Long v. State, No. 1180S409

• Docket Nº: No. 1180S409
• Citation: 422 N.E.2d 284
• Case Date: June 26, 1981
• Court: Supreme Court of Indiana

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422 N.E.2d 284 Clarence Paul LONG, Jr., Appellant (Defendant below),
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below). No. 1180S409. Supreme Court of Indiana. June 26, 1981.

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Bruce W. Graham, Public Defender, Tippecanoe County, Lafayette, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Dan S. LaRue, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

HUNTER, Justice.

The defendant, Clarence Paul Long, Jr., was convicted by a jury of two counts of robbery resulting in bodily injury, class A felonies, Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1 (Burns 1979 Repl.), and one count of criminal confinement, while armed with a deadly weapon, a class B felony, Ind. Code § 35-42-3-3 (Burns 1979 Repl.). He was sentenced to twenty years on each of the first two counts and to six years on the third count, all sentences to run concurrently. His direct appeal presents the following issues:

1. Whether the trial court erred in admitting defendant's confessions;

2. Whether the trial court erred in refusing one of defendant's tendered instructions;

3. Whether the trial court erred by allowing the jury to review all the exhibits after deliberations had begun; and

4. Whether the trial court erred in failing to sentence defendant within thirty days of his conviction.

A brief summary of the facts most favorable to the state shows that defendant and a friend got into a fight with one victim, James Parker. They took Parker's wallet containing ten dollars in cash and a two-hundred dollar check. Parker testified that defendant hit him with a stick and a beer bottle and held a knife to his throat, threatening to kill him. Parker finally was able to escape after being cut on the hand and beaten severely on the head and face.

The second victim, Steven Patch, was returning home after midnight when an old Pontiac forced his car off the road. Patch identified defendant as one of the two men in the old Pontiac. The men forced Patch into the trunk of his own car and then drove both cars to another location. There Patch was taken from the trunk, beaten, and robbed of his wallet and watch. He was left after several additional beatings with his hands tied with wire behind his back.

I.

Defendant first contends that the trial court erroneously overruled his motion to suppress and admitted his confessions into evidence. He asserts that his statements were not voluntary because they were given as the result of implied and direct promises.

It is well settled that the question of the admissibility of a statement or confession is controlled by determining from the totality of circumstances whether or not the confession was given voluntarily and not through inducement, violence, threats or other improper influences so as to overcome the free will of the accused. Schutz v. State, (1981) Ind., 413 N.E.2d 913; Love v. State, (1980) Ind., 400 N.E.2d 1371; Arch v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 450, 381 N.E.2d 465. The question of voluntariness is one for the trial court. We review the question on

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appeal as we do other sufficiency matters. We do not weigh the evidence, but rather determine whether there was substantial evidence of probative value to support the trial court's finding. Schutz v. State, supra; Johnson v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 370, 380 N.E.2d 1236.

In the instant case, defendant was arrested at 5:30 p. m. on November 2, 1979. He was eighteen years old. He was read his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest and again when he was processed at the jail. Defendant signed his name indicating that he understood his rights and waived them and signed again indicating that he wanted to talk. A brief interrogation followed in which defendant denied any connection with the crimes. He agreed to submit to a polygraph examination, then he requested an attorney. The interrogation immediately ceased at that point. During that evening's questioning, no promises were made to defendant, although one officer did say it couldn't hurt him to make a statement. The next day, defendant was arraigned in court and an attorney was appointed. At the request of defendant's mother, another policeman, Officer Loy, visited defendant four days later on...