White v. State
| Decision Date | 17 December 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 28A05-9512-PC-491,28A05-9512-PC-491 |
| Citation | 675 N.E.2d 345 |
| Parties | Richard L. WHITE, Appellant-Petitioner, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Respondent. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Richard White appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. He raises two issues for our review, which we consolidate to whether the trial court erroneously instructed the jury about White's voluntary intoxication defense. 1 We reverse the postconviction relief court and remand with instructions to grant White's petition.
The facts most favorable to the denial follow. On May 6, 1985, the State charged White with murder. During the trial, White raised the defense of voluntary intoxication. On October 10, 1985, the jury found White guilty as charged, and the trial court later sentenced him to fifty years. His conviction and sentence were affirmed by this court on direct appeal. White v. State, 541 N.E.2d 541, 544-545 (Ind.Ct.App.1989), trans. denied.
In 1991, White filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, which was amended by counsel in 1995. In the amended petition, White challenged the voluntary intoxication instructions on the basis that they "mandat[ed] a finding of specific facts as a prerequisite to a finding of voluntary intoxication amounting to a defense." Record, pp. 34-35. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition. White now appeals the denial of his petition.
At the outset, we address our standard of review for the denial of a petition for postconviction relief. White has the burden of establishing the grounds for relief by a preponderance of the evidence. See Ind. Post-conviction Rule 1, § 5; Grey v. State, 553 N.E.2d 1196, 1197 (Ind.1990), reh'g denied. To prevail, White must demonstrate that the evidence as a whole leads unerringly and unmistakably to a conclusion opposite that reached by the trial court. Wickliffe v. State, 523 N.E.2d 1385, 1386 (Ind.1988). When reviewing the judgment of a post-conviction court, we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the judgment. Weatherford v. State, 619 N.E.2d 915, 917 (Ind.1993), reh'g denied. The post-conviction court is the sole judge of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses. Id.
Turning to the merits of White's appeal, we must determine whether the trial court erroneously instructed the jury about the defense of voluntary intoxication. Initially, we note that White did not object to the instructions at trial, and the issue was found waived on appeal. However, White alleges in his petition for post-conviction relief that the error was fundamental.
A claim of fundamental error may be raised in a post-conviction petition even if the issue was waived in the direct appeal. McCraney v. State, 508 N.E.2d 798, 799 (Ind.1987). "Fundamental error" is an error so blatant as to render the trial unfair to the defendant and, thereby, deprive the defendant of fundamental due process. Townsend v. State, 632 N.E.2d 727, 730 (Ind.1994). To justify reversal in a case where an erroneous jury instruction was given, the error must be of such a nature that the whole charge of which it forms a part misleads the jury as to the law of the case. Hill v. State, 615 N.E.2d 97, 99 (Ind.1993); Holliday v. State, 601 N.E.2d 385, 389 (Ind.Ct.App.1992), trans. denied.
In this case, the trial court gave two instructions concerning voluntary intoxication. First, the trial court instructed that:
"Voluntary Intoxication is a defense only to the extent that it negates specific intent.
Voluntary Intoxication does not excuse the offense; but intoxication may be so extreme that a person is incapable of forming or entertaining a specific intent. However, the evidence must show that a defendant was incapable of performing acts which require a significant degree of physical or intellectual skills before a trier of fact is justified in finding that he was not responsible for his actions because of his intoxication.
The State has the burden of disproving this defense beyond a reasonable doubt."
Trial Record, p. 106 (emphasis added). The trial court also instructed the jury that, "[t]he word 'intoxication' means a condition which results in a person's normal faculties, either or perception, of physical ability, or of judgment, being impaired so that he no longer has the capacity to form or entertain a specific intent." Trial Record, p. 107. White's arguments focus on the first instruction. He contends that this instruction was erroneous because "a reasonable jury could have interpreted the language of the instruction as a direction by the court to find intent once convinced of certain facts outlined in the instruction...." Appellant's brief, p. 13. 2
Article I, § 19 of the Indiana Constitution states that, "[i]n all criminal cases whatever, the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts." IND. CONST. art. I, § 19. Our supreme court has interpreted this provision to forbid an instruction that binds the conscience of the jury to a finding of guilty if it finds certain facts. Pritchard v. State, 248 Ind. 566, 230 N.E.2d 416 (1967). In Pritchard, the defendant challenged the following instruction:
"The Court now instructs you that if you should find that [the defendant was] guilty of cruelty or neglect of [the victim] and that as a result of such cruelty or neglect beyond a reasonable doubt [the victim] did sicken, languish and die, then you shall find such defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter."
Id. at 568, 230 N.E.2d at 417 (emphasis added). In finding this language to be erroneous, the supreme court held that a mandatory instruction that binds the minds and consciences of the jury to return a verdict of guilty upon finding certain facts, clearly invades the constitutional province of the jury. Id. at 575, 230 N.E.2d at 421.
The State relies primarily on two cases in support of its position that the instruction did not contravene the holding in Pritchard. First, in Loftis v. State, the jury was instructed that it "should" convict the defendant if it believed that all of the essential elements of the charged crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Loftis v. State, 256 Ind. 417, 418, 269 N.E.2d 746, 747 (1971). The supreme court held that the instruction did not violate the analysis in Pritchard because the jury was also instructed that it was the judge of the law and that the State was required to prove the material elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 420, 269 N.E.2d at 747.
Second, the State relies on Taylor v. State, 420 N.E.2d 1231, 1236 (Ind.1981), a case in which the defendant challenged the following instruction:
Id. at 1236 (emphasis added). On appeal, Taylor asserted that the mandatory language of the instruction constituted fundamental error. In rejecting this claim, the supreme court stated:
Id. at 1236. Therefore, the court distinguished and limited the holding in Pritchard by concluding that "the instruction's particular text and use within the...
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