Major v. State
| Decision Date | 28 September 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 45A03-0610-CR-483.,45A03-0610-CR-483. |
| Citation | 873 N.E.2d 1120 |
| Parties | Carl A. MAJOR, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Thomas W. Vanes, Office of the Public Defender, Crown Point, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Ellen H. Meilaender, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Following a jury trial, Appellant-Defendant Carl Major appeals his convictions for three counts of Murder in the Perpetration of a Robbery, a felony,1 and one count of Aggravated Battery as a Class B felony2 and his corresponding aggregate sentence of 175 years. Upon appeal, Major claims the trial court erred in empaneling an anonymous jury and that his sentence was inappropriate. Concluding that the trial court erred in empaneling an anonymous jury but that such error was harmless, and further, that Major's sentence was not inappropriate, we affirm.
In April of 2005, David Williams and Lorna Zaber lived at 3808 Alabama Street in Hobart where Williams operated a business selling crack cocaine, and Zaber served as his delivery-person. Williams, who testified that he operated three such businesses in Hobart, believed he was taking customers away from a competitor drug dealer named "JJ" or "Jay."
On April 4, 2005, Williams and Zaber were at the Alabama Street house, as was Darryl Mosley, who was twenty-two, Andrew Espinoza and Brittney Hott, who were nineteen, and Lindsay Davidson, who was twenty.
At approximately 11:00 p.m., Williams, who had heard a noise on the porch, looked through the blinds and observed two individuals. As he walked away from the door, the individuals kicked in the front door and fired shots. According to Williams, when these two individuals reached him in the back of the house, they asked where the money and "dope" were. Tr. at 1018. When Williams replied that he did not know, they began pistol-whipping him, one with a handgun, and the other with a "big gun," which looked like a semiautomatic. Tr. at 1018. After Williams gave the individuals money, they lifted him off the ground. At that point, Williams could tell that the individual with the handgun was a great deal shorter than the individual with the semiautomatic. The individuals took Williams to a bedroom so he could retrieve the drugs when, as Williams reached for the drugs, they shot him in the head, believing he was reaching for a gun.
According to Kirby Oliver, on the night of April 4, 2005, he accompanied Major and a certain Mr. Rasheed, who was noticeable for being only "about four or five feet" tall, to 3808 Alabama Street to "collect some money." Tr. at 1054, 1111. Before going, Rasheed put a vest on and grabbed the larger of two handguns. Major grabbed the second handgun, and Oliver grabbed another gun, the "biggest" of the three. Tr. at 1060. Oliver put on leather gloves, and Rasheed put on wool gloves and gave a pair to Major. The guns were placed in the trunk, and Rasheed gave the keys to Major, who drove. Rasheed was in the front passenger seat, and Oliver was in the back seat. Upon reaching Alabama Street, they pulled into a church parking lot near Williams's house and observed the house for a couple of minutes before driving into a dark alley behind the house. The three retrieved their respective weapons from the trunk. Rasheed told the others to follow his lead, and they made their way, in a crouched position, toward the front of the house by moving up the right-hand side. According to Oliver, Rasheed stood on the porch for a couple of minutes, until Oliver joined him, while Major remained by the side of the house. Rasheed then directed Oliver to kick in the door, which he did.
According to Oliver, as Rasheed entered the house, he fired a shot, and Oliver followed him inside, also firing a shot, with Major following a few seconds behind. Oliver testified that Rasheed followed a male toward the back of the house and that Major stood with his gun displayed but did not say anything. After hearing a gunshot from the back of the house, Oliver testified that Rasheed came to the front of the house armed with a second gun, a silver pistol, which he placed in his pocket. According to Oliver, Rasheed then approached a black male, ordered him to the floor and tried to shoot him, but apparently the gun "clicked" instead. Tr. at 1079. Rasheed then exchanged guns with Major and took the black male off of the floor into the back of the house. Oliver then heard another gunshot, and Rasheed returned to the front of the house. According to Oliver, Rasheed then approached the two white females in the front of the house and shot them.
