Adkins v. State

532 N.E.2d 6, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 1, 1989 WL 417
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 5, 1989
Docket27S00-8611-CR-00951
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 532 N.E.2d 6 (Adkins v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adkins v. State, 532 N.E.2d 6, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 1, 1989 WL 417 (Ind. 1989).

Opinion

DICKSON, Justice.

Defendant Danny Adkins was convicted of burglary and receiving stolen property. Noting the defendant's prior criminal record, the trial court enhanced the ten year burglary sentence by six years, enhanced the two year receiving stolen property sentence by two years, and ordered that they be served concurrently. In this direct appeal, the defendant raises four issues for review: 1) sufficiency of evidence, 2) jury instruction on lesser included offense, 3) availability of an alibi defense, and 4) sentence unreasonableness.

Sufficiency of Evidence

The defendant asserts that the evidence, consisting largely of the testimony of a confidential informant, fails to support the burglary and receiving stolen property convictions.

In addressing the issue of sufficien-ey of evidence, we will affirm the convie tion if, considering only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict, without weighing witness eredi-bility, a reasonable trier of fact could con-elude that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Case v. State (1984), Ind., 458 N.E.2d 228; Loyd v. State (1980), 272 Ind. 404, 407, 398 N.E.2d 1260, 1264, cert. denied, 449 U.S. 881, 101 S.Ct. 231, 66 L.Ed.2d 105.

The evidence in favor of the verdict establishes the following events. Earl Shaner owned a single-barrel twelve gauge "Savage" shotgun which he kept in his home. His stepdaughter, the defendant's girlfriend, had a spare key to Shaner's house so she could clean it and launder her clothes there. In early October, the stepdaughter discovered that the key ring with the spare key was missing. Several days later the key ring was found in a lower kitchen cabinet which the stepdaughter had previously searched. The defendant frequently visited the stepdaughter's home and occasionally spent the night there. A police informant, "wired" with a hidden transmitter, contacted the defendant to get the defendant's assistance in arranging a drug transaction with a person known to the defendant. The defendant asked the informant if he would assist the defendant in burglarizing a certain home. The informant showed the police the house the defendant wanted to burglarize, which was Shaner's house. On the last day of October, Shaner returned to his house and discovered that his shotgun and a few other items were missing. The back door was ajar, but there were no signs of forced entry. Around that time of year, the defendant sold a "Savage" shotgun to a neighbor, but he asked for the gun back when the informant offered him more money. The informant purchased the shotgun from the defendant and turned it over to the police. Earl Shaner identified this shotgun as his missing gun. The informant was later able to get a key from the defendant which was a duplicate of the spare key to Shaner's house.

The defendant claims that the evidence merely establishes his opportunity to commit the burglary which alone would not sustain a burglary conviction. We disagree. The defendant's possession of a duplicate key to Shaner's house, his stated desire to burglarize the house, and the unforced manner of entry, defendant's unexplained possession of the stolen goods shortly after the theft, together provide sufficient evidence to support the burglary conviction. -

The defendant further claims that his possession of the stolen shotgun fails to sufficiently establish the receiving stolen property conviction. Ind.Code § 35-438-4-2(b) states: "A person who knowingly or intentionally receives, retains, or disposes of the property of another that has been the subject of theft commits receiving stolen property...." (emphasis added). The State charged the defendant *8 with disposing of the stolen shotgun to the informant. Circumstantial evidence may establish the defendant's knowledge that the property is stolen, the gravamen of the offense. Marshall v. State (1987), Ind., 505 N.E.2d 858; Choate v. State (1984), Ind., 462 N.E.2d 1037; Mattingly v. State (1981), Ind.App., 421 N.E.2d 18. But such knowledge cannot be inferred solely from the unexplained possession of recently stolen property. Mattingly, 421 N.E.2d at 19. See Morgan v. State (1981), Ind.App., 427 N.E.2d 1131.

In the present case, the evidence presents more than mere unexplained possession of the shotgun. In his offer to sell the gun to the informant, the defendant stated that the gun was from Shaner's house. Additionally, the State presented evidence that the defendant stole the gun. A reasonable jury could find that the defendant knew the gun was stolen when he sold it to the informant.

Lesser Included Offense Instruction

The defendant asserts that the trial court erred in refusing his tendered instruction defining the crime of criminal conversion. He now argues that it should have been given to allow the jury to find a lesser included offense.

The State correctly argues that this claim of error was waived by the defendant's failure to submit an accompanying signed cover sheet as required by Ind.Code § 35-87-2-2(6)(C). Furthermore, the tendered instruction was insufficient, incomplete and potentially confusing because it failed to explain the role of a lesser included offense in its proper context in this case. Riley v. State (1987), Ind., 506 N.E.2d 476, 480; McNary v. State (1981), Ind., 428 N.E. 2d 1248. We find no error on this issue.

Notice of Alibi Defense

The defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by granting the State's motion in limine, which exeluded the defendant's alibi defense. He argues that his response to discovery served as the functional equivalent of the notice of alibi defense required by statute.

The information and affidavit of probable cause were filed on December 20, 1985. The trial court set March 8, 1986 as the omnibus date and April 28, 1988 as the date of trial. On April 21 the defendant filed a response to discovery in which he alleged that he had permission to enter the house and that he was with relatives on the date of the burglary. The State promptly filed a motion in limine to exclude the alleged alibi evidence from the trial because the response did not comply with the time requirements of the alibi defense statutes. The trial court granted the State's motion just before the trial began.

When a defendant intends to present an alibi defense, he must file with the court and serve upon the prosecuting attorney a written statement announcing his intention and detailing the alibi. Ind.Code § 35-86-4-1 (1981). The statement must be' filed twenty days before the omnibus date if the defendant is charged with a felony. If the defendant fails to comply with this requirement and cannot show good cause for his failure, the trial court shall exclude the alibi evidence he intended to offer.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
532 N.E.2d 6, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 1, 1989 WL 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adkins-v-state-ind-1989.