Stone v. State, 22S00-8708-CR-724

• Decision Date: 06 December 1988
• Docket Number: No. 22S00-8708-CR-724,22S00-8708-CR-724
• Citation: 531 N.E.2d 191
• Parties: James Dale STONE, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 191

531 N.E.2d 191

James Dale STONE, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 22S00-8708-CR-724.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Dec. 6, 1988.

George W. Gesenhues, Jr., Steven A. Gustafson, New Albany, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Lisa Anne McCoy, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

GIVAN, Justice.

A jury trial resulted in a conviction of appellant of Attempted Murder, a Class A felony, for which he received a sentence of fifty (50) years; Rape, a Class A felony, for which he received a sentence of fifty (50) years; Criminal Deviate Conduct, a Class A felony, for which he received a sentence of fifty (50) years; and Criminal Conversion, a Class A misdemeanor, for which he received a sentence of one (1) year. The sentence for Attempted Murder was to run consecutively to all other sentences which were to run concurrently one to the other.

The facts are: On August 9, 1985, the victim met a girl friend and travelled to a bar in New Albany, Indiana where they met the friend's boyfriend. While at the bar, they met appellant, who introduced himself by his true name and joined the group. They conversed and appellant danced with both women. Although they were drinking at the time, the victim testified that appellant showed no signs of being intoxicated.

After travelling to another bar, the women decided that it was late and they should be getting home. Because appellant did not have a ride, the victim decided to give him a ride in her friend's car which she borrowed for that purpose. When the victim and appellant arrived at his home, he asked her to come in to view some of his drawings. This was at approximately 2:00 a.m. There was a brief encounter with appellant's mother who just wanted to make sure he was the one who had entered the house. While in the house, appellant made a pass at the victim which she rebuffed.

After a few more minutes of conversation, appellant persuaded her to take him to the home of a friend. He packed a gym bag and the two left; as they drove, however, appellant requested that the victim pull over to the side of an isolated road where he produced a hunting knife and told her to take off her clothes. When she resisted, he told her he would kill her. He then dragged her from the car, held her down across the hood of the car, and raped her. When she cried and screamed, he slapped her and told her she could scream all she wanted--no one would hear her.

He next put her into the automobile and drove onto I-64 but refused to allow the victim to dress. He held his knife to the back of her neck and forced her to perform fellatio. He then stopped near a bridge past the Corydon exit where he threw the victim down and took her beneath the bridge onto a concrete abutment. He told her to spread her legs, and if she refused, he would run the knife up her. He again raped her, slapped her across the face, grabbed both sides of her head and began to pound her head against the concrete. He then turned her over and sodomized her. They got back into the car and drove to the next exit ramp where he exited then reentered the highway reversing his direction heading east toward New Albany. He allowed the victim to put on her jeans.

He stopped the car near a guard rail and told the victim to step over the guard rail. As she did so, he stabbed her in the back. At that point, she attempted to run from him. He stabbed her a second time in the back and twisted the knife. She was able to run across the highway, and appellant left the scene in the car. She obtained aid from a passing motorist who took her to the hospital where it was discovered that her lungs were punctured, and she was near death. However, the prompt action of her rescuer and the hospital staff saved her life.

Although appellant admitted being with the victim on the evening in question and travelling with her to his home, he denied that he left his home with her but claimed that after his mother had talked with them that the victim left alone and that he went to bed. Although he admitted that he "might have had intercourse with her," he denied that it was without her consent and denied that he was the one who had stabbed her.

Appellant contends the trial court erred when it denied his motion for discharge for failure to comply with his motion for speedy trial filed under Ind.R.Cr.P. 4(B). In overruling appellant's motion, Special Judge Wilson made the following finding: 1) the defendant filed a motion for speedy trial on February 13, 1986; 2) the defendant had escaped from the Crawford County jail and then resisted extradition, being extradited finally on March 7, 1986; and 3) there was congestion of the court calendar of Special Judge Wilson as well as the court calendar of the Crawford Circuit Court. The earliest available date was June 10, 1986.

The defendant next requested the cause be removed from the trial calendar for June 10, 1986 and continued until after the trial of his connected case then pending in Floyd County. He further claimed that his new defense counsel had made his first appearance in the cause on June 3, 1986 and needed time to prepare for his trial and to file motions for discovery. This request for continuance was sustained.

When a defendant makes a motion under Ind.R.Cr.P. 4(B), he is required to maintain a position which is reasonably consistent with his speedy trial request. Rutledge v. State (1981), Ind., 426 N.E.2d 638. Failure to do so at any point constitutes an abandonment of the request and the motion ceases to have legal viability....