Sampson v. State, 30994

• Decision Date: 31 July 1968
• Docket Number: No. 30994,30994
• Citation: Sampson v. State, 238 N.E.2d 661, 251 Ind. 72 (Ind. 1968)
• Parties: Willie 'Spooky' SAMPSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 661

238 N.E.2d 661

251 Ind. 72

Willie 'Spooky' SAMPSON, Appellant, v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 30994.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

July 31, 1968.

Robert S. McCain, Fort Wayne, for appellant.

John J. Dillon, Atty. Gen., Charles J. Deither Indianapolis, for appellee.

JACKSON, Judge.

Appellant was charged on October 4, 1965, in the City Court of the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the crime of Assault and Battery with Intent to Commit a Felony: Rape.Thereafter said cause was transferred to the Allen Circuit Court.The affidavit, omitting formal parts, signature and jurat, reads as follows:

'Undersigned being duly sworn, upon oath, says: That on or about the 29th day of AugustA.D., 1965, at the County of Allen and in the State of Indiana, said Defendant, Willie 'Spooky' Sampson did then and there unlawfully and feloniously attempted to commit a violent injury upon the person of Ella Mae Mosley, a woman then and there being, he, the said Willie 'Spooky' Sampson, then and there having the present ability so to do, with intent then and there and thereby feloniously and forcibly to ravish and carnally know the said Ella Mae Mosley, against her will, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided.'

Thereafter, on January 3, 1966, appellant in person and by counsel, waived arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge embraced in the affidavit.Appellant at said time waived trial by jury.

On March 3, 1966, this cause came on for trial, finding and judgment, before the court, without the intervention of a jury.At the conclusion of all the evidence the court found appellant guilty of the offense of Assault and Battery with Intent to Commit a Felony: Rape, as charged in the affidavit and that he was then 23 years of age.The cause was then referred to the Probation Officer for pre-sentence investigation.

Afterwards, on March 3, 1966, appellant filed his motion for new trial, the grounds thereof being:

'1.That the finding of the Court is not sustained by sufficient evidence.

2.That the finding of the Court is contrary to law.'

Hearing was had on appellant's Motion for New Trial on April 5, 1966, at the conclusion of which the court overruled appellant's motion.Sentencing deferred to April 18, 1966.

Thereafter, on May 9, 1966, the court after having examined the pre-sentence investigation report and being duly advised in the premises, entered judgment as follows:

'It is, therefore, ordered, adjudged and decreed by the Court that the defendant, Willie 'Spooky' Sampson, is guilty of the offense of Assault and Battery With Intent to Commit A Felony: Rape, as charged in the affidavit, and that he be and he is hereby committed to the custody of the Board of Managers of the Indiana State Reformatory for a period of not less than one (1) year, nor more than ten (10) years, and that he pay and satisfy the costs herein taxed.'

Appellant's Assignment of Errors is the single specification:

'The Court erred in overruling the appellant's motion for a new trial.'

The evidence most favorable to the State, appellee, is that appellant went to the home of the prosecuting witness shortly after midnight on August 29, 1965, to ostensibly return some license plates to her husband.Prosecutrix admitted him into her home, and once inside he asked permission to use the bathroom.From inside the bathroom appellant asked prosecutrix where her husband was.She informed him that the did not know, and that appellant would have be leave because she did not want to 'be bothered with drunks all night.'Prosecutrix then testified that appellant, now in the kitchen, grabbed her around the throat, and that she began screaming for the person in the upstairs apartment.She then testified that defendant said, 'Shut up or I'll kill you.'Appellant then dragged her into a clothes closet where the struggle continued.While in the closet prosecutrix alleged that appellant pulled her pajama bottoms down and unzipped his pants.She also said that she begged appellant not to 'do this,' and told him that her husband would come home and kill appellant and harm her.Prosecutrix then grabbed an automobile spotlight from the closet, and struck appellant several times on the head with it.She testified that after she struck him appellant said, 'I'm going to have me some.'She then said that appellant told her to go outside with him and that once outside she again began screaming for the man in the upstairs apartment.Appellant then threw prosecutrix to the ground.At this time the man in the upstairs apartment opened his window, and looked out.Ap...