Ward v. State

Decision Date30 June 2004
Docket NumberNo. 74S00-0108-DP-361.,74S00-0108-DP-361.
PartiesRoy Lee WARD, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

Steven E. Ripstra, Ripstra Law Office, Jasper, IN, Lorinda Meier Youngcourt, Huron, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, James B. Martin, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

RUCKER, Justice.

Case Summary

As the result of a brutal slaying Roy Lee Ward was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He was also convicted and sentenced to a term of years for rape and criminal deviate conduct. In this direct appeal Ward raises several issues for our review, one of which is that this case should not have been tried in the county where the crimes were committed because of community bias and pervasive pretrial publicity. The record supports this contention. We are therefore constrained to reverse and remand this cause for a new trial.

Facts and Procedural History

On the morning of July 11, 2001, fifteen-year-old Stacy Payne was present in her Dale, Indiana home. Also present was her younger sister Melissa who was asleep in her bedroom. Stacy was waiting to leave for work. Other members of the family had already left for their jobs. Pretending that he was searching for a lost dog, Ward approached the Payne residence and convinced Stacy to allow him to enter the house. Thereafter Melissa awoke to the sound of Stacy screaming. Going to the top of the stairs Melissa saw a man lying on top of Stacy holding her down. Melissa then ran to her parents' room and dialed 911. As she was talking on the telephone Melissa could hear her sister saying "please stop."

Shortly thereafter the Dale Town Marshall arrived and saw Ward standing in the doorway, covered with perspiration, and holding a knife. Drawing his service revolver, the Marshall ordered Ward to the ground. Ward complied saying, "I didn't do anything." The Marshall then went to the kitchen and found Stacy lying on the floor, nude from the waist down, covered with blood, and her intestines exposed. Although conscious, Stacy could not speak. She was taken immediately to the emergency room of the Deaconess-St. Joseph Hospital where doctors noted a laceration to Stacy's abdomen, a laceration to her back that severed her spine, and a laceration across Stacy's neck cutting her trachea. Efforts to save Stacy's life were unsuccessful. A subsequent forensic examination revealed that Stacy suffered eighteen blunt force injuries, including injuries found within the vaginal vault.

On July 16, 2001, the State charged Ward with murder, and subsequently filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty. Thereafter, the State filed an amended information to include one count of rape as a Class A felony and one count of criminal deviate conduct as a Class A felony.

The Town of Dale, located in southwestern Spencer County, is a small close-knit community. As of the 2000 census, Spencer County had a total population of 20,400. As one local newspaper recounted, "The brutal stabbing of a 15-year-old girl last week in her own home has left this community, as well as surrounding communities, in shock and law enforcement officials in search of answers." Appellant's App. at 6281. Another newspaper reported, "Community reaction is one of stunned disbelief after the news of 15-year-old Stacy Payne's murder Wednesday afternoon in her own home outside of Dale. `Things like this just don't happen in small towns like Dale, Indiana' is a common reaction to the news that has parents hugging their children, locking their doors and grieving with the Payne family." Id. at 6295.

On February 8, 2002, Ward filed a motion for change of venue from the county, or in the alternative a motion to draw the jury from another county pursuant to section 35-36-6-11 of the Indiana Code.1 Although Ward later withdrew the motion when the trial court denied his request for a continuance for the purpose of having a survey conducted, Ward refiled the motion on April 11, 2002. As grounds for the motion Ward alleged public outrage, hostility, and prejudicial pretrial publicity. A hearing on the motion was conducted May 20, 2002. The parties stipulated into evidence several exhibits, including twenty-five articles from four local and regional newspapers, and either the videotape or transcript from three local and regional television stations representing fifteen news stories. Although the news accounts were graphic and detailed, they were generally accurate. Many of the accounts however also included details of Ward's past criminal history that would not have been admissible at trial.2 The evidence at the hearing, including testimony of witnesses, also revealed that a vigil was held for Stacy at which nearly twelve hundred people attended. Over five hundred mourners attended her funeral. At the close of the hearing, the trial court took Ward's motion for change of venue under advisement. About a month before trial, at a hearing in which Ward appeared, an angry audience yelled at Ward as he was being escorted through the courthouse rotunda; the trial court admonished the crowd for its behavior.

