Smith v. State
| Decision Date | 28 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 881S218,881S218 |
| Citation | 437 N.E.2d 975 |
| Parties | James Arnold SMITH, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Robert E. Stochel, Merrillville, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Palmer K. Ward, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
The defendant-appellant was convicted of one count of murder in the first degree and one count of murder in the perpetration of a robbery and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. The trial court entered judgment upon the verdict of guilty of murder in the perpetration of a robbery. This appeal follows the denial of a motion to correct error and raises the following issues:
(1) Whether the trial court committed reversible error in denying the defendant's motion to suppress his out-of-court statement.
(2) Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it permitted the jury, during deliberations, to view the same out-of-court statement.
The defendant argues that an inculpatory statement which he gave to the police approximately fourteen months after the robbery and murder for which he was later convicted, should have been suppressed because he was not mentally competent to waive his constitutional rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present. The trial court denied a pre-trial motion, and overruled a defense objection made during the trial to the admission of the statement.
A trial court's finding that a confession is admissible must be supported by substantial probative evidence. Tyson v. State, (1979) Ind., 386 N.E.2d 1185. The State has the burden of proving that a confession was given voluntarily after a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver of the right to counsel and of the privilege against self-incrimination. Ortiz v. State, (1976) 265 Ind. 549, 356 N.E.2d 1188.
The defendant argues that there was an "almost total lack of evidence" to support the admissibility of the inculpatory statement and that the only substantial evidence supported suppression of the statement because it showed that his mental condition when he gave it precluded him from fully understanding the rights he was giving up.
The hearings on the motion to suppress produced conflicting evidence.
Dr. Frank Hogle, a psychiatrist, testified that he examined the defendant a month after he gave the inculpatory statement and concluded that he was not incompetent to stand trial and was probably insane both at the time of the murder (July 28, 1973) and at the time of the statement (October 17, 1974). Dr. Peter Gutierrez, a physician who is not a psychiatrist, also examined the defendant a month after he gave the inculpatory statement and concluded that the defendant was not able to comprehend the charges against him, but was not psychotic at the time he made the statement, and understood what he was saying and the rights he was relinquishing. Officer Townsell, one of the two police officers to whom the defendant gave the statement, testified that the defendant came to the Gary Police Department on his own initiative approximately fourteen months after the robbery and murder and discussed the incident. Townsell testified further that on three occasions, the defendant signed a waiver of rights form and made statements about the crimes, the third statement being the one at issue. Townsell testified that on each occasion the defendant appeared to be lucid, carried on a conversation, responded appropriately to questions, and appeared to know where he was.
The trial also produced conflicting evidence on the question of the defendant's mental condition when he signed the waiver of rights form and made the statement. Dr. Hogle testified as a defense witness, stating his opinion that, based on his finding that the defendant had been incompetent to stand trial, it was reasonable to assume that the defendant was psychotic at the time he gave his statements to the police. Officer Townsell testified that no threats were made to the defendant, that the defendant gave information about an unrelated crime that proved to be accurate, that the defendant was calm when he made the statement, and that the defendant said that he planned an action for which he would be sent to an insane asylum so that he would never go to prison. We find from this evidence that the State satisfied its burden of proof and that there was sufficient evidence to support the trial court's ruling on the admissibility of the inculpatory...
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