Mitchell v. State, 1276S437
| Decision Date | 25 August 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 1276S437,1276S437 |
| Parties | Donald Gene MITCHELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Anderson, for appellant.
Theo. L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Daniel Lee Pflum, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
This is an appeal from convictions for rape, Ind.Code § 35-13-4-3, (Burns 1975), robbery, Ind.Code § 35-13-4-6, (Burns 1975), entering to commit a felony, Ind.Code § 35-13-4-5, (Burns 1975) and automobile banditry, Ind.Code § 35-12-2-1, (Burns 1975). Appellant received sentences for these offenses of twenty-one years, ten to twenty-five years, one to five years, and one to five years, respectively. Trial was by jury.
The gravamen of the offenses was that appellant broke into the house of Helen Feight and there sexually assaulted her and took her money. He contends in this appeal that the evidence serving to identify him as the perpetrator of these offenses was wholly insufficient to support the jury verdict. In determining this question we do not weigh the evidence nor resolve questions of credibility but look to the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom which support the verdict. In so doing we may consider evidence supporting the verdict without regard to which side produced it. The conviction will be affirmed if from that viewpoint there is evidence of probative value from which a reasonable trier of fact could infer that appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Glover v. State (1970) 253 Ind. 536, 255 N.E.2d 657. Circumstantial evidence is no different than other evidence for this purpose, and standing alone may sufficiently support the convictions.
Here, no single fact proved, standing alone, directly or inferentially establishes the identity of the assailant. The inference that appellant committed these crimes, can be made, if at all, upon the greater part of all the evidence presented by the prosecution and a small part of that presented by the defense. The evidence showed the following.
The place of these crimes was the home of the victim, Helen Feight. It was located in rural Madison County on Road 750W, one-fourth mile south of State Road 128. The buildings consisted of a house, barn and shed clustered together in the farmyard, separated from the surrounding fields by a fence. The house was located on the north side of the lot. The barn was located to the southeast of the house, and the shed was located to the south of the house. The drive from the road led in the direction of the barn between the house and the shed. Road 750W is a dead-end, gravel road, a lane and a half wide, about a half mile long. Three houses were located on this road. The Feight house was the first on the road; a vacant house was second, and the third, located at the end of the road, was occupied by the Crowder family.
The offenses occurred on the evening of January 17, 1976, at about 9:30 p.m. It was a bitterly cold night and there was deep snow on the ground.
Mrs. Feight testified that her daughter and family visited her that night and watched television. At about 9:10 p.m. all visitors left and she continued to watch television. After a short while she heard a crash in the unlit kitchen. She got up and walked into the kitchen and discovered that the lock had been broken off the back door. A man grabbed her and forced her into an adjoining bedroom. Her clothes were torn off and her glasses knocked off. She was then raped in her bed. She screamed and tried repeatedly to push him away. The man then took ninety dollars from her and threatened to strike her with her walker if she did not give him more money. Within moments another man came in the back door, demanding money and also raped her. He then left. Mrs. Feight was very elderly, and at trial was unable to give any description of her assailant, and was unable to state whether she had been raped twice by the same man or had been raped by two different men. She further testified that the crimes had occurred between 9:30 and 9:40 p.m.
As part of her testimony, shown relevant later in the trial, she stated that she and the assailant or assailants were the only persons to have been on the bed and on the linens with which the bed was then made up. She also testified that shortly before...
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