FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
BRIAN H. WILLIAMS JEFFREY A. MODISETT
Martinsville, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
KATHERINE L. MODESITT
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
MICHAEL A. GIBSON, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 55A05-9704-CR-152
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
2)
whether the trial court erroneously instructed the jury on the elements of
attempted murder
;
3)
whether
the trial court erroneously denied his motion to suppress his initial
statement to police because the investigator failed to tape record the
statement
;
4)
whether
the trial court erroneously permitted the State to amend its charging
information prior to trial
;
and
5)
whether the trial court erroneously refused to give his tendered instruction
concerning the voluntariness of his statements to police
.
We reverse.
The facts most favorable to the judgment follow. On the evening of March 25, 1996,
Gibson told Wesley Seger that he wanted to kill Elba and Michelle Davis because they had
set him up on a drug deal. In the early morning of March 26, 1996, Gibson, Seger, and
Jeremy Kirkley, each armed with two knives, went to the Davis' house. Gibson, Seger, and
Kirkley entered the house where Cora Davis, Paul Brown, and Cora's three year old son,
Zachary, were sleeping. Seger stabbed Cora. Brown wrestled with Gibson and was also
stabbed. After Gibson escaped from Brown, Brown began to struggle with Seger and Seger
stabbed Brown in the chest.
The State charged Gibson with
attempted murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit
murder, and burglary resulting in bodily injury
. A jury later found Gibson guilty as charged.
Other relevant facts will be supplied as needed.
into court, where the information required shall be given in the presence of, or
after notice to, the parties or their attorneys."
I.C. § 34-1-21-6. Gibson asserts that the trial court committed error first because it
responded to the jury's request without notice to the parties and, second, because the
evidence was not presented to the jury in open court as required by the express language of
this section.
The State counters that I.C. § 34-1-21-6 does not apply to the facts of this case
because application of the statute is triggered only when "there is a disagreement between
[the jurors] as to any part of the testimony, or if they desire to be informed as to any point
of law arising in the case." I.C. § 34-1-21-6. The State contends that the jury's request for
the photographic exhibits in the present case did not express any disagreement as to these
exhibits.
Our review of the case law in this area reveals that different panels of this court have
expressed opposing views on the applicability of this statute. In Jones v. State, this court
held that jury requests to review exhibits are not within the scope of the statute absent an
express indication of disagreement. Jones v. State, 656 N.E.2d 303, 307 (Ind. Ct. App.
1995), trans. denied; see also Sturma v. State, 683 N.E.2d 606, 609 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997);
State v. Chandler, 673 N.E.2d 482, 485 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).
However, in State v. Winters, we stated that "juries may manifest disagreement about
testimony by requesting to rehear it. Indeed we question why a jury that was in agreement
as to the testimony at issue would request to rehear it." State v. Winters, 678 N.E.2d 405,
409 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) (citations omitted). Based on this reasoning, we held that a jury's
request to rehear a portion of a tape recording presented at trial was sufficient to manifest
disagreement as to that particular evidence and that, as a result, the trial court's failure to
follow the procedure in I.C. § 34-1-21-6 was reversible error. Winters, 678 N.E.2d at 410;
see also Anglin v. State, 680 N.E.2d 883, 885 (Ind Ct. App. 1997) (holding that "when a jury
requests that it be given an opportunity to rehear testimony or see exhibits for a second time,
the jury is expressing disagreement or confusion about that evidence, sufficient to trigger
application of I.C. 34-1-21-6, unless the circumstances surrounding the request indicate
otherwise."), reh'g denied, trans. denied.
