Roach v. State
| Decision Date | 19 June 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 49S00-9512-CR-1324,49S00-9512-CR-1324 |
| Parties | Russell W. ROACH, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Monica Foster, Hammerle Foster & Long-Sharp, Indianapolis, for Appellant.
Pamela Carter, Attorney General, Preston W. Black, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, for Appellee.
Defendant Russell Roach was found guilty of murder after a jury trial. The trial court sentenced defendant to serve a fifty-five (55) year sentence and ordered him to pay a ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine and to pay
twelve thousand six hundred and ninety-seven dollars and thirty-eight cents ($12,697.38) in restitution to the victim's family. Defendant now challenges his conviction and the restitution order. In this direct appeal, defendant raises five issues: 1) whether the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to permit an expert witness to testify; 2) whether insufficient evidence exists to sustain his conviction; 3) whether the trial court erred by permitting the admission of evidence that defendant had a prior conviction for burglary; 4) whether defendant is entitled to a new trial because of prosecutorial misconduct; and 5) whether the trial court erred in its restitution order. We answer each issue in the negative and affirm the trial court.
At approximately 3:48 a.m. on January 18, 1995, the 911 system received a call originating from defendant's home. Though the operator could hear voices in the background, no one responded to the operator's questions. Defendant did not remember making the call, but witnesses testified that it was his voice heard on the line. In response to the call, the operator sent two police officers to defendant's home.
The officers arrived at defendant's home at approximately 3:56 a.m. One of the officers, looking through a window, saw defendant dragging a body through the kitchen. He also saw defendant pick up a phone and try to place a call, even though another phone was lying on the floor off its hook. At this point, the officer knocked on defendant's front door. After several minutes, defendant finally opened the door. Defendant asked the officer to help his friend because the friend had shot himself. The officer noticed that defendant had scratches on his face and was reacting very slowly. After handcuffing defendant, the officer searched the home and found the dead body of Robert Grounds on the kitchen floor. The officer also found a .25 caliber pistol in the kitchen.
At approximately 4:05 a.m., a detective arrived at defendant's house. Defendant told her that he did not know Grounds, that Grounds shot himself, and that the shooting occurred outside of the house. The police took defendant to the police station where he waived his rights and gave a statement. Defendant stated that Grounds was an acquaintance of his and had come to his house around 2:00 a.m. that morning. Grounds was behaving strangely, and defendant and Grounds got into a fight. Grounds then pulled out a gun, they struggled over the gun, and the gun discharged and hit Grounds. Defendant told the police that he attempted to call 911 but then the police arrived. Defendant also stated that he did not remember telling the detective that Grounds had shot himself and that it had happened outside. Later that day, defendant went to a hospital to be examined. He told his hospital caretakers that he had been slammed against a wall and had been hit in the head with a gun. He said that the events were somewhat hazy and that he could not remember everything that had happened. His explanation of the events at the hospital was very similar to his statement to the police.
Defendant testified at trial. He testified that he was awakened around 3:30 a.m. on the morning of January 18, 1995 by Grounds banging on his door. After defendant let Grounds inside, Grounds demanded that defendant give him some money. When defendant refused, Grounds became hostile and hit defendant, eventually knocking him unconscious. When defendant regained consciousness, he found Grounds taking money from his wallet. Defendant tried to grab the money from Grounds, but it tore. As defendant tried to use the phone, Grounds pointed a gun at him. The two of them struggled over the gun, defendant was hit in the head with the gun, he fell against the wall and again hit his head, and the gun discharged. The cause of Grounds' death was a gunshot wound to the chest. The pathologist who testified at trial stated that Grounds' blood alcohol level at the time of death was .277, that Grounds had a fracture on his left hand which occurred at or near the time of death, and that two torn ten dollar bills were in Grounds' pocket.
Defendant first argues that the trial court denied him a fair trial by excluding the testimony of an expert witness. At trial, defendant attempted to have an expert testify about his state of mind during and after the incident. Defendant wished to present this evidence to help explain the actions that he took and the inconsistent statements that he gave. In this appeal, defendant argues that the expert would have testified that defendant had suffered a concussion as a result of the altercation with Grounds and that this concussion would help to explain his irrational and inconsistent behavior. The trial court did not allow the expert to testify, and defendant asserts that this is reversible error.