On October 7, 2002, the jury selection process began. The trial court had summoned one hundred twenty-eight prospective jurors. Outside of their presence Ward renewed a number of previous motions and also requested the court to "grant our Motion for Change of Venue...." Tr. at 4. The trial court responded, "All motions denied." Id. In groups of approximately thirty to forty, the prospective jurors were then brought into the courtroom where the trial court gave them a few brief instructions. The trial court also gave the prospective jurors a lengthy twenty-eight-page questionnaire that had been previously tendered by the defense and agreed to by the State. The prospective jurors were directed to complete the questionnaire, give it to the bailiff, and return to court the following day.

The parties began a two-day voir dire on October 8, 2002. The responses given on the questionnaires revealed the pervasive nature of the pretrial publicity, the extent of the community's knowledge about this case, and its understandable outrage. Of the one hundred twenty-eight prospective jurors summoned, one hundred twenty-two actually completed the questionnaire. Over eighty percent — 101 — reported that he or she had knowledge about the case. For example, one prospective juror wrote, "unless you live under a rock you have heard a lot" about this case. Appellant's App. at 3673. In response to the question, "what did you discuss and with whom?" another prospective juror said, "`with whom?' [E]veryone was talking about it — you couldn't go anywhere!" Id. at 5192.

In response to the question: "Based on what you have read, seen, or heard about this case, have you formed any beliefs as to the guilt or innocence of Roy Ward?" over sixty-five percent — 84 prospective jurors — checked "yes." When asked to "please describe your beliefs" the responses of the 84 prospective jurors ranged from "I think that he probably did it," id. at 2891, to "hang him instantly, and he should have been shot on the spot at the scene of the crime." Id. at 4456.3 During the course of voir dire a total of forty-eight prospective jurors were removed for cause either on challenge by the defense, the State, or sua sponte by the trial court. The State used sixteen peremptory challenges and Ward exhausted all of his.4 Ultimately twelve jurors and two alternate jurors were selected and sworn. On the morning of the first day of trial, Ward renewed his motion for change of venue, which the trial court denied.

The record shows that of the jurors selected, all but one had heard, seen, or read about this case. And six of the seated jurors were among the over sixty-five percent who checked "yes" to the question of whether they had formed a belief concerning Ward's guilt or innocence. Juror # 14 explained on his questionnaire "He was arrested at the home just a few minutes after the 911 call." Id. at 2914. Juror # 84 wrote, "since he was at the scene he might be the person who done [sic] it." Id. at 3611. When asked to describe her beliefs, Juror # 121 replied, "It would be very difficult to form an unbiased opinion. He was caught at the site with a knief [sic] and the sister saw him. If it were my own daughters I would have probably come after him myself." Id. at 4019. When asked later in her questionnaire whether there was anything that might get in the way of her being an impartial juror, she checked "Yes" and wrote, "[H]e was caught at the site — I feel he's guilty." Id. at 4024.

Explaining the reasons for her beliefs, Juror # 122 responded, "If everything that I have heard is true, it will be hard but not impossible to believe that he did not do it." Id. at 4042. The daughter of juror # 122 attended the same school as the victim. Id. at 4025. She also commented on her questionnaire about the "devastation of [the] family" and the "horror of it all" and how the crime was "such a tragedy." Id. at 4042.

When asked on the questionnaire whether she had formed any beliefs about Ward's guilt or innocence, Juror # 148 checked "Yes" and wrote, "This man was inside their house. Her sister saw him and called 911. I would listen with an opened [sic] mind, but I feel the evidence will be there and he will be convicted." Id. at 4433. She mentioned twice in her questionnaire the "pools of blood" that had surrounded the victim. Id. at 4432, 4433. When asked to describe what she had read, seen, or heard about this incident this juror responded, "He had entered the house, stabbed and raped her while her sister was upstairs making the 911 call. That he had been stalking her. The child was taken to Huntingburg Hospital and the Dr.'s faces were so grim and the workers had to keep wiping up the pools of blood from the injuries to this child." Id. at 4432.

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