Turner v. State

• Decision Date: 25 February 2022
• Docket Number: Court of Appeals Case No. 21A-CR-1359
• Parties: Brady A. TURNER, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

183 N.E.3d 346

Brady A. TURNER, Appellant-Defendant,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

Court of Appeals Case No. 21A-CR-1359

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

FILED February 25, 2022

Attorney for Appellant: Brandon E. Murphy, Cannon Bruns & Murphy, Muncie, Indiana

Attorneys for Appellee: Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General, Samuel J. Dayton, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana

Crone, Judge.

Case Summary

[1] Brady A. Turner appeals his murder conviction. He argues that the trial court erred by admitting certain evidence and by denying his motion to secure attendance of a witness incarcerated in another state. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] In June 2018, Turner was placed on parole for an unrelated conviction. His parole was to last for two years and included the condition that he would live at a certain residence in Chesterfield in Madison County and would not move outside of Chesterfield without permission from his parole officer. Tr. Vol. 6 at 227-28.

[3] Sometime in late July or August 2018, Turner was at his friend James Hill's home on East 15th Street in Muncie in Delaware County. Chris Burgess and his girlfriend Janaya Blevins, an old and close friend of Turner's, were also there. Tr. Vol. 5 at 210, 227. Just after Blevins and Burgess left, Blevins realized that she had left her cigarettes and jewelry in the house. She went back inside to look for them and told Turner to help her find them because she suspected that he had taken them. Turner told her that "he was tired of being accused of stealing," and he threatened to hit her. Id. at 229. Burgess, who had been standing right outside the back door, walked in at this point, and Turner began punching him. During the fight, a gun discharged once, and Burgess and Turner fell out the back door to the ground, with Turner on top of Burgess and Turner's arms wrapped around Burgess's shoulders. Id. at 230. Blevins saw that Burgess held a gun, but when Turner got up, Burgess put away the gun. Id. at 231. Over the next couple weeks, Blevins told Turner that she was sorry about what happened, and Turner told her it was "cool." Tr. Vol. 7 at 82. Also, Burgess and Turner "hung out and did a couple tattoos and stuff like that" together and "squashed the beef." Id.

[4] Around September 13 and 14, 2018, Blevins began receiving prank phone calls. Tr. Vol. 5 at 226. When Burgess answered one of the calls, Blevins took the phone from him and heard Turner saying that "he was looking for that b*tch." Id. at 226-27. Although Turner identified himself as someone else, Blevins recognized his voice. Id. at 227. Burgess and Blevins switched the phone to speakerphone, and Blevins heard Turner tell Burgess that he would kill him. Id.

[5] On September 17, 2018, Turner's parole officer went to check on Turner at the residence in Chesterfield where he was supposed to be living and learned that Turner had not been living there for the last month. Tr. Vol. 6 at 228-29. Turner's parole officer tried to call Turner, but Turner did not answer his calls. Id. at 234. That day, the parole officer filed a parole violation against Turner and requested a warrant for his arrest. Id. at 230, 234.

[6] On the morning of September 17, 2018, Turner and his girlfriend Tina Wright were at Hill's home. They smoked marijuana, and Turner used methamphetamine. Tr. Vol. 5 at 197. Later, Turner and Wright began arguing, and Turner hit her. Hill told Turner that they needed to leave, which angered Turner, and he threatened three times to kill Hill. Id. at 197-98. Eventually, Turner and Wright left.

[7] That evening, Burgess and Blevins went to Hill's house. Id. at 211. At about 9:00 p.m., Burgess and Blevins had an argument, and Blevins left the residence on foot and walked east down East 15th Street. Id. at 212-13. Burgess also left the residence and drove Blevins's SUV to look for her. He found her about one block from Hill's house. Id. at 214. Burgess parked the SUV on the right side of the road and got out to talk to Blevins. They apologized to each other and decided to leave together in the SUV. As Burgess walked around the front of the vehicle to the driver's side, and Blevins started to get into the passenger side of the vehicle, Blevins saw Turner jogging toward them from the east. Id. at 215-16. She told Burgess that she saw Turner, and Burgess started jogging toward him while dropping his cell phone, cigarettes, and hat. Id. at 216-17.

[8] When Burgess and Turner met, they began "throwing punches at each other." Id. at 218; Tr. Vol. 7 at 155-56. Blevins stepped between them to stop the fight, but they continued to throw punches. Tr. Vol. 5 at 218. Blevins saw Turner's fist "go by [her] head towards [Burgess]." Id. When Turner drew his fist back, Blevins saw that he held a knife. Id. at 219. Blevins saw Turner fold up the knife and put it in his waistband and heard him say to Burgess, "Here I'll fight you fair." Id. Blevins turned around and saw Burgess fall "straight back onto his head," and she jumped on top of him because she did not want him to be kicked while he was down. She observed Turner circling them and told him not to touch Burgess anymore. Turner then ran down an alley with Wright.