While we agree that the jury's request for the exhibits in this case did not expressly
indicate any disagreement, we adopt the view expressed in Winters that a request for
particular pieces of evidence suggests disagreement with respect to that evidence. To the
contrary, one panel of this court recently stated that to conclude that any request from the
jury to view exhibits or rehear testimony necessarily stems from disagreement "is to engage
in an impermissible judicial revision of the statute." Riggs v. State, 689 N.E.2d 460, 463
(Ind. Ct. App. 1997). We disagree with such a narrow interpretation of the statute.See footnote
1
We are not convinced that requiring express disagreement in the jury's request fully
serves the purpose of the statute. The reasonable interpretation of a request to review
exhibits is that there is, at minimum, some question about the exhibits. It is unlikely that a
jury will request to see exhibits when there are no questions or confusion as to what the
exhibits contain or convey or the testimony regarding them. This is particularly true of
photographic exhibits which are generally demonstrative and serve to illustrate the testimony
about what is depicted in the exhibits. Furthermore, the application of the statute should not
be triggered by the chance that a jury will expressly state the reason why they wish to review
the exhibits, as they often do not. Our view is that any request for specific exhibits or
testimony indicates disagreement for the purposes of the statute "unless the circumstances
surrounding the request indicate otherwise." See footnote
2
Anglin v. State, 680 N.E.2d at 885.
Therefore, we conclude that the jury's request for the photographic exhibits in this case
sufficiently suggests disagreement about the exhibits such that it triggered the application of
I.C. § 34-1-21-6.
Here, the trial court responded to the jury's request prior to notification of the parties
as required by the statute. Further, the trial court allowed the jury to review the exhibits
unsupervised which is also contrary to the statute. However, considering that the trial court
sent all of the trial exhibits rather than the specific exhibits requested and that jury had
previously viewed all of these exhibits in open court during trial, we see little risk that the
jury would misuse or give undue weight to particular exhibits. As such, we are initially
inclined to hold that, despite failure to comply with the statute, the trial court's error was
harmless because Gibson has failed to demonstrate any prejudice. See Jones, 656 N.E.2d at
307 (holding that there was no reversible error where, after receiving a question on a point
of law from the jury, the trial court sent the complete set of instructions to the jury without
notifying the parties as required by the statute because the defendant failed to show any
prejudice); Ingram v. State, 547 N.E.2d 823, 829 (Ind. 1989) (holding no reversible error was
committed by the trial court where the trial court sent all of the trial exhibits to the jury room
after the jury requested certain photographic exhibits because the defendant failed to show
an abuse of discretion).
However, the supreme court's holding in Powell v. State appears to preclude such a
holding. In Powell, a deadlocked jury requested a tape recorder and three audiotapes of
telephone conversations and alleged drug transactions so that it could review this evidence
in the jury room. Over the defendant's objection, the trial court complied with the jury's
request. The Powell court noted that I.C. § 34-1-21-6 required the tapes to be played in open
court. Id. at 858. After concluding that a defendant's right to procedural protections of the
statute was a "substantial" right, the court held that the trial court's failure to follow the
statute was reversible error. Id. In addition, it noted that "the legislature has apparently
made the judgment that once it has retired to deliberate, to permit the jury to review
testimony or specific pieces of evidence alone and unguided by the court unacceptably risks
that the jury will either give undue weight to that evidence or otherwise misuse it." Powell,
644 N.E.2d at 858. We interpret this statement to mean that the risk that the jury might
misuse the evidence is substantial enough to make any violation of the statute per se
reversible error, especially given the argument that the misuse of evidence in closed jury
deliberations would be difficult to detect. More significantly, the Powell court did not
engage in a harmless error or prejudice analysis before reaching its conclusion. Therefore,
in light of Powell, we feel compelled to hold that the trial court's failure to comply with the
statute was reversible error. Consequently, we reverse Gibson's convictions.
A person who knowingly or intentionally kills another human being
commits murder.
The elements that the State of Indiana must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
are:
1) The defendant, Michael A. Gibson
2) knowingly
3) attempted by taking a substantial step toward the commission of the crime
4) to intentionally kill
5) another human being . . .
The acts of a person who intends to commit a crime will constitute an attempt
where the acts themselves clearly indicate an intent to commit the crime, and
the acts are a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in
the commission of the crime.
Record, pp. 245-248 (citations omitted).
