Robinson v. State

• Decision Date: 26 December 1985
• Docket Number: No. 783S269,783S269
• Parties: Samuel ROBINSON, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 986

486 N.E.2d 986

Samuel ROBINSON, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below).

No. 783S269.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Dec. 26, 1985.

Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender of Indiana, C.H. Gardner, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael B. Murphy, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

PIVARNIK, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Samuel Robinson was found guilty but mentally ill of murder by a jury on January 13, 1983, in the Elkhart Superior Court. He subsequently was sentenced to a term of thirty (30) years by the trial judge, who also recommended he be transferred to a psychiatric institution.

Three issues are presented for our consideration in this direct appeal:

1. denial of Appellant's motion to suppress;

2. sufficiency of the evidence; and

3. improper admission of the testimony of Police Officer Clark.

On March 4, 1982, the body of Charles Boswell was discovered in his rented room at a boarding house located at 219 West Blaine, Elkhart, Indiana. The cause of death was determined to be a single stab wound to the chest. Death occurred approximately two to three days prior to this discovery. When investigating police detectives arrived at the boarding house they encountered Defendant Samuel Robinson, who lived in a room as a boarder at the same boarding house.

The police observed that Defendant continually attempted to go into the room where the body was and appeared extremely nervous to the police officers. He told them that he and the decedent were friends. When questioned, Defendant was hesitant in responding. Throughout this investigation it was the opinion of the police officers that Defendant's nervousness did not appear to them to be caused by his being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The police officers did observe his conduct to be suspicious and Captain Michael Coryn asked the defendant to come down to the police station to give a statement. Defendant agreed to go but went to his room to get his coat and closed the door behind him. When Officer Coryn knocked on the door, Defendant opened it and just stood there, said he wanted to talk, and invited Detective Coryn into the room. Detective Coryn entered the room and asked Defendant if he knew how Decedent met his death, to which Defendant suggested a drug overdose, but later said Decedent did not use drugs. Coryn noticed a bag of marijuana on Defendant's coffee table. Defendant seemed to become more and more agitated and nervous and stated to the officer that the deceased was "strange." Coryn became more suspicious of the defendant and read him his Miranda rights. Defendant started to walk out of the room, crying, at which time Coryn advised the other officers to escort the defendant to the police station and that he was under arrest for possession of marijuana. Defendant was escorted to the police station by Detective William Endler, who noticed that Defendant was extremely nervous en route to the station.

Defendant made statements to many of the officers at different times in which he gave varying versions of what actually happened. At one point he said that he and the decedent had gotten into a fight and the decedent knocked Defendant down. At times he would stop talking and stare at the ceiling or floor for thirty seconds to a minute and then speak for five to ten seconds as if he were reliving the incident. At one point Defendant asked Detective Arthur Kern for help, to which the Detective said he would if he knew what the defendant wanted, but Defendant did not respond. Each time one of the officers talked to Defendant, the Miranda rights were read to him with full explanation of their meaning. The police officers all testified they had no doubt that Defendant understood these rights and knowingly waived them, indicating that he was willing to talk to them. Defendant admitted stabbing the decedent after a fight and gave three different accounts of what he did with the knife. In a final statement, Detective Ivory read the statement back to Defendant and Defendant signed each page, initialled the first and last word of each page, and did not indicate he wanted to make any changes. The defendant indicated he had not told the entire truth at the preceding interrogation and wanted to set the record straight. Defendant's brother, Ernest Robinson, was present at this time and encouraged Defendant to tell the truth. Defendant then indicated that he and the decedent had had a homosexual relationship and that Decedent had taken up with another man. Because of this, the fight ensued between Defendant and Decedent, culminating in the stabbing incident. Defendant told his brother in the presence of the officers that he fully understood his rights and was telling the truth. All of the officers testified that Defendant appeared to know what he was doing, understood his rights, knowingly waived them, and was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Defense witness Dr. Robert Price, a psychiatrist acquainted with the defendant since 1973, testified that the defendant has a psychiatric condition coupled with drug addiction problems. He stated at the suppression hearing that Defendant's confused state was "readily apparent" some of the time, "extremely obvious" other times, and "very difficult" to determine at still other times. He did state that it was extremely apparent in a stressful situation. Dr Price's conclusion was that the defendant was insane on March 4, 1982. Court appointed psychiatrist Gerald Kauffman stated that in April, 1982, he believed Defendant knew what he did was wrong, but in January, 1983, a week before the trial, Dr. Kauffman changed his evaluation to that of insanity. Court appointed psychiatrist Lawrence K. Musselman testified his conclusion was that Defendant appreciated the seriousness of what he had done but doubted the defendant could conform his acts with the law. Dr. Musselman further testified that it is extremely difficult after the fact to evaluate the sanity of a defendant. He stated there is no certainty, and that people who have observed an individual at the time of the crime or very shortly thereafter are much better judges of what the individual's state of mind was at that time, whether they be laymen or professionals. Several of the police officers testified that although the defendant appeared nervous and gave varying versions of the incident, this was not unusual and was, as a matter of fact, normal conduct for people in these circumstances.

I & II

We consider issues I & II together because they are based on similar contentions of Appellant.

Appellant claims the trial court violated his constitutional rights under the Indiana and United States Constitutions by allowing into evidence his verbal and written statements obtained by the police, because Appellant lacked sufficient mental capacity to understand his rights and the consequences of waiving them. Appellant maintains there is therefore no probative evidence to support the trial court's findings that these statements were made knowingly and voluntarily. His contentions are based on the testimony of the three psychiatrists and the indications of his behavior demonstrated in the testimony of the police officers. He claims the State had a heavy burden to overcome in proving Appellant knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights and that the State did not carry this burden since it was apparent by the above indicated testimony that the State was able to...