Redington v. State

• Citation: 992 N.E.2d 823
• Decision Date: 06 August 2013
• Docket Number: No. 53A01–1210–CR–461.,53A01–1210–CR–461.
• Parties: Robert E. REDINGTON, Appellant–Respondent, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Petitioner.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Indiana

992 N.E.2d 823

Robert E. REDINGTON, Appellant–Respondent,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Petitioner.

No. 53A01–1210–CR–461.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

Aug. 6, 2013.

Guy A. Relford, The Law Offices of Guy A. Relford, Carmel, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Ellen H. Meilaender, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Robert E. Redington appeals from the trial court's order to retain firearms. Redington raises four issues, which we consolidate and restate as:

I. Whether Ind.Code § 35–47–14–1 et seq., as applied to Redington, is unconstitutional; and

II. Whether the evidence is sufficient to support the order that Redington's firearms be retained.

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¹

In late July 2012, Redington, who lives in Indianapolis, approached Devon Moore, a Bloomington parking enforcement officer in a Bloomington parking garage and began telling him that he has a gun range and that he found a person dead behind the range and thought perhaps he had killed the man, but that he subsequently learned that the man had killed himself. As Moore attempted to walk away, Redington followed him and began speaking about Lauren Spierer, an Indiana University student who had disappeared, and stated that he was in Bloomington to help find her, explaining that he had met her previously and that “he thought that she would come back and he would see her either through spirit or her physical body.” Transcript at 9. He also said that he believed Spierer would “come around” to Kilroy's Sports Bar, which was where she had been the night she went missing, and that “he was just waiting for her to be there.” Id. at 13. Redington also stated that “he sees spirits and dark entities” and spoke about Jewish neighbors of his who “molested one of their daughters and [Redington] found out about it and they took him [ ] up north somewhere and [ ] let him off in a cornfield,” and about how he “and his dad could see dark spirits in his home....” Id. at 9. Redington also told Moore that “he had guns on him and it made [him] feel ... courageous to have” them. Id. at 11. Moore phoned his boss after ending the encounter with Redington, and his boss told him that if he observed Redington again he should call the police.

About a week later, on August 4, 2012, Moore again observed Redington on the third floor of the same parking garage appearing to be looking through binoculars toward Kilroy's, and Moore called the police. Bloomington Police Officer Kyle Abram and another officer responded and observed Redington in the northwest corner of the third floor overlooking Kilroy's holding a range finder and, with guns drawn, made contact with him. Redington put his hands up and told the officers that he had a gun, and Officer McCoy, the second officer, recovered a handgun from Redington's pocket. Officer McCoy unloaded the gun, which had a bullet in the chamber and a full magazine, and then handed the weapon to Officer William Keaton, who had arrived on the scene. Officer Abram then observed a second gun sticking out from Redington's right front pocket, and Officer McCoy retrieved that gun as well, unloaded it, and handed it to Officer Keaton. Redington informed the officers that he had a shotgun in his vehicle which the officers eventually retrieved, as well as various rounds of ammunition located throughout the car.

The officers asked Redington why he was there, and he responded that he had been coming to Bloomington from Indianapolis for several weekends in a row and that he was “looking at or for people and at buildings and at lights.” Id. at 31. Redington then said that he had previously met Spierer at a gun range and “he got her name wrong and ... he felt and told her that he felt that she was in danger of some type and that he warned her of that....” Id. Redington also told the officers that he checked the range of the front door of Kilroy's with his range finder and asked the officers if they “felt with the firearms that [they] carry on duty ... in a firefight that we would be able to hit someone from sixty-six yards during and in the mist [sic] of a firefight.” Id. at 32. Soon after, Redington mentioned that “he had ranged what would be approximately sixty-six yards from where he ... was standing ... [on] the third floor of the parking garage to ... where you would come around the corner” the officers used to approach. Id. Redington also stated that he ranged to somewhere near the back of Kilroy's as being approximately sixty-six yards. Officer Abram asked Redington at some point if he owned other guns, and Redington laughed and said that he had several and specifically noted that he owned a rifle that “he had sighted in at that distance of sixty-six yards” and that “he could shoot accurately at that distance.” Id. at 33–34. Redington's statements “alarmed [Officer Abram] quite a bit.” Id. at 34.

