Riggs v. State, 49S02-0406-CR-246.
| Decision Date | 03 June 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 49S02-0406-CR-246.,49S02-0406-CR-246. |
| Parties | Sterling RIGGS, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Timothy J. O'Connor, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Cynthia L. Ploughe, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
The removal of a juror after deliberations have begun requires a record establishing that the deliberations of the other jurors were not prejudiced by the removal and that cause existed for removal without depriving the defendant of his right to a jury trial. In this case a juror was removed without establishing the need to do so, and without taking precautions to prevent the rest of the jury from being improperly influenced. We remand this case for a new trial.
In 1985, fifteen-year-old T.P. was an eighth grader attending school in Indianapolis. T.P. left her aunt's home on April 7, Easter Sunday morning, saying she would be back to go to church. She never returned, and a week later her body was found floating in Fall Creek. An autopsy determined that T.P. had drowned, and been in the water approximately forty-eight hours or slightly longer. T.P. was naked, and bound by articles of clothing around her ankles, neck and wrists. Both vaginal and rectal swabs revealed spermatozoa.
No suspects emerged in 1985, and the investigation was dormant until 2000, when the lead detective initiated a comparison of DNA samples from T.P.'s body with a statewide DNA database. A match was found with a sample from Sterling Riggs, who had lived behind T.P.'s aunt at the time of T.P.'s death. The State charged Riggs with murder, felony murder, Class A criminal deviate conduct, and rape. The trial occurred in October 2001, and the jury found the defendant guilty of murder and criminal deviate conduct, but not guilty of rape and felony murder. Riggs was sentenced to consecutive sentences of sixty-five years for murder and fifty years for criminal deviate conduct. The Court of Appeals, in an unpublished memorandum decision, affirmed the convictions for murder and criminal deviate conduct but reduced the latter to a Class B felony. Riggs seeks transfer.
Riggs contends that: 1) the trial court erred when it replaced a sitting juror, 2) the evidence is insufficient to support the murder conviction, 3) the evidence is insufficient to support the criminal deviate conduct conviction, 4) the convictions violate Indiana's Double Jeopardy Clause, and 5) a sentence of sixty-five years for a murder committed in 1985 is erroneous. We now grant transfer and summarily affirm the Court of Appeals as to issues 2, 3, 4, and 5. Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A)(2).
Approximately four hours after the jury began deliberating the trial court received a note from the foreman. After consulting with counsel for both Riggs and the State, the trial court engaged in the following dialogue with the foreman outside the presence of the other jurors:
After the judge excused the foreman, Riggs's attorney requested that the court ask the foreman if he believed further deliberations would yield a unanimous verdict. If the answer was no, Riggs asked that the court declare a hung jury and grant a mistrial. The State responded by asking for removal of the juror who was the subject of the foreman's concern. The trial court recalled the foreman and the following occurred:
The State then reiterated its request that the juror be replaced, and Riggs responded that the record was not sufficiently clear to warrant the removal of a juror. After a brief recess, the trial judge was handed a note from the jury foreman asking for the court to The jury was informed that the "official statute" was contained in the instructions and the court directed that deliberations continue. The State had no problem with the trial court's response, but Riggs's attorney expressed concern that the jury had continued deliberating, "without the juror who caused the problem." We assume, but are not certain, that this was based on the foreman's reports that little progress had been made since 5:00 p.m., and the assumption that the still unnamed juror, though present, was not engaged in the deliberations.
Sometime between 6:15 and 7:30 the foreman sent the following note to the trial court, "The juror, Marcus Wallace, needs to see the Judge, ASAP." The parties agreed that the court should interview Wallace and the following examination took place:
The State then reiterated its desire to have Wallace replaced by an alternate, and Riggs disagreed, arguing the juror should continue and failure to do so would be a violation of Riggs's constitutional right to a unanimous jury verdict. The trial court denied the defense's request to poll the jury as to whether they could reach a verdict. The trial court then made the following statement: At 7:30 p.m. court reconvened and the judge dismissed the juror.
The trial court then reconvened the jury and told them it had released Wallace from the panel. It then placed an alternate juror on the jury. It then asked each juror, in the presence of the others, if the removal of the juror would interfere with their ability to render "a fair and impartial verdict," to which each responded "no." At 10:25 p.m. the jury reported it had reached a verdict. After Riggs unsuccessfully moved for a mistrial, the jury reported its verdict of guilty as to the murder and...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Whiting v. State
...a perfect one. E.g., Ross, 487 U.S. at 91, 108 S.Ct. 2273; Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 681, 106 S.Ct. 1431. 11. Whiting cites Riggs v. State, 809 N.E.2d 322 (Ind.2004), to support the proposition that “[j]uror impartiality challenges have been reviewed under the fundamental error doctrine.” Pe......
-
Durden v. State
...Court of Appeals reversed Durden's conviction, finding Juror 12's removal "unjustified" and thus "structural error" under Riggs v. State , 809 N.E.2d 322 (Ind. 2004). Durden v. State , 83 N.E.3d 1232, 1237 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017), vacated . Contrary to the procedural requirements set forth in ......
-
Arnold v. State, No. A05A0222.
...exchanges in the course of deliberations often accompany the heightened atmosphere in the jury room").5 See also Riggs v. State, 809 N.E.2d 322, 328 (Ind.2004) (rudeness and intransigence of juror did not provide basis for removal); People v. Redd, 164 A.D.2d 34, 37, 561 N.Y.S.2d 439 (1990)......
-
Major v. State
...constitutional rights [are] so basic to a fair trial that their infraction can never be treated as harmless error.'" Riggs v. State, 809 N.E.2d 322, 328 (Ind.2004). The Court has further observed that, "`the right to an impartial adjudicator, be it judge or jury, is such a right.'" Riggs, 8......