Jones v. State

• Decision Date: 05 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. 49S00-0106-CR-00317.,49S00-0106-CR-00317.
• Parties: Jerry JONES, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

783 N.E.2d 1132

Jerry JONES, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 49S00-0106-CR-00317.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

March 5, 2003.

Janice L. Stevens, Marion County Public Defender Agency, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Arthur Thaddeus Perry, Deputy Attorney General of Indiana, Office of the Attorney General Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee. SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

A trial court found Jerry Jones guilty of murdering a pawn shop owner and sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole. He now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred when it dismissed his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a search and seizure, allowed him to represent himself pro se, and convicted him based on insufficient evidence. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

The investigation of the murder became intertwined with that of an earlier bank robbery. On the morning of September 3, 1997, there was a bank robbery in Chesterfield. Police pursued the suspected robbers in a car until the car crossed several lanes and landed in a ditch. The three occupants exited the car and fled into a nearby field. Police searched the car, registered to Gregory Jones ("Greg"), and found Greg's Indiana drivers license and Department of Correction identification card; they also found an Indiana identification card for Jerry Jones ("Jones"). The car's trunk contained a garbage bag filled with money from the bank.

The police learned that Greg's relative J.P. also worked for the Department of Correction, and they conducted a residential surveillance of all three suspects.¹ Officers apprehended J.P. but later eliminated him as a suspect because his size and stature were inconsistent with the description of the robbers. The investigation of Greg and Jones continued.

As for the pawn shop, Ron Conner ("Conner") owned and operated the Lawrence Gold and Coin Shop at 8160 Pendleton Pike in Lawrence, Marion County. On the morning of August 13, 1997, a worker in an adjacent shop looked through the window in the side of the building, noticed the owner's leg lying behind the counter, and immediately called for assistance. Police took fingerprints at the shop and also collected a spent cartridge casing and a .32 caliber cartridge.

Detective Don Deputy of the Lawrence police conducted the initial homicide investigation. Conner's son informed the police that there were several valuables missing from the display case, including a Masonic ring and a ladies cluster ring. He also said that fold-over tags were attached to a substantial amount of the missing jewelry.

On September 4, 1997, the Lawrence police sought a warrant to search Greg's apartment for three suspects and items related to the bank robbery. A Madison county judge issued the warrant for Greg's apartment, at 3663 Governours Court, Apt. A in the Wingate Village apartment complex. The police watched the Governours Court address periodically while the initial search warrant was obtained.

Shortly after the police obtained the warrant, the Emergency Response Team entered Greg's apartment to look for the suspects, but the house was empty. The Emergency Response Team discovered a weapon under the bed and placed it on the bed.

Thereafter, the police entered the apartment to search for additional weapons and other items connected with the bank robbery. While searching, they discovered additional guns and ammunition. One officer noticed several rings in a display case with white tags attached to them. The rings were later connected to the robbery and murder of Conner, the pawn shop owner. An officer conducting the bank robbery investigation informed the Lawrence police about the tray of rings they saw during the initial search. This officer knew that the Lawrence police were investigating a pawn shop crime.

Subsequently, the Lawrence police obtained a second warrant for the Governours Court residence to search for weapons and evidence connected to the pawn shop offense. An officer familiar with several of the missing rings identified some of the items in Greg's apartment. A casing collected at the pawn shop contained similar characteristics as those fired from the handgun found in the apartment.

The police obtained yet a third warrant seizing additional contraband related to the pawn shop robbery and murder, and they seized the jewelry, a .32 caliber Lorcin gun, various papers, and other items.

On September 8, after Jones denied that he had ever been in the store, Detective Don Deputy informed Jones that his prints were identified in the Lawrence Gold and Coin Shop. Police found Jones' fingerprints on a ring tray in the rear of the shop, and his palm print on a display case.

Jones waived trial by jury and in due course the trial court concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Jones was a major participant in the robbery and murder of Conner at the Lawrence Gold and Coin. Furthermore, the court found that Jones intentionally killed Conner and sentenced Jones to life without parole.

