State v. Parchman
| Decision Date | 22 December 2022 |
| Docket Number | Court of Appeals Case No. 21A-CR-447 |
| Citation | 200 N.E.3d 499 |
| Parties | STATE of Indiana, Appellant-Plaintiff v. Elijah I. PARCHMAN, Appellee-Defendant. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Attorneys for Appellant: Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, Jodi Kathryn Stein, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attorney for Appellee: Matthew J. McGovern, Fishers, Indiana
[1] The State appeals the trial court's grant of Elijah Parchman's ("Parchman") motion to correct error requesting a new trial after a jury had convicted him of murder1 and attempted murder.2 The trial court granted Parchman's motion after concluding that Parchman had been denied a fair trial because the State had violated Brady v. Maryland , 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) when it failed to disclose the juvenile delinquency history of one of its witnesses. The State argues that the trial court abused its discretion in granting Parchman's motion because the evidence that the State failed to disclose was not material. Concluding that the trial court abused its discretion in granting Parchman's motion, we reverse the trial court's judgment.
[2] We reverse.
Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it granted Parchman's motion to correct error requesting a new trial.
[3] The undisputed facts reveal that at approximately 9:45 p.m. on April 5, 2019, Parchman shot and killed Bobby Minor ("Bobby") and shot and wounded Bobby's brother, Ikeem Minor ("Minor"). Parchman immediately called 911 and reported that he had shot the men.
[4] On April 9, 2019, the State charged Parchman with murder for knowingly or intentionally killing Bobby and attempted murder for attempting to kill Minor.3 Two days later, Parchman filed a motion to produce. In this motion, Parchman requested that the State provide him with "[a] copy of the criminal and/or juvenile delinquency history and record known by the State of Indiana, or available to the State of Indiana for each and every State's witness[.]" (App. Vol. 2 at 218-19). Pursuant to this request, the State provided Parchman with a summary of Minor's adult criminal history, which did not include any impeachable offenses. However, the State did not provide Parchman with a summary of Minor's juvenile delinquency history.
[5] At Parchman's two-day jury trial in November 2020, Minor testified that on April 5, 2019, he, Bobby, and Michael Green ("Green") had stopped at a convenience store to purchase beverages. Minor had also purchased lottery tickets. According to Minor, while he had been "playing [his] lottery tickets[,]" Bobby and Green had walked back to the car. (Tr. Vol. 2 at 39). When Minor had exited the store, he had heard Bobby "yelling across the parking lot[.]" (Tr. Vol. 2 at 97). Minor testified that he had turned and had seen a group of five to six men standing in an adjacent parking lot by an apartment building. As Minor, Bobby, and Green had walked towards the group of men, Bobby and the men had "kept exchanging words." (Tr. Vol. 2 at 100). Minor testified that he could not hear what the men had been saying but that he had heard Bobby say, "[t]hey got me fucked up." (Tr. Vol. 2 at 100). According to Minor, Bobby had meant that the men had not known him. Bobby, who was from Chicago, yelled "Ya'll don't know me, I'm not from here." (Tr. Vol. 2 at 101). Minor further testified that as he, Bobby, and Green had approached the group of men, someone in the group had begun shooting at them.
[6] When asked how far he, Bobby, and Green had been from the group of men when the shots had been fired, Minor responded as follows: (Tr. Vol. 2 at 113). When the State showed him an aerial photograph of the area, Minor was able to mark with an X the approximate spot where he, Bobby, and Green had been standing when Parchman had shot at them. (State's Ex. 2). Minor also testified that following the shooting, Minor had run back to the convenience store, where he had realized that he had been shot. The State admitted into evidence a medical report revealing that Minor had been shot in the buttock and in the hand. Minor also testified that when he had turned around, he had seen Bobby "crawling back to the car." (Tr. Vol. 2 at 102). Minor explained that he had driven Bobby to the hospital, where Bobby had died from a gunshot wound. Minor further testified that he, Bobby, and Green had not been carrying guns that night. Minor also testified that he had not seen Green since the night of the shooting and did not know how to contact him.
