Shelton v. State

• Decision Date: 27 March 1986
• Docket Number: No. 984,984
• Citation: 490 N.E.2d 738
• Parties: John D. SHELTON, III., Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. S 364.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 738

490 N.E.2d 738

John D. SHELTON, III., Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 984 S 364.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

March 27, 1986.

Wallace E. Weakley, Sheridan, Terrance W. Richmond, Richmond, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Richard Albert Alford, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

SHEPARD, Justice.

Appellant John D. Shelton was tried before a jury and convicted of murder and criminal confinement, a class B felony. Shelton was sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment of sixty years and twenty years, respectively. His murder sentence was enhanced by an additional thirty years since he was also found to be an habitual offender.

Appellant raises eight issues in this direct appeal:

(1) Whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain his convictions;

(2) Whether the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress the statements he made to the police;

(3) Whether certain State's exhibits were improperly admitted into evidence;

(4) Whether the trial court erroneously refused to admit a videotaped statement which he gave to Oklahoma police;

(5) Whether the State intentionally withheld impeachment evidence in violation of a discovery order;

(6) Whether the failure to hold an initial hearing on the habitual offender count is reversible error;

(7) Whether the court wrongly instructed the jury that his prior convictions constituted felonies, and

(8) Whether the trial court sufficiently stated the aggravating circumstances which warranted imposition of consecutive sentences.

These are the facts which tend to support the trial court's judgment.

On August 27, 1982, John Shelton (appellant), Sam Catrabone (co-defendant), and Dianna Ingram (the murder victim) were socializing at a massage parlor with some friends. Catrabone and Ingram argued throughout the evening and he struck her several times. Ingram went with appellant and Catrabone into a back room of the massage parlor. When they subsequently emerged Ingram was bound and gagged and in an hysterical state.

Ingram warned Catrabone that she was going to report his physical abuse to the police. Catrabone started hitting her, pointed his .38 gun at her, and threatened to "blow [her] brains out." Janet Beasley was standing in the hallway when she overheard appellant and Catrabone conversing in another room. Catrabone told Shelton that he "ought to blow her brains out." Shelton responded that he "knew the perfect place to take her."

After tempers had cooled down, appellant, Catrabone and Ingram left the massage parlor at around 6 a.m. Catrabone had said he would drive her home and appellant accompanied them. Appellant and Catrabone returned to the massage parlor at 8 a.m. the 28th. Appellant told Danny Azbell that they took Ingram to a soybean field where he shot her. He then handed the gun to Catrabone and assumed he also shot her since he heard another shot as he walked away. Shelton told Dawn Beasley that he shot Ingram in the back of the head and then handed the gun to Catrabone. Similarly, he told Janet Beasley that they took Ingram to a bean field and killed her. Ingram was down on her knees holding onto the leg of one of her assailants when she was shot.

Appellant stayed with an acquaintance, Richard Dale Horn, periodically during September and October of 1982. In mid-September Shelton told Horn that he had shot and killed a young woman. The next month appellant asked Horn if he knew how long it took a body to decompose. Appellant showed Horn a newspaper clipping regarding the discovery of a woman's body and told Horn that he and Catrabone took her out there and he shot her in the head.

The newspaper article reflected Officer Dick Russell's trip to a farm in southern Hamilton County on October 12, 1982, after the farmer notified authorities that he had found a decomposed body in his soybean field. An autopsy performed by Dr. Richard McClure on the same day revealed that the cause of death was a gun shot wound to the head. An examination of dental records positively identified the skeletal remains as those of Dianna Ingram.

McClure removed bullet fragments from the victim's skull. A firearms and toolmark examiner concluded that one fragment was a .35 caliber bullet, which is the caliber bullet fired from a .38 caliber gun.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Appellant argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions. When confronted with a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court does not weigh the evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses. Rather, we consider only that evidence most favorable to the State and all the reasonable inferences which can be drawn therefrom. If there is substantial evidence of probative value to support the conclusion of the trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt, then the judgment must be affirmed. Gatewood v. State (1982), Ind., 430 N.E.2d 781.

