Schiro v. State

• Decision Date: 05 August 1983
• Docket Number: No. 1181S329,1181S329
• Citation: 451 N.E.2d 1047
• Parties: Thomas N. SCHIRO, Defendant-Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Plaintiff-Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 1047

451 N.E.2d 1047

Thomas N. SCHIRO, Defendant-Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Plaintiff-Appellee.

No. 1181S329.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Aug. 5, 1983.

Michael C. Keating, John D. Clouse, Laurie A. Baiden, Evansville, for defendant-appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen. of Indiana, Joseph N. Stevenson, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for plaintiff-appellee.

PIVARNIK, Justice.

Defendant-appellant, Thomas N. Schiro, was convicted of Murder While Committing or Attempting to Commit Rape, Ind.Code Sec. 35-42-1-1(2) (Burns Repl.1979), at the conclusion of a jury trial in Brown Circuit Court on September 12, 1981. The trial court sentenced Schiro to death. He now appeals.

Schiro raises seven errors on appeal, concerning:

1) whether the Indiana death penalty statute, Ind.Code Sec. 35-50-2-9 (Burns Repl.1979), is unconstitutional because it fails to provide for adequate review of death sentences;

2) whether the trial court erred in imposing the death penalty;

3) whether a statement given by Schiro was an involuntary custodial statement and should have been excluded from trial;

4) whether the master commissioner of Vanderburgh Circuit Court had authority to issue search warrants;

5) whether the trial court erred in excluding a letter written by the defendant on the issue of his insanity;

6) whether the trial court supplied the jury with all the necessary verdict forms; and,

7) whether the pre-sentence report contained improper information.

The evidence most favorable to the State reveals that the body of Laura Luebbehusen was discovered in her Evansville home on the morning of February 5, 1981. Laura's roommate, Darlene Hooper, and Darlene's ex-husband, Michael Hooper, discovered the body. Darlene had spent the previous night at Michael's apartment. The two found the home in great disarray, with blood covering the walls and floor. Laura's body was found near the door, her legs spread apart, and her slacks were pulled down around her ankles. The police were called and recovered a large broken vodka bottle, a handle and metal portions of an iron, a partially consumed bottle of wine, a pint bottle of vodka, and empty alcoholic beverage cans and bottles in the garbage.

Dr. Albert Venables testified as the pathologist who performed the autopsy on the victim. Dr. Venables found a number of contusions on the body but he stated that Laura Luebbehusen had been strangled to death. A number of wedge-shaped injuries on the head were most likely caused by a blunt instrument. Dr. Venables also found lacerations on one nipple and a thigh, and a tear in the vagina, all caused after the victim's death. A forensic dentist confirmed A few days after Laura Luebbehusen's body was discovered, her Toyota automobile was found about one block away from the Second Chance Halfway House. Defendant Schiro was a resident at the Halfway House, which tried to assist former criminals in finding employment and remove any obstacles that they face when released from prison. It also housed people who were sent there for treatment and counseling in lieu of sending them to prison from the local courts.

that the injury to the thigh was a human bite mark.

The director of the Halfway House, Ken Hood, asked a counselor to check the sign-in and sign-out sheets to see if any of the residents had been out at the time of the Luebbehusen murder. While the counselor was examining the sign-out sheets, Schiro approached him and asked if he could talk about something that was very "heavy." The counselor told Schiro to speak to Ken Hood. Schiro admitted to Hood that he had killed Laura Luebbehusen. Hood contacted the police and took Schiro down to the station.

Jimmy Wolff was Schiro's roommate at the Halfway House. Wolff testified that Schiro arrived at the room about 5:00 a.m., on February 5, 1981, the day Laura Luebbehusen's body was found. Schiro told Wolff he had to go downstairs and straighten things out so he would not get in trouble about being out all night.

After Schiro confessed to Ken Hood, the police searched his room and determined that the blood on a jacket found in the room was consistent with that of the victim, but not consistent with Schiro's blood. While in a holding cell in Vanderburgh County Jail, Schiro told another inmate that he had been drinking and taking Quaaludes the night of the killing, and had intercourse with the victim before and after killing her.