Every defendant has the fundamental right to present witnesses in their own defense. Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 302, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973); Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 19, 87 S.Ct. 1920, 18 L.Ed.2d 1019 (1967); Kellems v. State, 651 N.E.2d 326, 328 (Ind.Ct.App.1995). This right "is in plain terms the right to present a defense, the right to present the defendant's version of the facts as well as the prosecution's to the jury so it may decide where the truth lies." Washington, 388 U.S. at 19, 87 S.Ct. 1920, 18 L.Ed.2d 1019. At the same time, while the right to present witnesses is of the utmost importance, it is not absolute. See Chambers, 410 U.S. at 302, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297; Kellems, 651 N.E.2d at 328. "In the exercise of this right, the accused, as is required of the State, must comply with established rules of procedure and evidence designed to assure both fairness and reliability in the ascertainment of guilt and innocence." Chambers, 410 U.S. at 302, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297.
One of the evidence rules which a defendant must abide by concerns expert witness testimony. Ind.Evidence Rule 702. Evidence Rule 702 allows for expert witness testimony "[i]f scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue." Evid.R. 702. Whether or not the proffered witness meets these requirements and, thus, whether or not the witness should be allowed to testify, is a decision within the discretion of the trial court. See Byrd v. State, 593 N.E.2d 1183, 1185 (Ind.1992). On appeal, this Court only reviews such decisions for an abuse of discretion. Id.
If the trial court's decision was to exclude the expert testimony, then this Court may only review the decision if the defendant made a proper offer to prove. See Bradford v. State, 675 N.E.2d 296, 301-02 (Ind.1996), reh'g denied; Yoon v. Yoon, 687 N.E.2d 201, 205-06 (Ind.Ct.App.1997); Ind.Evidence Rule 103(a)(2). An offer to prove is "an 'offer' from counsel regarding what a witness would say if he was allowed to testify." Bradford, 675 N.E.2d at 301. The Rules of Evidence require that "the substance of the evidence" be made known to the trial court in the offer to prove. Evid.R. 103(a)(2). Also, the offer to prove should identify the grounds for admission of the testimony and the relevance of the testimony. See Hilton v. State, 648 N.E.2d 361, 362 (Ind.1995); Yoon, 687 N.E.2d at 206; United States v. Peak, 856 F.2d 825, 832 (7th Cir.1988); 13B R. MILLER, INDIANA PRACTICE, COURTROOM HANDBOOK ON INDIANA EVIDENCE 10 (1998); 1 JACK B. WEINSTEIN & MARGARET A. BERGER, WEINSTEIN'S EVIDENCE § 103.20, (2d ed. 1997).
Defendant asks that we review the trial court's decision to exclude the expert's testimony. Before addressing the merits of defendant's argument, we must answer two preliminary questions to determine whether defendant has preserved this issue for appeal. First, we must decide whether defendant made an offer to prove at trial. If we decide that defendant made an offer to prove, we must next determine whether the offer to prove made at trial covers the same grounds that defendant argues on appeal.
In answer to the first question, we conclude that defendant made a reviewable offer to prove. After the witness was sworn in but before the witness gave any statement, the trial court asked for "a brief statement from the lawyers as to what the evidence will be and why it's admissible and why it's not Had we been asked to review the trial court's decision to exclude the expert's testimony based upon this offer, we would probably find that, although a close call, the trial court did not abuse its discretion. The trial court was within its discretion to determine that defendant did not satisfy Evidence Rule 702 for admitting expert testimony. Considering that the substance of the offer to prove dealt with why a frightened individual might act and speak irrationally, the court may have felt that this evidence was within the jury's understanding and, thus, an expert witness would not assist the jury as is required by Rule 702.
admissible." (R. at 1245.) Defendant informed the court that the witness was a doctor who had testified in many trials and that defendant would seek to qualify the witness as an expert in psychiatry and the field of medicine. Defendant further informed the court that the witness had an opinion based upon an examination of the facts and
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