Breaston v. State

893 N.E.2d 6, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1940, 2008 WL 3916684
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 27, 2008
Docket20A04-0712-CR-727
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 893 N.E.2d 6 (Breaston v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Breaston v. State, 893 N.E.2d 6, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1940, 2008 WL 3916684 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

BRADFORD, Judge.

Appellant-Defendant Byron Breaston appeals his conviction, following a jury tri *9 al, for Theft, 1 a Class D felony, and the finding that he was a habitual offender. Breaston raises numerous issues on appeal, which we restate as: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying Breaston’s request for a mistrial; (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the finding that he was a habitual offender; (3) whether the trial court erred in allowing the State to amend the habitual offender enhancement information; (4) whether the sentences resulting from separate findings that one is a habitual offender in separate criminal proceedings may be served consecutively to one another; (5) whether the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence at trial; and (6) whether the trial court erred in denying Breaston’s motion to dismiss. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 13, 2004, Kristie Kirk was the manager of a Hollywood Video (“video store”) in Elkhart, Around 4:30 p.m., Brea-ston entered the video store. Breaston drew Kirk’s attention because he “floated” around the various sections of the store without looking at anything in particular and also because Kirk caught Breaston watching what she was doing. Tr. p. 156. Eventually, Breaston inquired about a membership but claimed he did not have any identification. When Breaston attempted to leave the video store, the store’s electronic theft-detection unit sounded an alarm. Kirk asked Breaston to pass through the detection unit multiple times, and the unit sounded each time. Kirk then asked Breaston to empty his pockets, and, as he did so, she noticed the outlines of several DVD cases showing through Breaston’s clothing. After noticing the DVD cases, Kirk allowed Breaston to leave the store and called the police.

Kirk reported the theft to the police as she watched Breaston walk away from the video store and into the parking lot of a nearby store named Martin’s. Kirk described Breaston’s clothing and his direction of travel. While Kirk was watching Breaston, a squad car pulled into the Martin’s parking lot. Elkhart Police Officer Chad Odie approached Breaston after observing that he matched the description of the perpetrator of the possible theft at the video store. When Officer Odie attempted to speak to Breaston, Breaston became agitated and asked Office Odie “what he wanted.” Tr. p. 202. After Officer Odie told Breaston to calm down, Breaston told Officer Odie that he had just been asked to leave the video store.

While Officer Odie was speaking to Breaston, Elkhart Police Detective Todd Thayer arrived. Detective Thayer noticed the outline of DVD boxes protruding from Breaston’s clothing. Officer Odie and Detective Thayer performed a pat-down search and found several DVDs tucked into Breaston’s pants. Breaston was arrested.

On February 18, 2004, the State charged Breaston with theft as a Class D felony and alleged that he was a habitual offender. On April 25, 2007, Breaston filed a motion to suppress the DVDs and moved to dismiss the theft charge. On July 13, 2007, Breaston filed a motion to dismiss the habitual offender charge. The trial court denied Breaston’s motions. On August 9, 2007, the State filed a motion to amend the habitual offender information. The trial court granted the State’s motion.

On August 21, 2007, Breaston was tried before a jury. Breaston moved for a mistrial on the grounds that the venire pool did not contain a proper representation of *10 minority venirepersons. The trial court denied Breaston’s motion. The jury found Breaston guilty of theft. On September 5, 2007, the jury found Breaston to be a habitual offender. Following judgment of conviction, the trial court sentenced Brea-ston to three years for the theft conviction enhanced by four and one-half years due to the habitual offender finding. Breaston now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION 2

I. Motion for Mistrial

Breaston contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial because the jury panel failed to reflect a fair cross-section of the Elkhart County community, which has an African-American population of approximately five and one-half percent. 3 The United States Supreme Court has long held that the selection of a petit jury from a representative cross-section of the community is an essential component of the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 528, 95 S.Ct. 692, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975). There is no requirement, however, that a jury panel be a microcosm of a county or a court district. Williams v. State, 877 N.E.2d 845, 846-47 (Ind.Ct.App.2007), trans. denied. Jurors need not be mathematically proportioned to the character of the community. Id. at 847. The primary concern is that the jury selection not be arbitrary. Id.

Breaston claims he has made a prima facie showing of a violation of the fair cross-section requirement. To make such a showing, a defendant bears the burden of establishing the following:

(1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a “distinctive” group in the community; (2) that the representation of this group in venires from which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community; and (3) that this un-derrepresentation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process.

Dye v. State, 717 N.E.2d 5, 19 (Ind.1999) (quoting Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357, 364, 99 S.Ct. 664, 58 L.Ed.2d 579 (1979)). If a defendant has made a prima facie showing of a fair cross-section violation, the State may still justify the juror selection process by showing that the attainment of a fair cross-section is incompatible with a significant state interest. Williams, 877 N.E.2d at 847.

The State readily concedes that African-Americans are a “distinctive” group in the community, thus satisfying the first Duren criterion. Thus, our focus shifts to the second and third Duren criteria. With respect to the second criterion, Breaston claims that the zero-percent representation of African-Americans in his jury pool was unreasonable, as compared to the approximate five and one-half percent African-American population of Elkhart County. Further, with respect to the third criterion, Breaston claims that African-Americans have been systematically excluded from jury service.

*11

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Bluebook (online)
893 N.E.2d 6, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1940, 2008 WL 3916684, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/breaston-v-state-indctapp-2008.