Mary T. Lee, Schiro's girlfriend, testified that shortly after the murder was committed, Schiro visited her in Vincennes and admitted that he killed Laura Luebbehusen. Schiro told Lee that he gained entrance to the victim's home on the pretext that his car had broken down. After pretending to use the telephone to call for assistance, Schiro asked if he could use the bathroom. He came out of the bathroom exposed but told Laura not to be alarmed because he was "gay". This story Schiro made up in order to gain the victim's confidence. Schiro further told Luebbehusen that some "gay" friends had bet him that he could not "get it on" with a woman and he just wanted to win the bet. Schiro and Luebbehusen talked about homosexuality and Luebbehusen told Schiro that she, too, was "gay". Darlene Hooper, Luebbehusen's roommate, had testified earlier that Laura was a practicing lesbian and that she had an aversion to men.

Schiro roamed through the house and came back with two dildoes and had Luebbehusen try to insert one into his anus. He found the experience too painful and told Luebbehusen he would make love to her instead. A dildo, identified at trial as the one taken from the house, was recovered in Vincennes. Mary Lee told the police where Schiro had disposed of it after showing it to her. After intercourse, Luebbehusen tried to leave but Schiro stopped her, dragged her back into the bedroom, and raped her. During this time the two had been drinking. When the liquor ran out, they left to go buy more and returned to the house. Schiro fell asleep but woke up when Luebbehusen again attempted to leave. Schiro forced her to remain and she fell asleep on the bed. While Luebbehusen slept, Schiro felt the urge to kill her, grabbed the vodka bottle, and beat her on the head until the bottle broke. He then beat her with the iron and when she resisted his attack, finally strangled her to death. Schiro then dragged Luebbehusen into another room, undressed her, and sexually assaulted the corpse.

I

Defendant Schiro's first argument concerns the constitutionality of the Indiana Death Penalty statute, Ind.Code Sec. 35-50-2-9 (Burns Repl.1979). Schiro states specifically that the death penalty does not provide Schiro admits that two recent cases have upheld the constitutionality of the Indiana death penalty statute. Williams v. State (1982) Ind., 430 N.E.2d 759, appeal dismissed (1982) --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 33, 74 L.Ed.2d 47; Brewer v. State (1981) Ind., 417 N.E.2d 889, cert. denied (1982) --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 3510, 73 L.Ed.2d 1384. See also Judy v. State, (1981) Ind., 416 N.E.2d 95. Schiro also notes that the United States Supreme Court, in Proffitt v. Florida, (1976) 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913, found the Florida death penalty statute, which is nearly identical to our death penalty statute, to be constitutional. Compare Ind.Code Sec. 35-50-2-9 (Burns Repl.1979) with Fla.Stat.Ann. Sec. 921.141 (West Supp.1983). While conceding that the procedure under our statute may be constitutional, Schiro argues that the following passage from Proffitt indicates the Supreme Court's mandate of proportionality review in cases involving the death penalty:

for any proportionality review of death sentences by this Court. According to Schiro, the term "proportionality review" requires that the sentence handed down by the trial court be compared to sentences imposed in similar circumstances. This, Schiro urges, would insure that the death penalty is not arbitrarily and capriciously applied. Since Ind.Code Sec. 35-50-2-9 does not explicitly mandate this form of review and this Court has allegedly failed to engage in such review, Schiro believes that the death penalty statute is unconstitutional.

"The law differs from that of Georgia in that it does not require the court to conduct any specific form of review. Since, however, the trial judge must justify the imposition of death sentence with written findings, meaningful appellate review of each sentence is made possible, and the Supreme Court of Florida, like its Georgia counterpart, considers its function to be to '[guarantee] that the [aggravating and mitigating] reasons present in one case will reach a similar result to that reached under similar circumstances in another case.... If a defendant is sentenced to die, this Court can review that case in light of the other decisions and determine whether or not the punishment is too great.' State v. Dixon, 283 So.2d 1, 10 (1973)."

428 U.S. at 250-51, 96 S.Ct. at 2966, 49 L.Ed.2d at 922.

Although Schiro has not raised this argument, and without going into great detail, we feel it is incumbent to note that this Court has consistently held that the death penalty does not violate the ban against cruel and unusual punishment, Article 1, Sec. 16 of the Indiana Constitution. Brewer, supra, 417 N.E.2d at 894; Adams v. State, (1971) 259 Ind. 64, 74, 271 N.E.2d 425, 430, and cases cited therein. Similarly, the United States Supreme Court has held that the death penalty does not violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Gregg v. Georgia, (1976) 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859; Proffitt v. Florida, (1976) 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913; Jurek v. Texas, (1976) 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929.

This Court has comparatively analyzed the Florida death penalty statute, approved in Proffitt, supra, and our own statute at great length. Brewer, supra, 417 N.E.2d at 897; see also Judy v. State, 416 N.E.2d at 107. Both statutes require...