Carter v. State

932 N.E.2d 1284, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 1678, 2010 WL 3496265
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided September 8, 2010·No. 32A01-0911-CR-539·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Gregory Carter appeals his conviction of Class D felony theft 1 and Class B felony robbery resulting in bodily injury. 2 He raises three issues for our consideration:

1. Did the trial court abuse its discretion when excluding evidence of Wal-Mart's standard operating procedures for detaining shoplifters?
Did some of the prosecutor's comments during voir dire rise to the level of misconduct resulting in fundamental error?
Did Carter's convictions of theft and robbery subject him to double jeopardy under the Indiana Constitution?

We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 14, 2008, Carter, Ariyanna Daniels, and Edson Washington entered the Plainfield Wal-Mart with the intent to steal liquor. Carter and Daniels selected liquor bottles, Carter placed them in a stolen backpack, and then Carter ran out of the store. Susan Peters, a loss prevention officer for Wal-Mart, followed Daniels out of the store and saw Carter enter Washington's van. Peters attempted to follow Daniels into the van and detain her. Carter punched Peters in the face and left with Washington and Daniels.

Carter was convicted after a jury trial of Class D felony theft and Class B felony robbery resulting in bodily injury. He was sentenced to eighteen months for theft and ten years with seven years suspended for robbery, to run concurrently.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1. Exclusion of Evidence

Carter alleges the trial court should have admitted evidence of Wal- *1287 Mart's loss prevention policy. Generally, a ruling on the admissibility of evidence is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Combs v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1252, 1255 (Ind.Ct.App.2008), trans. denied. We will reverse only where the decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances. Id.

This allegation of error is waived because Carter did not make an offer to prove that included a copy of the Wal-Mart loss prevention policy. Evid. R. 103(a)(2) provides error may not be predicated on a ruling that exeludes evidence unless "the substance of the evidence was made known to the court by a proper offer of proof, or was apparent from the context within which questions were asked." The purpose of an offer to prove is to enable the trial court and this court to determine the admissibility and relevance of the proffered evidence. Court View Ctr., L.L.C. v. Witt, 753 N.E.2d 75, 85 (Ind.Ct.App.2001). The failure to make an offer to prove results in a waiver of the asserted eviden-tiary error. Id. Carter concedes he did not make an offer to prove, but asserts the substance of the evidence was apparent from the following exchange and later cross examination of Peters. We cannot agree.

During trial, defense counsel asked loss prevention supervisor Benito Bravo, "Is it Wal-Mart policy for loss prevention officer to carry a walkie talkie?" (Tr. at 264.) The State objected and defense counsel replied:

Judge, uh, it is relevant, Mr. Delp did ask a question regarding a walking [sic] talkie as to standard equipment that uh, loss prevention officers carry at Wal-Mart. Uh, it was responded to my, ub, by uh, Mr. Bravo, the witness, that they do need to carry them and so therefore, I think it is relevant.

(Id. at 264-5.) Upon sustaining the objection, the court responded, "I don't think the question addressed whether or not it was policy, I don't think Wal-Mart policy is necessarily relevant to the issues here." (Id.)

For the substance of the evidence to be apparent from the context of the question, the testimony to be given must be so closely related to a relevant issue that it need not be spoken. See Bedree v. Bedrece, 747 N.E.2d 1192, 1196 (Ind.Ct.App.2001) (holding the excluded testimony was relevant to whether a signature was that of a deceased party, and since a statement regarding the issue was the only testimony that could be given by the witness, no offer to prove was necessary because the substance of the evidence was apparent from the context of the question asked), trans. denied. The court had made a pre-trial ruling that the Wal-Mart policy was irrelevant, and defense counsel's response to the State's objection did not indicate why that evidence had become relevant. Therefore, the issue was waived for our review.

Waiver notwithstanding, we hold the court did not abuse its discretion when excluding Wal-Mart's policy. The Indiana Shoplifter Detention Act, Ind.Code § 35-38-6-2, governs the conduct of a merchant who detains a shoplifter, and provides in relevant part:

(a) An owner or agent of a store who has probable cause to believe that a theft has occurred or is occurring on or about the store and who has probable cause to believe that a specific person has committed or is committing the theft:
(1) may:
(A) detain the person and request the person to identify himself or herself;
(B) verify the identification;
*1288 (C) determine whether the person has in the person's possession un-purchased merchandise taken from the store....
* * * * * "t
(c) The detention must:
(1) be reasonable and last only for a reasonable time....

Because Carter did not submit Wal-Mart's policy during his purported offer to prove, we are unable to assess whether there are differences between the policy and the controlling statute. Regardless, Carter has not convinced us of the relevance of the store policy to the question whether he committed the criminal offenses of theft and robbery. See Evid. R. 401 (" 'Relevant evidence' means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence."). Whether Peters followed Wal-Mart policy does not change the illegality of Carter's actions. 3 Because the evidence was not relevant, the court did not abuse its discretion by excluding it. See Evid. R. 102 ("Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible.").

2. Prosecutorial Misconduct

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Carter v. State, 932 N.E.2d 1284, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 1678, 2010 WL 3496265 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

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