I. Illegal Search and Seizure

After denying Jones' motion to suppress, the trial court admitted into evidence the tray of jewelry and .32 caliber Lorcin, found at the Governours Court address. Jones claims the warrant authorizing the search was illegally obtained.

In asserting such claims, we focus on whether a "substantial basis" existed for a warrant authorizing a search or seizure. Houser v. State, 678 N.E.2d 95 (Ind.1997). Where a presumption of the validity of the search warrant exists, the burden is upon the defendant to overturn that presumption. Snyder v. State, 460 N.E.2d 522 (Ind.Ct.App.1984). If the evidence is conflicting, we consider only the evidence favorable to the ruling and will affirm if the ruling is supported by substantial evidence of probative value. Melton v. State, 705 N.E.2d 564 (Ind.Ct.App. 1999).

Jones argues that the first warrant was invalid because the police officer failed to inform the issuing judge that the Governours Court apartment was under surveillance. A warrant is not invalid simply because it contains slightly inaccurate material that is immaterial to the warrant's validity.

In Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 171-72, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a warrant is invalid where the defendant can show by a preponderance of the evidence that the affidavits used to obtain the warrant contain perjury by the affiant, or a reckless disregard for the truth by him, and the rest of the affidavit does not contain materials sufficient to constitute probable cause. See Id. at 171-72, 98 S.Ct. 2674. Furthermore, fruits of the search will be excluded just as if the affidavit did not contain allegations sufficient to constitute probable cause. Id., at 155, 98 S.Ct. 2674.

In this case, however, the officer who obtained the initial search warrant hardly committed perjury to obtain the warrant, nor did he display a reckless disregard by failing to inform the judge of the surveillance during the probable cause hearing. As we observed in Taylor v. State, 659 N.E.2d 535, 539 (Ind.1995), probable cause requires only that the information available to the officer would lead a person of reasonable caution to believe the items could be useful as evidence of a crime. Based on the descriptions of the suspects and the identification discovered in the car, probable cause existed to issue a search warrant for the Governours Court address.

Jones also argues that there is no substantial basis to support a finding of probable cause because the first warrant obtained applied only to the seizure of the three persons, and any items discovered as a result of the search are invalid as fruits of the unlawful search. We disagree.

It is true that the warrant specifically directs the police to search and seize the three suspects whom police believed were at the Governours Court address, but the warrant also grants a search of the entire premises. Furthermore, the warrant indicates that "probable cause exists to believe that the items seized were located at the Governours Court address. These include the goods, chattels, items or any part ... described and found as a result of the law enforcement agency whose officer executes the search warrant ..." (Appellant's Exhibit C.) Thus, to search and seize any person or item that the police believed was connected with the bank robbery did not exceed the scope of the initial warrant or invalidate it.

Plain View Doctrine and Subsequent Warrants. Jones petitioned the court to suppress the jewelry, asserting that a warrantless search and seizure occurred when the police moved trays of jewelry and placed them on the bed, and arguing that the plain view doctrine did not apply.

Police may seize evidence not identified in a warrant under the plain view doctrine. The plain view doctrine allows a police officer to seize items when he inadvertently discovers items of readily apparent criminality while rightfully occupying a particular location. Garrett v. State, 466 N.E.2d 8 (Ind.1984.) See Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971)

. First, the initial intrusion must have been authorized under the Fourth Amendment. Daniels v. State, 683 N.E.2d 557, 558 (Ind. 1997.) Second, the items must be in plain view. Id. Finally, the incriminating nature of the evidence must be immediately apparent. Id.

In Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 324-25, 107 S.Ct. 1149, 94 L.Ed.2d 347 (1987), the Supreme Court ruled the police conducted a warrantless search when they moved a stereo to collect the serial numbers that were on the backside of the equipment. The present case differs from Hicks because the police did not move the jewelry to collect additional information. The fold-over tags on the jewelry in the display case were visible without any movement. The police did not acquire any additional information...