Stone v. State

Decision Date03 May 1972
Docket NumberNo. 1270S298,1270S298
Citation258 Ind. 435,281 N.E.2d 799
PartiesMichael STONE, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

James F. Thompson, Bloomington, for appellant.

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., David H. Kreider, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

DeBRULER, Justice.

The appellant was found guilty by a jury in the Monroe Superior Court of two crimes: conspiracy to commit a felony, to-wit: forgery, and uttering a forged document. On this appeal, the appellant urges that (1) the evidence introduced against him was insufficient as a matter of law, and (2) the trial court erred in admitting certain bad checks received by various persons at about the same time that the check mentioned in the affidavit was received and dishonored.

In reviewing the allegation of insufficient evidence this Court will not weigh the evidence nor resolve questions of credibility of witnesses, but will look to that evidence and the reasonable inferences therefrom which support the verdict of the jury. Asher v. State (1969), 253 Ind. 25, 244 N.E.2d 89. The conviction will be affirmed if from that viewpoint there is evidence of probative value from which the trier of fact could reasonably infer that the appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Smith v. State (1970), Ind., 260 N.E.2d 558.

Viewing the evidence in this light, it is clear that sufficient evidence exists in this case to sustain the verdict of the jury. In simple terms, the appellant is charged with knowingly passing a bad check in a grocery store in Bloomington, Indiana, and with conspiring and agreeing with others to commit such an act. In support of these charges, the State relied on the testimony of an accomplice, who testified in detail as to the forging and passing of the bad check, as well as the testimony of the grocery clerk who testified that, on the day in question, the appellant came into the store alone and asked that she cash a check which he had, and that she did cash the check because she had known the appellant and his family since he had been a little boy.

The accomplice testified that he and the appellant met a friend at a motel near Bloomington. The friend had in his possession payroll checks from a stone company which had been defunct for more than ten years, and the three friends decided to forge the checks and attempt to cash them. It was decided that the checks would be made out to the appellant, and that he would cash the checks. The accomplice further testified that all three drove to the grocery store in question and that the appellant went into the store by himself and came back with the money. He further testified that the practice during those few days was to write out a few checks at the motel, go and cash them, and then return to the motel and write more checks to be cashed.

The law is well settled in this State that a person may be convicted upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Asher v. State, supra. Furthermore, in this case the accomplice's testimony is corroborated by the unequivocal identification of the appellant by the grocery clerk. The evidence in this case amply supports the verdict of the jury.

Secondly, the appellant argues that the court erred in allowing into evidence four other checks which were cashed in the same two or three day period in or about Bloomington, Indiana, and which were not mentioned in the charging affidavit. These four checks which were introduced into evidence all bore the appellant's name as payee, and were endorsed in the name of the...

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6 cases
  • Fry v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Appellate Court
    • July 9, 1975
    ...whereby appellant would utilize the name of 'Mary R. Hyland' in order to obtain money in the local community. See: Stone v. State (1972), 258 Ind. 435, 281 N.E.2d 799; Kindred v. State (1970), 254 Ind. 127, 258 N.E.2d 411; Smith v. State (1939), 215 Ind. 629, 21 N.E.2d 709. The next issue t......
  • Coleman v. State, 574S100
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • December 29, 1975
    ...may be convicted upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Black v. State (1973), Ind., 304 N.E.2d 781; Stone v. State (1972), 258 Ind. 435, 281 N.E.2d 799. That Nichols' testimony was induced by a benefit extended to him by the State goes only to its weight, not to its competency......
  • Riner v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • May 3, 1972
  • Foster v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • November 8, 1985
    ...was a part of a common scheme or plan. The evidence is admissible notwithstanding the tendency to bias that inheres. Stone v. State (1972), 258 Ind. 435, 281 N.E.2d 799 and cases there cited. Johnson v. State (1983), Ind. 455 N.E.2d 897, 900; Chittenden v. State (1982), Ind., 436 N.E.2d 86,......
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