only looked after his own personal hygiene and clothing changes, but he also gave a bath to little Karrie. When her ablutions were completed, appellant dressed the little girl in her pajamas and took her in his automobile to pick up her mother at work. It developed afterward, as the three of them were on the way to market, that little Karrie was suffering agony for some then undisclosed reason. Appellant and Karen Janet Dodd altered their course and went to one of his relatives in order to call a physician. Such relative was not at home. They drove to the home of another of appellant's relatives who, after one look at the child, stated in effect 'this child is very, very ill and you should take her immediately to the hospital'. They promptly started to Community Hospital, and observing that the child was in extreme agony and almost unable to breathe, appellant, who was driving the automobile, and Karen Janet Dodd exchanged seats so the appellant could and he did attempt administering mouth to mouth resuscitation. Upon arrival at the hospital, or soon thereafter, the child was pronounced dead.

Suspicions were aroused and authority for an autopsy was sought and obtained from appellant and the mother. Statements were taken and both appellant and codefendant were arrested and placed in jail. Thereafter, they were indicted, as above stated.

The mother of the child at all times, until a short while before the trial of the appellant, maintained that appellant always had been kind to and had exhibited a loving disposition toward the child. Although appellant had been released from incarceration, his codefendant was not released until after she changed her statement to the authorities, wherein she recited a long history of abuse by appellant to the child. Indeed, there was testimony that the child, particularly in the later days of her life, showed bruises on the temple and cheeks, as well as abrasions on the nose, but until Friday, October 13, 1961, the injuries to the child did not appear to be of real significance when measured by the injury done to the child on that date.

Evidence disclosed at the trial indicated that the child bore twenty-five or thirty marks such as could be inflicted by use of a belt, with the buckle on the end of the pendulum. There was a laceration of the liver, which could be caused by a blow from a blunt instrument, which led to speculation that the appellant may have hit the decedent with his fist. Except for the crying by the decedent, heard by the neighbors, and the lashing with a belt, admitted by appellant, the evidence is not too clear concerning just what happened during the period between 3:45 p.m. to perhaps 5:00 p.m. on October 13, 1961. We have found no evidence that the child was tossed around in the bathtub or in the washbowl where she might have been injured by the fixtures connected therewith. Appellant admitted that he used a belt to punish the little girl, but there appears to be...

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  • Robinson v. State, 2-1072A80
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Indiana
    • April 15, 1974
    ...open to it were, in effect, those compatible with the three lines of reasoning in the dissenting opinion in Hutchinson v. State (1967), 248 Ind. 226, 237, 225 N.E.2d 828, namely, (1) second degree murder, (2) not guilty, or (3) involuntary manslaughter. 15 Defendant has waived any complaint......
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