[7] Evansville Crime Scene Detective Phillip Luecke ("Detective Luecke") testified that he had responded to the scene. Detective Luecke further testified that he had noticed a cluster of seven shell casings in the parking lot adjacent to the apartment building. According to Detective Luecke, the shell casings indicated the location from where the shots had been fired. Detective Luecke also testified that he had found two copper jackets in the parking lot. According to Detective Luecke, the copper jackets "denote[d] where something [had been] hit[.]" (Tr. Vol. 2 at 30). When the State showed him a clean copy of the same aerial photograph that it had shown to Minor, Detective Luecke marked with a red dot the approximate spot where he had found the copper jackets. (State's Ex. 29). Detective Luecke placed the red dot in the same area of the photograph that Minor had placed the X. Detective Luecke further testified that he had measured the distance between the shell casings and the copper jackets, and the distance had been 117 feet. In addition, Detective Luecke testified that he had noticed a blood trail that had begun near the copper jackets and had led to the convenience store.
[8] Evansville Police Department Detective Jackie Lowe ("Detective Lowe") testified that he had attempted to locate witnesses to the shooting but had not been able to find any. Specifically, Detective Lowe testified that he had not been able to locate any of the men that had been standing in the group with Parchman at the time of the shooting. Detective Lowe had also attempted to locate Green in Chicago but had been unable to find him.
[9] In addition, forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Kiefer ("Dr. Kiefer"), who had conducted Bobby's autopsy, testified that Bobby's cause of death was a gunshot wound. According to Dr. Kiefer, the gunshot had entered Bobby's buttock on the back side of his body, passed through and severed Bobby's iliac artery, and exited Bobby's body near his groin.
[10] Lastly, Parchman testified that he had shot the men in self-defense. Parchman specifically testified that he had taken his gun with him when he had gone outside to smoke a cigarette. Parchman further testified that Minor, Bobby, and Green had approached him in an aggressive manner and that he had told them to stop because they had not belonged there. Parchman explained that the men had not had the right to walk aggressively towards him. Parchman further testified that despite his verbal warning, the three men had continued to approach him. According to Parchman, as the men had approached him, he believed one of the men had reached into his waistband. Although Parchman had not seen a gun, Parchman testified that the man's perceived act of reaching into his waistband had led Parchman to fear for his life because he had not known if the man was going to shoot him. Parchman explained that he had twice discharged his gun at the ground. However, the men had approached him even more quickly. According to Parchman, when the three men had been what he believed to be five to ten feet away from him, he had shot at them while they were facing him. Parchman testified that he had stopped shooting when the men had turned around and run. According to Parchman, after he had shot at the men, he had telephoned the police to report his involvement in the shooting.
[11] During closing argument, the State pointed out that Parchman had admitted that he had shot Bobby and Minor and that the "big dispute of this case [was] where it [had gone] down." (App. Vol. 2 at 212). The State further argued as follows:
Detective Luecke, in another important part of his testimony, you saw him marking on these [photographs]. You guys have seen these [photographs]. He went back and he measured these crime scenes. He measured from where the shell casings were found to the red dot where he found [the copper jackets][.] From the shell casings to the red dot, a hundred and seventeen feet[.] The distances that [Parchman] testified to that these incidents occurred cannot be true. They cannot be true[.] It does not add up. It does not match any of the physical evidence you have seen. It doesn't match anything that was introduced[.] It's interesting to wonder then what does match. Ikeem Minor testified this morning. His testimony matches the physical evidence. It matches the measurements. He marked on [a different copy of the same photograph]. You'll see his [X] where he said he was standing along side his brother when the shots started ringing out[.] Look at these two [photographs], compare them. They're remarkably similar. Detective Luecke was not here when [Minor] testified or vice versa. Their testimony was independent. It matches the physical evidence.
(App. Vol. 2 at 207-08). The State further pointed out that both Minor and Bobby had been shot in the back on their buttocks. According to the State, "there [was] no way that [those injuries] fit with what [Parchman had] said." (App. Vol. 2 at 212).
[12] A jury convicted Parchman of both offenses, and Parchman admitted that he had used a firearm when he had committed the offenses. Following the jury's verdict, but before the sentencing hearing, the trial court conducted its own research and discovered that Minor had a 2008 juvenile delinquency adjudication for...
To continue reading
Request your trial