Tope v. State, 684S256

• Citation: 477 N.E.2d 873
• Decision Date: 17 May 1985
• Docket Number: No. 684S256,684S256
• Parties: Ernest TOPE, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 873

477 N.E.2d 873

Ernest TOPE, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 684S256.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

May 17, 1985.

Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender, Bev Cummings, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael B. Murphy, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

GIVAN, Chief Justice.

Appellant was convicted by a jury of Murder in the First Degree. The court sentenced appellant to life in prison. This conviction was affirmed by this Court in Tope v. State (1977) 266 Ind. 239, 362 N.E.2d 137. Appellant appeals from the trial court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief.

Appellant raises three issues. Two of the issues could have been raised in the direct appeal of the conviction. He now argues the prosecutor improperly cross-examined the appellant concerning his post-arrest silence following the giving of Miranda warnings. Secondly, he contends the jury was improperly instructed as to the issue of whether the jury could infer the requisite intent from the acts which were committed.

In a petition for post-conviction relief the appellant may not raise an issue which was or could have been raised in the original trial. Cummings v. State (1982), Ind., 434 N.E.2d 90. Post-conviction relief is a process for raising issues unknown at trial or not available at trial. Ross v. State (1983), Ind., 456 N.E.2d 420.

Appellant attempts to distinguish this case from the general rule by alleging these errors are fundamental. He contends that under Snider v. State (1984), Ind., 468 N.E.2d 1037 a post-conviction relief petitioner may bring a freestanding complaint of fundamental error.

This Court explicitly modified the language of Snider in Bailey v. State (1985), Ind., 472 N.E.2d 1260 (DeBruler, J., concurring in result).

Two of the issues in Bailey were raised as fundamental error. This Court found that the two errors were ones not available at the time of the direct appeal and treated the issues on their merits. In the case at bar we find two errors alleged to be fundamental. Under the Bailey rationale, it is necessary that these issues either be framed within the context of the post-conviction relief rules or be issues not known at the time of the original trial. The issues here were not brought within the rules nor are they issues not available at the time of the direct appeal. Thus they are not available in a post-conviction hearing.

Appellant does bring his last issue within the provisions of the post-conviction relief rules. He contends there now exists new evidence of material fact which requires the vacation of the conviction and sentence. See Ind.R.P.C. 1, Sec. 1(a)(4).

At the post-conviction relief hearing, appellant introduced the affidavit of Thomas Sefton, the county coroner. The affidavit indicated Sefton, in his official capacity, examined the body shortly after its discovery. He noted the body still retained heat in some areas which had not been exposed to the outside air. He also observed that the body and the area around the body did not display as much blood as would be anticipated from wounds of this nature. Based upon these observations, he concluded that the victim had died between midnight and 4:00 A.M. He also concluded the victim had been wounded at a location different from where the body was found. This information would have supported appellant's alibi and contradicted a portion of the State's case.

The Sefton affidavit also indicated that he had communicated this information to the Indiana State Police. It is unclear from the record when this information was communicated and the exact nature of the communication.

Sefton's role in the pretrial activities was limited to his name appearing on the indictment. He did not perform the autopsy and he did not testify at trial. Dr. Pan performed the autopsy and did testify at trial. As to the time of death, Dr. Pan concluded the time between the death and the autopsy precluded the determination of the time of death by use of the customary devices. Dr. Pan relied upon an analysis of the degree to which the contents of the stomach had been digested to determine the length of time between death and the time of the consumption of the last meal. Pan concluded this time was approximately four hours.

Based upon the testimony of family members as to when the last meal was served, this would have placed the time of death somewhere between 9:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M. Thus there exists a difference between the time of death suggested by the Sefton affidavit and the trial testimony of Pan. This difference is the essence of appellant's newly discovered evidence claim.

During the pretrial proceedings appellant filed a motion to produce requesting, among other things, the names and statements of all witnesses who possessed exculpatory information. The State complied with the request. However, it did not produce the name of Sefton or the contents of any statement he may have given the police. As noted earlier, it is unclear whether Sefton had in fact given the police any statement at the time the motion was filed. What is clear is that Sefton's name was on the indictment and that appellant had available various discovery tools to determine whether Sefton had knowledge of value to appellant's cause.

After the post-conviction relief hearing, the trial court filed its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court concluded the Sefton affidavit was not newly discovered evidence which warranted a new trial. The court found appellant had been informed of Sefton's name by its appearance on the indictment. Thus his testimony would have been available at trial if due diligence had been used by appellant. The court found the testimony of Sefton would have been impeaching testimony that did not have the probability of producing a different result at a new trial.

In reviewing post-conviction findings of fact, this Court will examine the evidence to see whether it "leads unerringly and unmistakably to a decision in [petitioner's] favor; that is, one opposite to that reached by the trial court." Stuck v. State (1981), Ind., 421 N.E.2d 622, 624 citing Sotelo v. State (1980), 273 Ind. 694, 408 N.E.2d 1215.

This Court has recognized a nine-part test to determine when a new trial should be granted based upon newly discovered evidence. See Vacendak v. State (1976), 264 Ind. 101, 340 N.E.2d 352. Three of the requirements of the Vacendak test are: 1) the new evidence not be merely...