Sumner v. State, 882S305
| Decision Date | 14 September 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 882S305,882S305 |
| Parties | Ronald SUMNER, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
William L. Soards, Soards & Carroll, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen. of Indiana, Amy Schaeffer Good, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
Defendant (Appellant) was convicted, after trial by the court, of Armed Robbery causing serious bodily injury (Class A Felony), Ind.Code Sec. 35-42-5-1 (Burns Supp.1982), and was sentenced to thirty (30) years imprisonment. This direct appeal presents three issues for review:
1) Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the finding and judgment of the trial court.
2) Whether the trial court erred in denying Defendant a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence.
3) Whether the trial court erred in overruling Defendant's motion for discharge for delay in bringing him to trial.
On January 27, 1981 Robert E. Wilson was canvassing for new customers for his home shopper service. Mr. Wilson sent two assistants door-to-door with a single product; if the customer indicated an interest, Mr. Wilson, himself, would step-in to make the sale and send his assistants on to other houses.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. Mr. Wilson's assistants approached the residence at 1830 North Ingram, Indianapolis. An interest in the product, rat poison, being indicated, Mr. Wilson approached the house and was invited inside. Present were four (4) men later identified as Mark Anthony Early, Timothy Bunnell, Mark Steven Easler, and Defendant. One of the men asked Mr. Wilson to show him where, in the kitchen, he should place the rat poison. After approximately one-and-one-half minutes in the kitchen, Mr. Wilson turned around and saw the other three men standing at the kitchen door. One of the men, not Defendant, was holding a sawed-off twenty-two (.22) caliber rifle. Mr. Wilson was shot once in the abdomen and fell to the floor. The men * * *
removed his wallet, a thirty-eight (.38) caliber revolver, and his wristwatch. He was then dragged out the front door of the house. The four men fled through the side door and down a back alley.
* * *
Defendant first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding and decision of the trial court. Defendant argues that all the evidence used to convict him was entirely circumstantial and inferential, and "merely leads to conjecture, speculation, and inference that the defendant-appellant was involved."
Loyd v. State, (1980) Ind., 398 N.E.2d 1260, 1264, cert. denied, (1980) 449 U.S. 881, 101 S.Ct. 231, 66 L.Ed.2d 105 (citations omitted).
At trial Mr. Wilson positively identified Defendant as one of the four men aforementioned. He stated that Defendant was definitely in the kitchen at the time of the shooting, standing only a few feet from the man with the rifle. A co-defendant, Mark Easler, testified that Defendant had told Bunnell to invite Mr. Wilson in and to take him into the kitchen. Defendant then persuaded Mark Early to take the rifle into the kitchen and to rob Wilson. Easler also testified that Defendant removed Wilson's wallet and handgun, took the money out of the wallet, and ran from the house through a side door. According to Easler the rifle had been acquired by Defendant earlier that day from Easler's aunt, and both the Defendant and Bunnell had earlier expressed an intention to rob someone.
Thus, in addition to Mr. Wilson's testimony placing the Defendant at the scene, there was testimony by a co-defendant that the Defendant participated in the commission of the crime, shared in the spoils of the crime, and induced another person to commit the shooting.
A robbery conviction may be sustained on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Thomas v. State, (1982) Ind., 436 N.E.2d 1109, 1111; Reynolds v. State, (1980) Ind., 409 N.E.2d 639, 640. Defendant's argument that there was other evidence which was exculpatory, invites us to weigh the evidence and judge the credibility of the witnesses. This we will not do.
The Indiana Code, Sec. 35-41-2-4 (Burns 1979) reads as follows:
"A person who knowingly or intentionally aids, induces, or causes another person to commit an offense commits that offense, even if the other person: (1) Has not been prosecuted for the offense; (2) Has not been convicted of the offense; or (3) Has been acquitted of the offense."
In Harris v. State, (1981) Ind., 425 N.E.2d 154, we held that:
"A trier of fact may infer participation from a defendant's failure to oppose the crime, companionship with one engaged therein, and a course of conduct before, during, and after the offense which tends to show complicity." Id. at 156. (Citations omitted).
The testimony of Robert Wilson, placing the Defendant a few feet from the gunman, and that of Mark Easler, indicating the extent of Defendant's participation, are direct evidence from which a reasonable inference could easily be drawn that Defendant was an active participant in this crime The evidence was sufficient to support the finding and judgment of the trial court.
and that he aided, abetted, and induced others to participate in it with him.
Defendant's assignment that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial predicated upon newly discovered evidence is premised upon a claim that if granted, he could show that State's witness, Easler, was testifying falsely when he implicated Defendant. He proposed to do this by showing (1) that defense witnesses, Hughes and Taylor...
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