Alkhalidi v. State

753 N.E.2d 625, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 742, 2001 WL 953744
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 23, 2001
Docket71S00-0005-CR-288
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 753 N.E.2d 625 (Alkhalidi 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
Alkhalidi v. State, 753 N.E.2d 625, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 742, 2001 WL 953744 (Ind. 2001).

Opinion

BOEHM, Justice.

Abdullah Alkhalidi was convicted of murder, robbery, and theft. In this direct appeal, Alkhalidi contends that: (1) Indiana lacked jurisdiction over this case; (2) St. Joseph County was not the proper venue; (3) there was insufficient evidence to support the robbery conviction; and (4) the trial court abused its discretion by preventing Alkhalidi from presenting alibi witnesses. We affirm the trial court.

Factual and Procedural Background

Alkhalidi was experiencing financial difficulties in the spring of 1999. On May 2 of that year, Claude Purdiman, an Elkhart County resident, went to the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, in LaPorte County, Indiana. He started the evening with approximately $3000 in cash and won $500 more over the course of the evening. Surveillance tapes from the casino showed Purdiman leaving with Alkhalidi, who lived in South Bend, which is in St. Joseph County. LaPorte County and Elkhart *627 County are contiguous to St. Joseph County. Al are on Indiana's northern border with Michigan. On May 3, Purdiman was last seen in St. Joseph County, where he told friends he was returning to the casino with Alkhalidi and another friend. The next day, on May 4, Alkhalidi, whose bank account balance was $22.68 on May 3, lost over $3000 at the casino. Purdiman did not accompany him.

On May 6, Purdiman's car was found in Paw Paw, Michigan with its license plate removed. Two days later, on May 8, Pur-diman's partially burned body was found in Michigan, approximately ten miles from the Indiana border. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. On May 13, the police arrived to question Alkhalidi, and found him loading items into the trunk of his car. Purdiman's license plate was clearly visible in the trunk. A further search of the house revealed Pur-diman's clothing, rags with Purdiman's blood on them, a casino ticket of Purdi-man's, and ammunition that matched the type causing Purdiman's death. Purdi-man's blood was also found on the front passenger floor mat and trunk mat of Alk-halidi's car. Alkhalidi was tried in St. Joseph County, convicted of murder, robbery, and theft, and was sentenced to sixty-five years imprisonment.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Alkhalidi contends there was insufficient evidence to establish either jurisdiction in Indiana or venue in St. Joseph County. He also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction for robbery. Our standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence claims is well settled. We do not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses, Harrison v. State, 707 N.E.2d 767, 788 (Ind.1999), and it lies within the jury's exelusive province to weigh conflicting evidence, Robinson v. State, 699 N.E.2d 1146, 1148 (Ind.1998). We will affirm the trial court if the probative evidence and- reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence could have allowed a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Tobar v. State, 740 N.E.2d 109, 111-12 (Ind.2000).

A. Jurisdiction

Alkhalidi contends that Indiana did not have jurisdiction of his case because the State did not prove jurisdiction beyond a reasonable doubt. Jurisdiction is considered an element of the offense. Sundling v. State, 679 N.E.2d 988, 991 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). Indiana has jurisdiction if either the conduct that is an element of the offense or the result that is an element occurs in Indiana. Ind.Code § 35-41-1-1(b)(1) (1998); McKinney v. State, 553 N.E.2d 860, 862 (Ind.Ct.App.1990), trans. denied. Jurisdiction must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Sundling, 679 N.E.2d at 991.

Much of Alkhalidi's argument rests on Michigan law that would give Michigan jurisdiction. This argument is unpersusa-sive. Two states can each have concurrent criminal jurisdiction over a crime with the proper nexus to both. Cf. Archer v. State, 106 Ind. 426, 432, 7 N.E. 225, 228 (1886) ("''There is, as we understand the authorities, no real conflict of opinion as to the power of the. Legislature to provide for punishment of a crime partly committed in one jurisdiction and partly in another, in either jurisdiction. ..."); Kiser v. Woods, 60 Ind. 538 (1878) (prosecution for larceny allowed in Indiana where defendant obtains money and plans scheme in Ohio, but completes scheme in Indiana). Whether Michigan could also have tried Alkhalidi is irrelevant.

*628 The jury was instructed that it had to find jurisdiction beyond a reasonable doubt. There was sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that either the conduct-the robbery and/or shooting-or the result-the taking of property and/or death-occurred in Indiana. Purdiman was last seen in St. Joseph County, Indiana. He had announced his intention to go with Alkhalidi west to Michigan City, Indiana, not north to Michigan. 1 He had a large amount of cash that might or might not have been in his possession after the contemplated casino visit. On May 3 or 4 Purdiman's car was seen outside Alkhalidi's home. No blood was found near Pur-diman's body, suggesting that he was not killed where his body was found. The blood in Alkhalidi's car points to the car as the place where Purdiman was murdered. Many of Purdiman's personal effects (clothing, a cell phone, drivers license, and a dinner ticket) were found at Alkhalidi's residence. This evidence was sufficient for the jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Purdiman was killed in the course of a robbery that took place at least in part in Indiana. In addition, Alkhalidi was convicted of theft for "exerting unauthorized control" over Purdiman's license plate. This crime clearly occurred in Indiana because the police found Alkhalidi with the plate outside of his home in St. Joseph County.

Where a defendant is charged with multiple crimes that are "integrally related," jurisdiction over all the crimes is proper if some of them occurred in Indiana. Conrad v. State, 262 Ind. 446, 450-51, 317 N.E.2d 789, 791-92 (1974). In Conrad, this Court affirmed a conviction for kidnapping and manslaughter, pointing out that "(there was substantial evidence presented from which the jury could find that the assault and abduction of the vie-tim were integrally related to the victim's murder, Thus viewed, the assault and abduction provide an adequate jurisdictional base for appellant's conviction of murder in Wayne County, Indiana." Id. at 451, 317 N.E.2d at 792. As a result, Indiana had jurisdiction over the prosecution. The same reasoning applies here.

B. Venue

The right to be tried in the county in which an offense was committed is a constitutional and a statutory right. See Ind. Const. art. I, § 13

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Bluebook (online)
753 N.E.2d 625, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 742, 2001 WL 953744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alkhalidi-v-state-ind-2001.