The last time Ms. Ingram was seen alive was when she left the massage parlor with Shelton and Catrabone. When the two men returned to the massage parlor a couple of hours later Shelton told three acquaintances that they took Ingram to a soybean field where he shot and killed her. Several months later he relayed this same story to a man with whom he was living. The evidence is clearly sufficient to sustain his convictions.

II. Motion to Suppress Statements

Appellant argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress statements which he made to the police regarding the location of the body and the murder weapon. His argument is twofold. First, he claims a proper advisement of rights and waiver did not precede the statements. Second, he says the statement was not voluntary since the police took him to the murder scene.

At a hearing on Shelton's motion to suppress, Officer Russell testified that he advised Shelton of his Miranda rights. Shelton told Russell that he understood these rights and then stated that he would show them where the gun was discarded. When appellant testified at this hearing, he stated that he did not recall being advised of his rights.

When reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress a confession where the evidence is conflicting, only that evidence which tends to support the trial court's ruling will be considered. If the trial court's ruling is supported by substantial evidence of probative value, it will not be disturbed. Chandler v. State (1981), 275 Ind. 624, 419 N.E.2d 142.

An express written or oral waiver of rights is not necessary to establish a waiver. Powell v. State (1982), Ind., 437 N.E.2d 969. The trial court's ruling is supported by Russell's testimony that he orally advised Shelton of his Miranda rights before he made any statement to the police. Shelton's act of speaking after he acknowledged that he understood his rights constituted an implied waiver.

Appellant also maintains that his statement was not voluntarily made because the police drove him to the scene of the murder. Appellant had been extradicted from Oklahoma to Indiana. Officers Dave Landis and Russell were driving Shelton from the Indianapolis airport to Hamilton County. Shelton consented to a detour to the murder scene, which he told officers was the place where they left the body and where the bullets and gun were thrown. A subsequent search did not recover either the bullets or the gun.

To determine whether a statement was given voluntarily, we look to all the surrounding circumstances to determine whether it was induced by any violence, threats, promises, or other improper influences. Ortiz v. State (1976), 265 Ind. 549, 356 N.E.2d 1188. The police requested and received permission from Shelton to drive to the murder scene. Shelton was advised of his rights before he made any statements to the police. In addition, there is no evidence of any coercion exerted by the police. Under these circumstances, accompanying the police to the murder scene does not render any statements made involuntary.

III. Exhibits

Appellant argues that State's exhibits numbered 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16 were improperly admitted into evidence at his trial.

Appellant argues that the trial court erred by admitting photographs of the decomposed body of the victim (Exhibits 6 and 8). He maintains that since he did not dispute that a body was found in the soybean field that these photographs were irrelevant and served no purpose other than to prejudice the jury. These exhibits were properly admitted as photographs of the crime scene depicting the body of the victim at the time of discovery. Grimes v. State (1983), Ind., 450 N.E.2d 512.

Appellant argues that the trial court erred by admitting photographs, exhibits 10 and 11, without requiring the State to show that the objects themselves were unavailable.

Exhibit 10 is a photograph of the bullet fragments which were removed from the victim's skull. Officer Russell was present at the autopsy when Dr. McClure removed these fragments. McClure laid these fragments on a paper towel and Russell immediately photographed them. Russell identified the photograph as a true and accurate depiction of the fragments which he received from McClure. McClure also identified this exhibit as the fragments which he removed from the victim's skull.

Exhibit 11 was identified by McClure as a side view of the x-ray of the victim's skull. He testified that it was a true and accurate depiction. This exhibit was offered so the jury could see the abnormality shown by the x-ray which indicated to the doctor that there was a foreign material inside the victim's skull. After observing this abnormality, McClure opened the skull and removed the bullet fragments.

A witness' testimony that the picture is a true and accurate representation of the evidence portrayed is the foundation which must precede the admission of a photograph. Brim v. State (1984), Ind., 471 N.E.2d 672. It appears that the bullet fragments had been admitted as evidence in another trial and...