Wilson v. State
| Decision Date | 07 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 280S52,280S52 |
| Parties | Von Carlos WILSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Walter E. Bravard, Jr., Indianapolis, for appellant.
Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Cindy A. Ellis, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
Appellant Wilson was convicted in a trial by jury of robbery, Ind.Code § 35-42-5-1, and attempted murder, Ind.Code § 35-41-5-1, and Ind.Code § 35-42-1-1. He received concurrent sentences of forty years' imprisonment. In this appeal two basic issues are presented, namely:
(1) Whether the evidence was sufficient to warrant the verdicts of guilty; and
(2) Whether the testimony of the victim identifying appellant was properly admitted.
The gravamen of the offense was that appellant entered the house of John Williams brandishing a handgun, tied Williams up, took his money, shot him in the chest and hit him on the head. He contends that the evidence serving to identify him as the perpetrator of these offenses was wholly insufficient to support the jury verdict. In determining this question we do not weigh the evidence nor resolve questions of credibility, but look to the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom which support the verdict. Smith v. State, (1970) 254 Ind. 401, 260 N.E.2d 558. The conviction will be affirmed if from that viewpoint there is evidence of probative value from which a reasonable trier of fact could infer that appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Glover v. State, (1970) 253 Ind. 536, 255 N.E.2d 657.
The evidence gleaned from the record tending to support the verdict disclosed that the victim John Williams lived in his house in Indianapolis on October 24, 1978, that he was seventy-one years old, and was a collector of numbers by occupation. He was watching television in the early afternoon when a man knocked on the door. When he answered it appellant Wilson was standing on the front porch pointing a gun at him. Appellant entered the house and tied Mr. Williams up. As he was being tied up Williams saw a second man enter the house and heard this person rummaging through items in the house. Once he had bound Williams, appellant searched through his pockets and took money. He told his accomplice that Williams had been lying to him, whereupon he then shot Williams in the chest and clubbed him over the head.
Police, in the mobile crime lab, who were called to the scene were able to lift latent fingerprints from several objects in the house including a carving knife and a vase. These were later found to match the fingerprints of appellant.
The evidence serving to prove that appellant was the man who bound and shot Williams and took his money came from Williams and police officers who lifted latent prints from objects located within the house. Williams pointed out appellant in court during his testimony as his assailant. The testimony from investigating officers in sum was that the fingerprint lifted from the inside lip of a vase which was located in the living room of the house, and which had been knocked over was that of the left middle finger of appellant Von Wilson. They also testified that the print lifted from the knife which was found on the television in the living room of the house was that of the right index finger of appellant Von Wilson. Williams further testified that the knife was kept in the kitchen, and that neither appellant nor his companion had been in the house at any time before October 24, 1978.
This proof was clearly susceptible of belief by the trier of fact, and if believed was sufficient to warrant the conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was the man who robbed Williams and attempted to kill him.
II.
Appellant also contends that reversible error occurred when the trial court refused to suppress the in-court identification of appellant by Williams. Due process of law requires...
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