[9] Blevins realized that Burgess was bleeding from his abdomen and that he had multiple cuts in his shirt. Id. at 222. She also saw blood spraying out of his neck. Id. She put her hands on his neck to apply pressure and started screaming for help. Burgess tried to speak, mumbled "family" and "love," and then started making "gurgling noises." Id. at 223. A nearby resident appeared and gave his shirt to Blevins, which she placed on Burgess's neck to try and stop the bleeding. Blevins called 911. Soon after police arrived, they took Blevins to the police station, and around 9:50 p.m., they conducted a videotaped interview with her. Id. at 225; Tr. Vol. 6 at 33; State's Ex. 8. During the interview, Blevins was "very upset, crying ... almost hysterical[,] just very emotional [and] [t]raumatized." Tr. Vol. 6 at 33.

[10] Burgess was taken to the hospital, where he died from a five-inch-deep stab wound to his neck that had severed his carotid artery and jugular vein. Burgess had also suffered a two-inch-long cut on the side of his abdomen as well as several shallower cuts. Based on Turner's own account, he was not injured during the fight and was punched by Burgess at most a single time. Tr. Vol. 7 at 150-51, 155-56. Burgess did not have a weapon on him during the fight, and Burgess did not threaten to use any weapon against Turner during the fight. Tr. Vol. 5 at 225; Tr. Vol. 7 at 154-55.

[11] Police arrested Turner for Burgess's murder on September 19, 2018. When Turner was taken into custody, he had no stab wounds, cuts, or extensive bruising. Tr. Vol. 6 at 182. On September 25, 2018, the State charged Turner with murder. Turner's first trial in November 2019 resulted in a hung jury. A new trial was set for April 19, 2021.

[12] On April 13, 2021, Turner filed a motion to transport Wright, who was incarcerated in Eaton, Ohio, so that she could testify at his trial. Appellant's App. Vol. 3 at 144. The trial court denied the motion because it did not comply with Indiana Code Section 35-37-5-6. Id. at 154.

[13] On April 19, 2021, Turner's four-day jury trial began. In his opening argument, Turner claimed he killed Burgess in self-defense. During its case-in-chief, the State called Turner's parole officer to testify regarding Turner's parole status at the time of Burgess's death, and Turner objected. Tr. Vol. 6 at 218-20. The trial court overruled his objection, and the witness testified. Id. at 224. Turner did not object or make a motion to strike during or after the parole officer's testimony. Blevins also testified for the State. After she testified, the State sought to introduce State's Exhibit 8, a portion of Blevins's videotaped interview with the police, in which she identified Turner as the person fighting with Burgess. Id. at 34-35. The trial court admitted the exhibit over Turner's objection. Id. at 35.

[14] On April 20, 2021, after the completion of the second day of trial, Turner filed a motion to secure attendance of a witness incarcerated in another state, requesting that the trial court certify that Wright, who was still incarcerated in Eaton, Ohio, was a material witness so that she could be brought to Delaware County to testify. Appellant's App. Vol. 3 at 206. At the start of the third day of trial, the trial court denied the motion as untimely. Id. at 208; Tr. Vol. 6 at 175-76.

[15] During Turner's case-in-chief, Turner offered, and the trial court admitted, Wright's deposition, which was read to the jury. Tr. Vol. 7 at 21-41. Turner also introduced evidence through his own testimony and that of another witness that prior to September 17, 2018, Burgess had chased him with an axe because Turner had "flirted" with Burgess's sister. Id. at 15-16, 83-84. The trial court permitted the State to cross-examine Turner about his alleged sexual assault of Burgess's sister over Turner's objection. Id. at 137-38.

[16] The jury found Turner guilty of murder. The trial court sentenced Turner to an executed term of sixty years. This appeal ensued. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

Discussion and Decision

Section 1 – The trial court did commit reversible error in ruling on the admissibility of certain evidence.

[17] We first address Turner's challenges to the admissibility of certain evidence. "Our standard of review for the admissibility of evidence is well established." Whiteside v. State , 853 N.E.2d 1021, 1025 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006).

The admission or exclusion of evidence lies within the sound discretion of the trial court and is afforded great deference on appeal. We will reverse the trial court's ruling on the admissibility of evidence only for an abuse of discretion. An abuse of discretion occurs where the trial court's decision is clearly against the logic and

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