It is a well settled rule that jury instructions for attempted murder must include the
requirement of a specific intent to kill. Channell v. State, 658 N.E.2d 925, 928 (Ind. Ct. App.
1995), reh'g denied, trans. denied. This rule requires an instruction to specifically state that
to convict for attempted murder, the jury must find that the defendant intended to kill the
victim. Beasley v. State, 643 N.E.2d 346, 348 (Ind. 1994). In other words, "[t]he specific
intent necessary to convict upon a charge of attempted murder is intent to achieve the result
of death; not merely intent to engage in conduct carrying with it the risk of death." Clark v.
State, 597 N.E.2d 4, 6 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992), reh'g denied, trans. denied.
Here, Gibson argues that the elements of the instruction given are erroneous because
they state that the jury must find that Gibson "knowingly" engaged in the substantial step.
He maintains that the case law requires that the word "intentionally" be used in place of
"knowingly." Although we agree that the culpability of "knowingly" alone is insufficient
to convict a defendant of attempted murder, the instructions here go further to state that the
jury must find that Gibson "knowingly attempted . . . to intentionally kill." Record, p. 245
(emphasis added). The instructions also included statements that, for the crime of attempted
murder, "the
defendant must act with specific intent to kill
" as well as "acts . . . will
constitute an attempt where the acts themselves clearly indicate an intent to commit the crime
. . . ." Record, pp. 247, 248 (emphasis added).
These instructions are similar to those affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court in
Greenlee v. State, 655 N.E.2d 488 (Ind. 1995). In that case, the supreme court held that
instructions for attempted murder were adequate where they stated that the jury must find
that the defendant "knowingly engaged in conduct . . . with the intent to kill [the victim]."
Id. at 492. The supreme court also noted that the instructions contained other references to
the requirement of the specific intent to kill such that the instructions as a whole "adequately
informed the jury that it needed to conclude that the defendant must have acted with the
intent to kill before it could convict him." Id.
Here, not only are the elements listed for attempted murder phrased in a fashion
similar to that in Greenlee, but the instructions also included an additional reference to the
requirement of the "specific intent to kill." Record, p. 248. As such, we conclude that the
instructions, taken together, adequately informed the jury that they must find that Gibson
acted with the requisite intent to kill. See id. Therefore, we hold that the attempted murder
instruction given by the trial court was not erroneous.
"The Defendant was denied the use of any possible exculpatory evidence
contained in Mr. Gibson's statement, be that either direct or contextual . . . .
Additionally, this failure to preserve Mr. Gibson's interrogation placed the jury
in a position where they were denied the ability to use the context and tone of
the conversation to determine the voluntariness of the alleged confession."
Appellant's brief, pp. 29-30.
Gibson correctly notes the standard for reviewing the failure to preserve potentially
exculpatory evidence by police. In Arizona v. Youngblood, the United States Supreme Court
held that while "the good or bad faith of the State [is] irrelevant when the State fails to
disclose to the defendant material exculpatory evidence," failure to preserve potentially
useful evidence does not constitute a denial of due process absent a showing of bad faith on
the part of the police. Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 57-58, 109 S.Ct. 333, 337
(1988), reh'g denied. This principle has also been expressly recognized and applied by both
the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court. See Bivins v. State, 642
N.E.2d 928, 943 (Ind. 1994), reh'g denied, cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1077, 116 S.Ct. 783;
McGowan v. State, 599 N.E.2d 589, 594 (Ind. 1992); Rita v. State, 663 N.E.2d 1201, 1204
(Ind. Ct. App. 1996), aff'd in part, vacated in part on other grounds.
Gibson asserts that Officer Buskirk's actions constituted bad faith because he stated
that his policy was to tape witnesses' statements but not suspects', because he taped Gibson's
second statement and the statements of the co-defendant in this case, and because he only
recorded "a few lines of cryptic notes" during the interrogation which lasted over half an
hour. Appellant's brief, p. 29. However, our own review of the record also reveals that
Officer Buskirk testified that he did not have a tape recorder available at the time that Gibson
wished to make a statement. He also testified that it is not the recommended procedure to
tape record interrogations and confessions and that tape recorders often "scare many
defendants." Record, pp. 1322, 1647. With respect to the limited notes that Officer Buskirk
took, he stated that "[e]very time you take a note you disrupt the flow of the interview so you
don't take anymore notes than you have to." Record, p. 1321.