Officer Abram asked Redington if he would come to the police station to speak about the Spierer case, and Redington agreed and drove himself to the station. Bloomington Police phoned Detective Randy Gehlhausen, who had been working on the Spierer investigation, to come in and interview Redington. At the outset of the interview, Detective Gehlhausen asked Redington why he was in Bloomington and Redington replied: “I am in searching of anything I can come up with. Anything. I get kinda weird here, so and I don't, I don't allow myself to be limited to the physical. If I get a funny feeling, that's good enough.” Exhibit A at 4–5. Redington then stated that he was looking for Spierer, telling Detective Gehlhausen that he had met Spierer at a gun range three years ago with Cory Rossman, who was a person of interest in the investigation, and that Redington had warned her that she was in danger. Detective Gehlhausen knew that this was not true because Spierer and Rossman were not acquainted at that time. Redington told Detective Gehlhausen that he had been looking for Spierer and wanted to avenge her. He spoke about observing a petite woman on the college campus and how “[i]t would take nothing to just grab her and toss her in” a vehicle, and how he went to a strip club and paid a stripper one dollar for every question he asked her, including how much she weighed, how tall she is, and how much she can drink in an evening. Id. at 24. Redington told Detective Gehlhausen that, based upon her responses, in which she said she was four feet, six inches tall and weighed ninety-two pounds, he thought: “Could she put up a fight? Could she do anything? Could she run? What could she do?” Id. at 25.

Redington also stated that he had dreams about death and told stories including that his father told him that he would see him again after he passed, which came true, that he recalled an incident “about seeing an owl and a black man involved in the Spierer investigation by an ash tree close to Kilroy's,” and that once, while attending a church in North Carolina, he envisioned that the pastor's son was committing suicide which turned out to be the case. Transcript at 67–68. He told Detective Gehlhausen that he possessed “[i]nsight” and has a “[s]piritual gift of prophecy.” Exhibit A at 44. Detective Gehlhausen's impression of Redington based upon the interview was that he appeared “very delusional,” noting also that Redington “would just jump from one conversation to the next” and that he would talk to himself when he was alone and would talk under his breath to himself when in the presence of others. Transcript at 69. Redington also told Detective Gehlhausen that he did not point a rifle at anybody “because there's too many cameras and that he would have been seen.” Id. at 70. Detective Ric Crussen, who was the main investigator of Spierer's disappearance, also interviewed Redington and confronted him about not being truthful which made Redington angry.

Following the interview, Officer Abram transported Redington to the IU Health Center in Bloomington for a mental evaluation. Dawn Goodman, the registered nurse assigned to Redington, observed that he “appeared delusional, grandiose, and [ ] religiously preoccupied,” in that he appeared to be experiencing “a break with ... reality” and that he claimed “he would know things that would happen beforehand.” Id. at 97–98. In addition to talking about the Spierer investigation, Redington told Goodman that he had an ongoing problem with neighbors running through his home, although his wife had not witnessed this, that he did not feel safe at home, that he saw ghosts, and that he hears a small voice in his head. Redington also met with and was treated by Doctor Carey Mayer, a licensed psychiatrist.

That same night, Officer Abram obtained search warrants to retain the three firearms seized from Redington in the parking garage and to search his home in Indianapolis to retrieve other firearms. Detective Gehlhausen and Sergeant Brad Seperts, along with a member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, executed the search warrant of Redington's home and discovered guns throughout the home. The majority of the guns were recovered from Redington's bedroom, including ten or twelve on the bed and underneath the sheets or tucked underneath the pillows, a few in between the bed and the frame, and another twelve guns underneath the bed. Also in the bedroom were several rifle cases, baskets containing handguns, and drawers containing handguns. The bedroom also contained enough ammunition to probably “fill up the back of a pickup truck.” Id. at 74. All told, the police seized forty-eight firearms, including several rifles equipped with scopes, as well as handguns and shotguns.

On August 13, 2012, the State filed a petition for a hearing pursuant to Ind.Code § 35–47–14–5, and the court set a hearing date of August 20, 2012. Following a continuance which was requested by Redington, the court held a hearing on September 5,...