Averhart v. State

470 N.E.2d 666, 1984 Ind. LEXIS 1003
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided October 29, 1984·No. 1182S414·Published·Cited by 97 cases

Opinion

*673 PIVARNIK, Justice.

These three Appellants were charged jointly in the Lake Criminal Court with the crimes of murder, and murder in the perpetration of robbery. Change of venue was granted to the Allen Superior Court and there all three were found guilty of both murder and felony murder. The death sentence was sought for all three defendants but the jury recommended death for Aver-hart only. The trial court found that sentence could be imposed for only one of the convictions and subsequently sentenced North and Hutson to a term of sixty (60) years. It was the judgment of the trial court that Averhart suffer the penalty of death.

All three appellants appeal through their attorneys and file separate briefs herein. Averhart has also filed his own pro se briefs. For purposes of review and disposition of this cause we consolidate all three of the causes for this appeal.

Two issues relate to North only and those are: (a) error of the court in refusing to give an instruction for manslaughter; and (b) error in sentencing defendant North.

Errors raised by all three of the appellants in various combinations that will be indicated in each issue are:

1. error occurring with respect to arrest and filing of information;
2. defect in the grand jury indictment;
8. denial of a motion for severance of defendants for purposes of trial;
4. representation of all defendants by counsel from the Lake County Public Defender's office;
5. issues in the voir dire and handling of the petit jurors;
6. - error in advising the jury that their verdict was advisory or a recommendation;
7. improper admission of photographs of the victim;
8. forcing defendants to wear ankle lock weights in court;
9. error in admission of items of evidence;
10. improper communication with the jury by the prosecuting attorney;
11. denial of a mistrial motion based on a discovery mistake by the State;
12. presence of armed guards in the courtroom and on the witness stand;
13. denial of self-representation to Av-erhart and Hutson;
14. communication between the trial judge and the jury;
15. inconsistency in the evidence regarding wounds on the body and the bullet recovered in the autopsy;
16. surprise to defendant Averhart based on the theory of the State's case;
17. error in finding that the killing occurred during the commission of a robbery;
18. error in the admission of Bank camera photographs;
19. sufficiency of the evidence;
20. use of a prior conviction for murder as an aggravating cireumstance in regard to Averhart;
21. unconstitutionality of the death penalty statute;
22. error in instructing the jury as to the death penalty procedure; and
28. lack of death penalty review procedure in Indiana's death penalty statutes.

The facts tend to show that on August 11, 1981, at about noon, the Gary National Bank at 83600 Broadway, Gary, Indiana, was robbed by three men. Gary Police Officer Lieutenant George Yaros was killed by gunfire in a shootout with the robbers as they attempted their escape.

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Averhart v. State, 470 N.E.2d 666, 1984 Ind. LEXIS 1003 (Ind. 1984).

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