Phillips v. State

Decision Date07 July 1982
Docket NumberNo. 881S202,881S202
PartiesElla Rose PHILLIPS, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

Leroy K. New, Carmel, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Richard Albert Alford, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

GIVAN, Chief Justice.

Appellant was charged along with two co-defendants in one count of murder. A jury found appellant guilty of the crime of Voluntary Manslaughter. Appellant was sentenced to a fifteen year term of imprisonment.

Following are the facts. The decedent, one James Phillips, was the ex-husband of appellant. In the late evening or early morning hours of August 25-26, 1980, appellant went to an Indianapolis bar to drink with one of her brothers, Jimmy Wallace, one William Kimberly, and one Tina Sparks. At some point it was determined the four were going to go to the decedent's home to collect a debt allegedly owed by him to appellant's brother Jimmy.

Later in the evening the four were picked up by another of appellant's brothers, Teddy Wallace, and a sixth person, one Arnold. All six drove to the decedent's home. Upon arriving appellant and both of appellant's brothers confronted the decedent. When the decedent entered a car parked in back of his house, Jimmy Wallace dragged him from the car and a fight ensued. Appellant encouraged her brother throughout the attack. The decedent was stabbed several times. When the fight was over the four re-entered the car, which Arnold and Kimberly had by this time driven to the back of the house. Jimmy Wallace was holding a switchblade knife when he entered the car. He stated to the group that he had killed the decedent.

Early the next morning appellant, Kimberly, and appellant's brothers were arrested. Appellant and her brothers were charged with the instant offense, although charges against Teddy were later dismissed.

Appellant claims the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury. The gist of appellant's contention is there was a failure by the State to prove the identity of the person murdered. Appellant acknowledges a police officer investigating the crime testified he viewed the body of a deceased person identified to him as "James Phillips." Appellant also concedes a pathologist testified he examined the body of a person and identified it as the body of one "James Phillips." He further testified the person so identified died as a result of multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.

Additionally, the testimony of witness William Kimberly was that "James Phillips" was the person he saw assaulted by Jimmy Wallace with appellant's encouragement and was the same person Jimmy stated he had killed upon re-entering the car in which the group had traveled to the scene. However, appellant contends there is insufficient testimony to connect the testimony of these witnesses in such a way as to allow the jury to reasonably infer that all the "James Phillipses" referred to by each were in fact the same person.

Appellant's contention is without merit. Witness Kimberly testified he was present at the events of the night in question. He identified State's Exhibit Two as a photograph of the decedent's body laying beside the car from which he was pulled and assaulted by Jimmy Wallace. A police officer identified State's Exhibits Three and Four as photographs of the scene where the body of one James Phillips was found on the ground beside his car. The police officer identified State's Exhibit One as a photograph of the face and shoulders of James Phillips as he lay on the ground at the scene. State's Exhibit Five is a photograph of the body of the subject of an autopsy identified by a pathologist as that of one James Phillips.

Taken as a whole the evidence offered, and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from it, support the jury's conclusion that the James Phillips named in the indictment, the James Phillips found dead by police in back of his home, the James Phillips identified by witness Kimberly as the person assaulted by appellant's brother, and the James Phillips identified by the...

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2 cases
  • Meisberger v. State, 53A01-9307-CR-243
    • United States
    • Indiana Appellate Court
    • September 26, 1994
    ...863; Scott v. State (1980), Ind.App., 409 N.E.2d 1184, 1189. See also Graham v. State (1989), Ind., 535 N.E.2d 1152; Phillips v. State (1982), Ind., 436 N.E.2d 1123; Eiffe v. State (1948), 226 Ind. 57, 77 N.E.2d 750. Any lack of certainty as to identity goes to weight, not admissibility. Te......
  • Graham v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • March 21, 1989
    ...named in the information was the same person who was the subject of the witnesses' testimony and the coroner's report. Phillips v. State (1982), Ind., 436 N.E.2d 1123. The evidence is sufficient to sustain appellant's Appellant argues his conviction must be reversed due to the erroneous adm......

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