Whitt v. State
| Decision Date | 14 November 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 484S153,484S153 |
| Citation | 499 N.E.2d 748 |
| Parties | Bernard WHITT, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Kenneth T. Roberts, Roberts & Purvis, Associates, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
Defendant-Appellant, Bernard Whitt, was convicted by a Marion Superior Court jury of robbery with a deadly weapon, a class B felony, and attempted murder, a class A felony. The trial court sentenced Appellant to twenty (20) years for the robbery conviction and fifty (50) years for the attempted murder conviction. In this direct appeal, Appellant raises sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions as the only issue for our review.
When we are asked to review the sufficiency of evidence supporting a criminal conviction, we do not reweigh the evidence, nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. We consider only the evidence most favorable to the State, together with all the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. If we find substantial evidence of probative value on each of the material elements of the crime, we will affirm the conviction. Johnson v. State (1983), Ind., 455 N.E.2d 897, 899; Evans v. State (1982), Ind., 438 N.E.2d 261, 265, reh. denied.
The facts most favorable to the State are as follows. At approximately 9:50 a.m. on February 12, 1981, a man approached Jacqueline Waidlich, a teller for American Fletcher National Bank at 3830 Meadows Drive in Indianapolis, and asked her for a $10.00 money order. As Waidlich prepared the money order, the man pulled out a gun, placed it in the teller's window, handed her a white bag, and instructed her to put all her money in the bag. Waidlich complied.
As the man walked away from Waidlich's window, she pushed the security button and yelled to the security guard, Al Finnell, that the man had robbed her. Finnell chased the man out of the bank, ordered him to stop, fired one shot into the air, and when the man kept running, Finnell fired two shots at him. The man continued to run, but turned and fired two shots at Finnell while on the run. The man fell, but as he got up, he fired one more shot at Finnell. The man then disappeared behind some trees.
At trial, Jacqueline Waidlich positively identified Appellant as the robber. However, before the trial, she was not able to pick Appellant's picture from a photograph array, and did not pick Appellant out of a lineup held after the robbery. Diane Corner, a teller who witnessed the robbery, was able to pick Appellant's photo out of a photograph array. She postively identified him in the lineup and at trial. Pat Cook, another teller and eyewitness, positively identified Appellant both in the lineup and at trial. Al Finnell, the security guard, was not able to pick Appellant's picture out of the photo array. He was able to positively identify Appellant in both the lineup and at trial. Finally, Tami Williams, another eyewitness, positively identified Appellant at trial as the man who robbed the bank on February 12, 1981.
Appellant first contends that there was insufficient evidence to show that he was the perpetrator of this robbery. He asserts that the only evidence linking him to the crime is the eyewitnesses' identification testimony. Further, he claims that this testimony was tainted because the photo array and lineup procedures were overly suggestive. Thus, he argues the trial court should not have admitted...
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Brooks v. State
...to determine the weight given to the identification evidence and to decide whether it was satisfactory or trustworthy. Whitt v. State (1986), Ind., 499 N.E.2d 748. Appellant also focuses on the testimony from himself and Rhoades that he was wearing his work uniform on July 15 and points out......
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...1983 following his conviction for Robbery and for Attempted Murder. Whitt's convictions were affirmed on direct appeal in Whitt v. State, 499 N.E.2d 748 (Ind.1986). The facts of his offense, being from the summary from the Indiana Supreme Court, are the At approximately 9:50 a.m. on Februar......
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