While Rasheed was shooting the females, Oliver made his way out of the house, followed by Major. Once outside the home, Oliver heard one more gunshot as he and Major headed toward their car. Upon seeing flashlights and believing police were arriving on the scene, Oliver and Major returned to the house, where they met Rasheed, who was leaving the front porch. The three then ran through some woods and onto a street. Prior to running through the woods, Oliver lost his hat, discarded his jacket, and threw his "do-rag" in a trash can. Tr. at 1087. Oliver also threw his gun onto a woodpile, and he threw his gloves to the ground. Oliver did not see Major or Rasheed discard anything. At some point, Oliver split off from Major and Rasheed in an attempt to return to his car. The police detained him shortly thereafter.
In the early morning of April 5, 2005, Gary Police Department Officer Samuel Abegg responded to a report of the incident at 3808 Alabama by attempting to establish a perimeter. Shortly thereafter, Officer Abegg apprehended Major, whose pants were muddy, and who had a noticeably fast heart rate and was sweating in spite of the cool temperatures. Major did not resist. Major apparently called to his cohort "Jay," or "Jake," who was no longer with him and did not appear on the scene. Tr. at 920.
Hobart Police Department Officer Michael Teer testified that he was dispatched to 3808 Alabama Street while on patrol during the early morning hours of April 5, 2005. Together with Officer Bill Granzow, Officer Teer investigated the scene. Officer Granzow investigated the outside of the house while Officer Teer went inside. Upon entering the house, Officer Teer smelled a strong odor of gunpowder and observed a young man lying on his side or stomach against a couch near the north wall of the front room area. The man had been shot in the head, was breathing shallowly, and did not respond to Officer Teer. Christopher Curdes of the Hobart Fire Department, who also responded to the scene, subsequently determined that this male, later determined to be Espinoza, was dead. Officer Teer proceeded to the dining room area of the house where he observed two white females lying on their stomachs with gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Both females, later identified to be Hott and Davidson, were dead. Upon making his way toward the rear of the residence and hearing a male voice, Officer Teer discovered a black male in a back bedroom area, who appeared to have been shot in the head and had a lot of blood on his face. He was yelling for help. Upon walking out the back door, Officer Teer observed another male, also calling for help, who appeared to have a large bullet hole in the top of his head. These two injured men, later identified to be Williams and Mosely, survived. Williams has suffered the loss of his memory, as well as an eye and his sense of smell as a result of the shooting. He further suffers from seizures and daily headaches. Mosley, who was hospitalized for several weeks with a swollen brain and shattered facial bones, suffers from deafness in one ear and blurred vision in one eye.
Upon conducting a K-9 search of the area, police officers recovered, among other things, a black jacket, two bulletproof vests, multiple gloves (including a pair of brown gloves, a pair of black gloves, and another black glove), a black baseball cap, a "do-rag," an AR-15 assault rifle containing a live round in the chamber, a 9 mm handgun, a magazine containing twenty live 9 mm cartridges, a .380 caliber handgun, and a magazine with seven live .380 cartridges.
In statements Major made to police officers following his arrest, he admitted that he had agreed to help Rasheed "handle some business" in exchange for getting "broke off,"3 that he knew they were going to commit a robbery and that it was his intention to do so, that he was wearing all black and gloves and carrying a gun, and that he guarded the door to ensure that no one left the house. State's Exh. 1.
The State charged Major with three counts of murder in the perpetration of robbery and two counts of aggravated battery. During voir dire, just prior to tendering strikes, defense counsel objected to "the local rule[4] regarding the naming of witnesses" which "prevented both counsels from . . . being given the names of . . . the jurors." Voir Dire Tr. 96-97. The court overruled the objection by stating,
[O]nce again, if issues come up about improprieties with the jury, if names are required to investigate any issues with the jury, I will name those names on the record with the court administrator's office. The names are here at the bench, and the Court would be more than willing to provide names in the event that it's necessary to look into any of those matters, but at this point, your objection is noted. Overruled.
Following trial, the jury found Major guilty of three counts of murder in the perpetration of robbery, three counts of Class B felony attempted robbery,5 and of aggravated battery with respect to Mosley. The jury acquitted Major of aggravated battery with respect to Williams. At a September 19, 2006 sentencing hearing, the court merged the attempted robbery counts into the murder counts, entered judgment of...
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