Deel v. State

357 N.E.2d 240, 265 Ind. 577, 1976 Ind. LEXIS 427
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 7, 1976
Docket874S152
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 357 N.E.2d 240 (Deel v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deel v. State, 357 N.E.2d 240, 265 Ind. 577, 1976 Ind. LEXIS 427 (Ind. 1976).

Opinion

Arterburn, J.

The Appellant, Lonnie Deel, was convicted on January 17, 1974, of kidnapping and rape while armed. The Appellant filed a motion to be examined as a possible criminal sexual deviant on February 5, 1974. After delay required for the preparation of a record for the use of examining physicians, this motion was denied on August 6, 1974. The Appellant’s motion to correct errors was denied on May 20, 1974. A supplemental motion to correct errors directed to the denial of the Appellant’s motion to be examined as a possible criminal sexual deviant was filed on August 12, 1974, and was denied that same day.

The evidence at trial revealed that on the morning of August 19, 1973, Penny Parker, age 16, was working in a donut shop near Lafayette, Indiana, when a man entered the shop and placed an order. When the two of them were alone in the front part of the store, the man drew a gun from his belt and forced his victim out of the shop. Other employees behind a shop partition heard her say “Please don’t kill me. I’ll go with you.” When they saw their co-worker leave the shop at gunpoint, they contacted the police.

After being taken from the donut shop, Miss Parker was forced to enter a pickup truck and was driven down the *579 highway located by the donut shop. At one point during the drive, Miss Parker made some attempt to jump from the truck. The gun, which had been tucked in her abductor’s belt, was drawn again. She was told “not to try it.” She found that the door on her side of the truck would not open. On a side road, a struggle over the truck’s steering wheel caused the vehicle to hit a utilty pole.

Miss Parker was then pulled from the truck and beaten about the face and head. She was taken to a cornfield, where she was raped. This attack was interrupted when several men were spotted looking at the truck. The attacker pointed his gun at them and cocked the weapon, but did not fire it. He compelled his victim to crawl through the cornfield to a wooded area where she was once again raped. When she was then allowed to leave, she ran to a nearby house of some friends. Police, having been notified of the abduction and the location of the truck, arrived at the house almost at the same time.

Miss Parker identified the Appellant at trial as her attacker. He had been arrested on the same day as the attacks in this case after a search of the area surrounding the scene of their occurrence. The Appellant was still in posesssion of his gun when arrested. Testimony at trial further established that the pickup truck involved in the abduction was driven by the appellant in the course of his employment.

I.

The Appellant presents two contentions in this appeal regarding the sufficiency of the evidence. It is first asserted that the evidence was insufficient to support the conclusion of the jury that the Appellant was legally sane at the time of the crimes in question. It is also asserted by the Appellant that the evidence was insufficient to support a verdict of guilty of armed rape.

*580 *579 When, as in this case, a defendant enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the burden of proving sanity *580 is on the State. Johnson v. State, (1970) 255 Ind. 324, 264 N.E.2d 57. When reveiwing a jury’s determination that the State has successfully carried this burden, we treat this issue not unlike other questions of fact. We cannot weigh the evidence, nor can we judge the credibility of witnesses. This Court will look to the evidence on the issue most favorable to the State and the reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence. When there is substantial evidence of probative value to support the conclusion of the trier of fact that conclusion will not be overturned. Maxey v. State, (1976) 265 Ind. 244, 353 N.E.2d 457; Blake v. State, (1975) 262 Ind. 659, 323 N.E.2d 227.

The Appellant acknowledges that one of the physicians appointed by the court to examine him after the entry of his insanity plea testified that it was his opinion that the Appellant was legally sane at the time of the crimes involved in this case. Our review of the record reveals that other evidence was also presented which tends to support this conclusion. The Appellant’s supervisor at his place of employment described the Appellant as a reliable and trustworthy employee. Arresting police officers testified that the Appellant appeared to understand his situation and the questions put to him, that he was coherent, and that there was no indication that he was under the influence of alcohol. The contention by the Appellant that intoxication had contribtuted to his mental state was further rebutted by the victim, who testified that the Appellant did not appear to be drunk. She also testified that the Appellant spoke to her regarding his going to prison for what he was doing, indicating an appreciation of the wrongfulness of his conduct. The Appellant’s apparent lack of memory during his testimony regarding the acts of which he stood accused was impeached by the introduction into evidence of a confession in which there was no such problems of recollection. The evidence was sufficient to support the conclusion of the jury that the Appellant was legally sane at the time of the crimes in this case.

The assertion that the evidence in this case was insufficient *581 to support a conviction of rape while armed is based upon the premise that “the use of the pistol is not a significant factor in the rapes.” In support of this, it is pointed out that testimony at trial established that the weapon was placed on the ground during the first act of rape.

The crimes of commission of a crime while armed, Ind. Code §35-12-1-1 (Burns 1975), is not defined as commission of a crime “while holding gun in hand.” The evidence at trial established that the Appellant abducted his victim at gunpoint, placing the gun in his belt when he drove. He drew it during the drive when his victim made an attempt to escape. During the first rape the gun was within easy reach of the Appellant. When that rape was interrupted, the gun was cocked and pointed at men observing the Appellant’s truck. The gun was in the control of the Appellant when he and his victim crawled from the cornfield to the site of the second rape. The gun was still in the possession of the Appellant when he was arrested. The evidence thus established that this weapon was in the full control of the Appellant during the crimes in question and was instrumental in the commission of those crimes. The evidence establishing that the rapes in this case were carried out “while armed” was sufficient.

. II.

On the afternoon of his arrest, the Appellant gave a statement to police in which he confessed to the crimes for which he was convicted.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
357 N.E.2d 240, 265 Ind. 577, 1976 Ind. LEXIS 427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deel-v-state-ind-1976.