We conclude that such circumstances do not constitute evidence of bad faith. The
evidence indicates that Officer Buskirk, in not tape recording the statement, was merely
following his standard procedures for interrogating suspects, rather than affirmatively
attempting to prevent Gibson from having a verbatim statement which might potentially yield
useful evidence for his defense. Absent a showing bad faith on the part of the police, the
failure to tape Gibson's statement does not bar its admission.See footnote
3
See Bivins, 642 N.E.2d at
943. Therefore, the trial court's denial of Gibson's motion to suppress was not erroneous.
with a deadly weapon." Record, p. 12. Count II charged that Gibson, "with intent to commit
a felony to wit: Murder did agree with Wesley P. Seger to commit the crime of Murder and
that in furtherance of the said agreement Wesley Seger did perform an overt act to wit:
stabbing Cora Davis six (6) times with a deadly weapon to wit: knife." Record, p. 12.
Count III charged that Gibson, "with intent to commit a felony to wit: Murder did agree with
Wesley P. Seger to commit the crime of Murder and that in furtherance of the said agreement
Michael A. Gibson did perform an overt act to wit: stabbing Paul Brown three (3) times with
a deadly weapon to wit: knife." Record, p. 12.
Prior to trial but after the omnibus date, the State moved to amend Counts I, II, and
III by deleting the words "three (3) times," "six (6) times," and "three (3) times,"
respectively. Record, p. 154. Additionally, the State moved to amend Count I by changing
"knowingly kill another human being" to "intentionally kill another human being." Record,
pp. 1788-1789. The trial court, over Gibson's objection, granted the State's motions to
amend.
Gibson contends that the amendment of the charging information violated I.C. § 35-
34-1-5, which provides, in relevant part:
"(a) An indictment or information which charges the commission of an offense
may not be dismissed but may be amended on motion by the prosecuting
attorney at any time because of any immaterial defect, including:
(1) thirty (30) days if the defendant is charged with a felony; or
(2) fifteen (15) days if the defendant is charged only with one (1) or
more misdemeanors;
before the omnibus date. When the information or indictment is amended, it
shall be signed by the prosecuting attorney.
(c) Upon motion of the prosecuting attorney, the court may, at any time before,
during, or after the trial, permit an amendment to the indictment or information
in respect to any defect, imperfection, or omission in form which does not
prejudice the substantial rights of the defendant."
Gibson contends that the amendment of the information constituted a change in substance
rather than a change in form and, as such, section (b) applies to the amendment. This section
requires that the change be made before the omnibus date. Here, the State amended the
information after the omnibus date. As a result, Gibson argues that the amendment was in
violation of the statute.
However, the State asserts that the changes affected form only and, thus, the
amendment was proper under section (c) which permits changes in form any time before,
during or after trial as long as such changes do not prejudice the substantial rights of the
defendant. See I.C. § 35-34-1-5(c). Thus, the question before us is whether the changes
made by the State were of form or substance.
Although an information may not be amended to change the theory of the case or the
identity of the offense charged, it may be amended at any time to cure a defect if the
substantial rights of the defendant are not prejudiced. Robertson v. State, 650 N.E.2d 1177,
1181 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995), reh'g denied. If a defense under the original information would
be equally available after the amendment is made and the accused's evidence would be
equally applicable to the information in one form as in the other, the amendment is one of
form and not substance. Rainey v. State, 557 N.E.2d 1071, 1075 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990). An
amendment is of substance only if it is essential to the making of a valid charge of the crime.
Id.
