Bryson Tyrone Street v. State of Indiana

30 N.E.3d 41, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 362, 2015 WL 1844373
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 22, 2015
Docket21A04-1410-CR-458
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 30 N.E.3d 41 (Bryson Tyrone Street 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
Bryson Tyrone Street v. State of Indiana, 30 N.E.3d 41, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 362, 2015 WL 1844373 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

NAJAM, Judge.

Statement of the Case

[1] Bryson Tyrone Street appeals his convictions and sentence after a jury found him guilty of the following offenses: burglary, as a Class A felony; attempted robbery, as a Class A felony; attempted robbery, as a Class B felony; battery, as a Class C felony; carrying a handgun without a license, a Class C felony; criminal recklessness, as a Class D felony; neglect of a dependent, as a Class D felony; possession of marijuana, as a Class A misdemeanor; and to being an habitual offender. *44 Street raises five issues for our review, which we consolidate and restate as the following four issues:

1. Whether some of Street’s convictions are prohibited under Indiana double jeopardy law;
2. Whether the trial court committed fundamental error in the admission of certain evidence;
3. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support Street’s conviction for neglect of a dependent, as a Class D felony; and
4. Whether the trial court erred when it sentenced Street for being an habitual offender.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

Facts and Procedural History

[8] Michael Corn and his girlfriend, Bria Benjamin, lived together in Conners-ville with their two-year-old son. Corn and Benjamin became acquainted with Street around March of 2014. Between March and June, Street visited Corn and Benjamin’s home “about ten” times. Trial Tr. at 157.

[4] Around 8:00 a.m. on June 11, 2014, Corn, Benjamin, and their son were awoken by-someone kicking in their back door. A neighbor observed “a chubby person in a gray hoodie,” blue jeans, and with “a bandana around the[] face” kicking in Corn and Benjamin’s door. Id. at 136. The neighbor called the police.

[5] Meanwhile, Corn exited the family bedroom to investigate the noise at his door. Corn met an African-American man in the kitchen, and Corn observed that the man was wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans, a bandana around his face, and blue gloves. Although the man’s face was covered, Corn recognized him as Street based on “his voice and his shape and the way” he talked. Id. at 168. In the bedroom, Benjamin also heard and recognized Street’s voice. Street demanded Corn’s money, and when Corn stated that he did not have any, Street instead grabbed Corn’s marijuana off of a kitchen counter. Street then pulled out a .25 caliber handgun and shot Corn in the thigh. Another shot struck the kitchen wall. Street fled before the police arrived.

[6] When the police arrived, Corn and Benjamin were initially reluctant to identify Street. But they did so later on June 11, and officers obtained and executed a warrant to search Street’s residence later that day. In executing the warrant, officers seized .25 caliber ammunition, a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans with blue gloves stuffed inside them, and bandanas. The officer also seized firearms, which included a loaded .22 caliber revolver, found inside of a pillow case on Street’s bed. Street had lived at that residence “for a few months” and shared the residence with his girlfriend, Iva Fine; Fine’s daughter, T.A.F.; and Fine’s grandson, J.T. 1 Street, Fine, and J.T. all slept in the same bed. Appellant’s Br. at 10. T.A.F. “look[ed] to [Street] as a father figure.” Trial Tr. at 428.

[7] Officers arrested Street. In the booking room of the police station, while officers were conducting a pat-down of Street, a .25 caliber handgun “fell out of his groin area.” Id. at 455. Officers also discovered a small bag of marijuana “in the groin area of Mr. Street.” Id. at 457. Later ballistics testing revealed that the shots fired inside Corn and Benjamin’s residence were fired from the .25 caliber handgun that had fallen out of Street’s “groin area” during his booking. Id. at 455.

*45 [8] On July 15, 2014, the State filed its amended charging information against Street, in which the State alleged that Street had committed the following offenses:

• Count I: burglary, as a Class A felony, on the grounds that Street “did break and enter the building or structure of [Corn and Benjamin] ... with the intent to commit a felony and said act resulted in bodily injury” to Corn;
• Count II: attempted robbery, as a Class A felony, on the grounds that Street “did knowingly or intentionally attempt to take property, to-wit: U.S. Currency from ... Corn[ ] by use of force or threat of force and said conduct resulted in serious bodily injury” to Corn;
• Count III: attempted robbery, as a Class B felony, on the grounds that Street “did knowingly or intentionally attempt to take property, to-wit: U.S. Currency from ... Corn[ ] by use of force or threat of force, while armed with a deadly weapon or resulting in bodily injury” to Corn;
• Count IV: battery, as a Class C felony, on the grounds that Street “did knowingly touch [Corn] in a rude, insolent, or angry manner; by means of a deadly weapon, to wit: gun”;
• Count V: criminal recklessness, as a Class D felony, on the grounds that Street “did recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally[,] with a deadly weapon, to wit: gun, perform an act that created a substantial risk of bodily injury” to Corn, Benjamin, and/or their son, namely, “Street fired one or more gunshots inside the residence”;
• Count VI: neglect of a dependent, as a Class D felony, on the grounds that Street, “having the care of J.T ... a dependent, did knowingly place said dependent in a situation that endangered the dependent’s life or health”;
• Count VII: carrying a handgun without a license, a Class C felony; and
• Count VIII: possession of marijuana, as a Class A misdemeanor.

Appellant’s App. at 52-53. The State also alleged Street to be an habitual offender.

[9] During Street’s ensuing jury trial, in addition to evidence showing the above facts, the State played two video recordings to the jury. In one, Fine stated that Street ‘“just did six years’” and, in the other, another person, Marcus Armstead, stated that “the last few days were the most he’d seen Mr. Street in ten years because Mr. Street had been in jail.” Appellant’s Br. at 5 (quoting State’s -Exs. 18 & 19). Street did not object to the admission of those recordings, but, after the jury had viewed them, Street requested an admonishment to the jury. The trial court agreed, stating:

I am admonishing you[,] that means I’m telling you, that you are not to consider and to regard as if you have never heard any remarks of any of those people with regard to Mr. Street and whether or not he has ever had a prior conviction of any kind or has ever been in prison. If you heard anything like that, it’s as if you never heard. You are to completely disregard it.

Trial Tr. at 285. Street did not request a mistrial following the admonishment.

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Bluebook (online)
30 N.E.3d 41, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 362, 2015 WL 1844373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bryson-tyrone-street-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2015.