Turner v. State
| Decision Date | 29 April 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 485S141,485S141 |
| Parties | Rodney L. TURNER, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Anthony V. Luber, South Bend, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., John D. Shuman, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
A jury trial resulted in a conviction of Inflicting Bodily Injury in the Perpetration of Robbery, a Class A felony. Appellant was sentenced to forty (40) years imprisonment.
The facts are: About noon on October 24, 1983, two men, one tall and one short, knocked on the door of the victim's home in South Bend. When the victim opened the door, the men forced their way into her home. One man pulled a telephone from the wall and the other man rifled the victim's purse and hit her on the head with a kitchen pan. The victim was beaten repeatedly with the pan, choked and forced to lie in a bathtub full of water. Her head was forced underneath the water approximately ten times as the two demanded that she tell them the whereabouts of her money. They eventually obtained the victim's car keys and fled in her car.
Police were summoned and the victim gave them a description of the two men, after which she was taken to a hospital where twenty-five stitches were required to close her injuries. Shortly after the robbery, the victim's car was involved in an accident. When police arrived, they noticed the two men who had been driving the car matched the description of the robbers. Appellant and Andre Davis were arrested and taken to the hospital where the victim identified them as the robbers.
In the first and second specifications in his argument, appellant claims the trial court erred in instructing the jury on an edited version of the robbery statute and in refusing to instruct the jury on the statute on included offenses. In the case at bar, the charge was inflicting bodily injury in the perpetration of robbery. The evidence in the case supported the charge. Where evidence does not support the giving of an instruction on the lesser included offense, it is not necessary to give such an instruction. Jones v. State (1982), Ind., 438 N.E.2d 972.
In view of the evidence in this case, there was no reason for the trial court to read the entire robbery statute. The definitions of robbery, a Class C felony, and robbery, a Class D felony, were not applicable to the case at bar. The same is true as to the giving of instructions on lesser included offenses. There was no evidence to justify giving an instruction on a lesser included offense. Jones, supra; Roddy v. State (1979), 182 Ind.App. 156, 394 N.E.2d 1098.
Appellant claims the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on circumstantial evidence. It is not necessary to give an instruction on circumstantial evidence when there is direct evidence of defendant's guilt. Merritte v. State (1982), Ind., 438 N.E.2d 754. When there is sufficient direct evidence to support the conviction, it is not error to refuse an instruction on circumstantial evidence. Brendel v. State (1984), Ind., 460 N.E.2d 919.
In the case at bar, the main evidence against appellant was the direct testimony of the victim and the testimony of his confederate, Davis. With such direct evidence before the jury, there was no need for an instruction on circumstantial evidence.
Appellant claims the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the definition of reckless conduct. This claim fails for the above-stated reason that it is unnecessary to give an instruction when there is no evidence to support such an instruction. Given the facts of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Smoote v. State, 49S00-9610-CR-00631
...within its discretion to exclude the demonstration, we also believe that it was within its discretion to admit it. See Turner v. State, 506 N.E.2d 827, 829 (Ind.1987); Carter v. State, 505 N.E.2d 798, 800 (Ind.1987) (both finding the admission of demonstrative evidence to have been within t......
-
State v. Brossart, 960331
...to instruct on entire child abuse statute when instruction coordinated with charge in indictment); Turner v. State, 506 N.E.2d 827, 829 (Ind.1987)(trial court not required to instruct on entire robbery statute when parts do not apply to case). One scholar succinctly explains when and why a ......
-
Turner v. State
...Appellant and Andre Davis were arrested and taken to the hospital where the victim identified them as the robbers. Turner v. State, 506 N.E.2d 827, 828 (Ind.1987), reh. A jury convicted Turner of Robbery, a class A felony, and sentenced him to a term of forty (40) years. On direct appeal, o......
-
Wojtowicz v. State
...of an instruction on a lesser included offense, it is not necessary for the trial court to give such an instruction. See, Turner v. State (1987), Ind., 506 N.E.2d 827. The Supreme Court of Indiana articulated the standard for determining when a criminal defendant is entitled to have the jur......