Bruce Angelo Evans v. State of Indiana

30 N.E.3d 769, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 381, 2015 WL 1963848
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 30, 2015
Docket48A02-1407-CR-496
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 30 N.E.3d 769 (Bruce Angelo Evans v. State of Indiana) 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
Bruce Angelo Evans v. State of Indiana, 30 N.E.3d 769, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 381, 2015 WL 1963848 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

VAIDIK, Chief Judge.

Case Summary

[1] A confidential informant performed a controlled buy of heroin from the defendant, Bruce Angelo Evans. At the jury trial, several witnesses who had been present in the house where the controlled buy occurred or who were otherwise associated with- Evans and the confidential informant testified that Evans had also sold them *772 heroin on the day of the controlled buy. On appeal, Evans argues first that in light of the evidence of multiple acts of dealing, the trial court erred in failing to issue an instruction on jury unanimity, in order to ensure that all of the jurors relied on the same act of dealing to support Evans’s conviction. We find that Evans waived this alleged error by failing to object to the jury instructions or offer one of his own. Moreover, we find that any error does not rise to the level of fundamental error because given that the overwhelming majority of evidence at trial was about the controlled buy, it is clear that this was the act of dealing that supported the jury’s guilty verdict. Second, Evans argues that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of a large amount of cash — in addition to the buy money — found on Evans when he was searched by law enforcement officers after the controlled buy. But Evans failed to object when the evidence of this additional money was first offered into evidence, and thus has waived this claim on appeal. Waiver notwithstanding, we find that any error in the admission of this evidence was harmless insofar as there was substantial evidence supporting Evans’s conviction regardless of the evidence of additional money. Accordingly, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On the afternoon of February 18, 2014, Roberta Scherer 1 overdosed at a house (the 28th Street house) in Anderson, Indiana, where Evans was living. Another resident of the 28th Street house went to Scherer’s mother’s house three or four blocks away to notify the family of Scherer’s condition, and Scherer’s niece Shyanne “ran straight to her.” Tr. p. 312. When Shyanne arrived, her aunt was “blue, not breathing, on the kitchen floor.” Id. An ambulance was summoned and within a few hours Scherer recovered.

[3] Scherer’s brother-in-law (and Shyanne’s father), David Trueblood, who had served as a confidential informant before, contacted Lieutenant John Branson of the Anderson Police Department (APD) because of Scherer’s overdose and his concern over the amount of drugs his family members were using. Detective Ryan Geer of the APD and Madison County Drug Task Force (the Drug Task Force) contacted Trueblood to ask if he would be willing to do a controlled buy from Evans that same day — February 18 — and True-blood agreed to do so. Sergeant Frank Sigler of the APD, who was also assigned to the Drug Task Force, and Detective Geer picked up Trueblood at 8:00 p.m. and performed all the steps necessary for a controlled buy. First they took Trueblood to a remote location to check whether he had any drugs, weapons, or money. Then Trueblood was given buy money — four twenty-dollar bills that had previously been photocopied — and was equipped with two recording devices and one device that enabled Detective Geer to monitor live feed throughout the transaction.

[4] Trueblood was dropped off near the 28th Street house at 9:08 p.m. He knocked on the back door of the 28th Street house at 9:11 p.m., indicating to Evans that he was buying the heroin for someone named Ryan and giving Evans the $80 of buy money in exchange for heroin. The entire exchange was recorded, and Trueblood was picked up again by the police officers at 9:15 p.m.

[5] After the buy, Trueblood was subjected to another search. He provided Detective Geer with a wrapper containing a substance that field-tested positive for *773 heroin. 2 Trueblood had no other drugs, weapons, or money.

[6] The APD obtained a search warrant for the 28th Street house. Eight officers and detectives who were involved in executing the search warrant met to establish an action plan for announcing the search warrant and entering the house. The APD went to the 28th Street house, knocked repeatedly on the door, and announced for them to open the door for a police department search warrant, but nobody answered the door. Ultimately a “battering ram” was used to open the door. Evans was found cowering in' the bathroom, attempting to hide in a space between the shower stall and the wall. Initially he refused to comply with repeated orders to come out and show his hands. Finally, Lieutenant Branson used a taser on Evans and then “grabbed him out of there.” Tr. p. 247.

[7] Evans was searched by the police, and in his pocket they found a brown leather wallet containing the $80 of buy money, an additional $1689 in cash, and the driver’s license of Robert Gray. 3 Officers searched the house and discovered hypodermic syringes, spoons, a smoking pipe, a set of scales, and substances that could be used for diluting heroin. There were three other people in the house at the time of the search: Sheela Hall, Ashley Sparkman, and Hank Steffler, the teenage son of the homeowner. Hall observed the controlled buy — she saw Evans answer the back door and hand Trueblood something “kind of shiny.” Id. at 461.

[8] Evans was charged with Count I, Class B felony dealing in a narcotic drug; and Count II, Class A misdemeanor false informing. Later an additional Count III was filed charging Evans with being a habitual substance offender. Before the trial, Evans filed a motion in limine stating that he had “reason to believe the State intended] to introduce evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts to prove the character of the defendant ... in violation of Indiana Rule of Evidence 404(b).” Appellant’s App. p. 26. In particular, Evans’s motion requested the exclusion of testimony from multiple witnesses as to other overdoses and drug transactions, other than the controlled buy; and the exclusion of evidence about the money seized from Evans other than the buy money. The trial court ruled that evidence of drug transactions that occurred on February 18 — the date of the controlled buy — was “intrinsic” to the charged offenses and therefore admissible. The trial court denied Evans’s motion with regard to the money.

[9] On June 10 and 11, 2014, a jury trial was held. At the trial, Sergeant Si-gler, Lieutenant Branson, Detective Geer, Detective Leann Dwiggins of the Drug Task Force, and Detective Keith Gaskill of the APD and the Drug Task Force all testified as to the role each played in Trueblood’s controlled buy. Brandy Cline, forensic scientist in the drug unit at the Indiana State Police laboratory, testified that the substance that Evans sold to Trueblood was .20 grams of heroin and controlled substance. See State’s Ex. 11.

*774 [10] In addition, numerous witnesses testified that they had also purchased heroin from Evans or at the 28th Street house on February 18. Scherer testified, “I went over there and bought some heroin off of him and winded up overdosing and going to the hospital.” Tr. p. 330.

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30 N.E.3d 769, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 381, 2015 WL 1963848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruce-angelo-evans-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2015.