We agree with the State that the changes made to the information are changes in form
only. The first amendment to the charges for conspiracy to commit murder, which removed
the words "three (3) times" and "six (6) times," did not alter the overt act of "stabbing." As
such, the theory of prosecution was not changed. See Abner v. State, 497 N.E.2d 550, 554
(Ind. 1986) (holding that "[a] minor variance in the factual basis of an essential element may
not alter the theory prosecution."), reh'g denied. Additionally, the removal of "three (3)
times" did not alter the substantial step requirement of "stabbing" in the attempted murder
charge. The second amendment to the attempted murder charge which changed the words
"knowingly kill" to "intentionally kill" only created a higher burden for the State and, as
such, could not be prejudicial to Gibson.
Because these changes neither altered the theory of prosecution nor prejudiced Gibson
in any other way, and because the changes did not require Gibson to alter his defense to the
evidence needed to make his defense, the changes were in form only. See Robertson, 650
N.E.2d at 1181; Rainey, 557 N.E.2d at 1075. Consequently, under section (c) of the statute,
the amendments were timely. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court did not err by
allowing the State to amend the charges.
of a confession is solely a matter for the trial court to determine, the voluntariness of a
confession is a matter properly before the jury to the extent that the circumstances affect the
confession's weight and credibility. Stanger v. State, 545 N.E.2d 1105, 1111 (Ind. Ct. App.
1989), overruled in part on other grounds.
Here, the instruction tendered by Gibson read as follows:
"A statement or act or omission is 'knowingly' made or done, if done
voluntarily or intentionally, and not because of mistake or accident or other
innocent reason.
In determining whether any statement or act or omission claimed to have
been made by a Defendant outside of court, and after a crime has been
committed, was knowingly made or done, the jury should consider the age,
sex, training, education, occupation, and physical and mental condition of the
Defendant, and his/her treatment while in custody or under interrogation, as
shown by the evidence in the case; and also all other circumstances in
evidence surrounding the making of the statement or act or omission.
If the evidence in the case does not convince you beyond a reasonable
doubt that a confession was made voluntarily and intentionally, then you
should disregard it entirely. On the other hand, if the evidence in the case does
show beyond a reasonable doubt that a confession was in fact voluntarily and
intentionally made by a Defendant, you may consider it as evidence in the case
against the Defendant who voluntarily and intentionally made the confession."
Record, p. 230. Assuming arguendo that this tendered instruction correctly states the law and
that there was evidence in the record to support the instruction, the trial court's refusal of the
instruction was not erroneous because the substance of Gibson's instruction was adequately
covered by the final instruction given by the trial court. The final instruction read as follows:
"You have before you evidence that the defendant made confessions
relating to the crime(s) charged in the information.
It is for you to determine whether the Defendant made the confessions
and, if so, what weight should be given the confessions.
In determining the weight to be given the confession, you should consider
all the circumstances under which they were made."
Record, p. 263.
This instruction adequately informs the jury of their duty to determine the weight and
credibility of the confession. See Stanger, 545 N.E.2d at 1111. Furthermore, this instruction
closely tracks an instruction previously approved by the Indiana Supreme Court. In Abbott
v. State, the supreme court upheld the trial court's refusal to give an instruction on
voluntariness of the defendant's confession which specifically instructed the jury to consider
the defendant's intoxication at the time the alleged admission was made. Abbott v. State,
535 N.E.2d 1169, 1173 (Ind. 1989). The court stated that "[t]he jury was instructed that they
must determine whether appellant made the admission and if so, what weight should be given
to the admission. In determining the weight to be given to an admission, they were to
consider all the circumstances under which it was made." Id. The court concluded that this
instruction adequately covered the subject of the defendant's instructions. As the instructions
given in the case before us were almost identical to those given in Abbott, we conclude that
the instructions given were adequate under the circumstances. Therefore, we hold that the
trial court did not err in refusing to give Gibson's tendered instruction. See Jewell, 672
N.E.2d at 425.
For the reasons stated in the first section of this opinion, we reverse Gibson's
convictions.
Reversed.
Rucker, J., and Darden, J. concur
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