Eagan v. State

480 N.E.2d 946, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 911
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 2, 1985
Docket284S45
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 480 N.E.2d 946 (Eagan 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
Eagan v. State, 480 N.E.2d 946, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 911 (Ind. 1985).

Opinions

PRENTICE, Justice.

Defendant (Appellant) presents this direct appeal from his conviction following a jury trial of attempted murder, Ind.Code §§ 35-42-1-1, 35-41-5-1 (Burns 1979 Repl.). He was sentenced to thirty-five (85) years imprisonment.

We restate Defendant's contentions as the following three issues:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in admitting Defendant's two custodial statements into evidence, and in admitting evidence police officers discovered, with De[948]*948fendant's assistance, after the statements were made.

(2) Whether the trial court erred in failing to give an instruction, sua sponte, concerning attempted voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense, and erred in giving the court's Final Instruction No. 12, concerning the defense of voluntary intoxication.

(8) Whether a new trial is required because the trial judge, after instructing the jury, left the proceedings in charge of a judge pro tempore who performed no judicial act except to receive the jury's verdict. We find no reversible error and affirm the judgment below.

Although the evidence sharply conflicted in certain details, the record demonstrates that Defendant and several companions were driving through south Chicago and offered the victim a ride during the late evening hours May 16, 1982. Eventually Defendant, his companions and the victim joined a larger group of men, drove into Indiana and parked along the Lake Michigan shoreline. There the victim, either for payment or under coercion, engaged in sex-val activities with at least several members of the group.

Defendant, his companions and the victim then separated from the larger group, and returned to the same area along the shoreline a short time later. Defendant and his companions apparently desired to continue their sexual activities with the vie-tim, but, for reasons which are not clear from the record, she refused. A struggle ensued which ended with the Defendant stabbing the victim about nine times, then leaving her on the shore.

Defendant and his companions drove back to Chicago and stopped at his sister's home; then Defendant proceeded to his own apartment and called a Chicago police officer whom he knew. Defendant led Chicago police to the victim, who immediately asked the Defendant why he had stabbed her.

After determining that the incident had occurred in Indiana, Hammond police officers interviewed the Defendant the next day. He gave a statement admitting that he had been with the victim near the scene of her attack, but claimed that she had been attacked by a group of men who also had attacked the Defendant. After further investigation, Hammond police obtained a second statement from Defendant in which he admitted stabbing the victim. Several days later Defendant assisted police in locating a knife and other items he had thrown into Lake Michigan after the stabbing.

Other relevant facts are stated below.

ISSUE I

Defendant claims that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting into evidence his two statements made while in custody of police officers, and in admitting a knife and other items of physical evidence that Defendant assisted police officers to locate, after he had made these statements.

Specifically, Defendant contends that, prior to giving his first statement, he was not adequately advised that if he wished to consult with counsel prior to or during interrogation but could not afford a lawyer, one would be provided for him. He argues that the first advisement of rights given by police officers indicated only that Defendant would be provided with counsel during court appearances. Although Defendant's brief appears to concede that the advise-ments given before the second statement were adequate, he claims that the second statement was so tainted by the first statement that neither should have been admitted. He further argues that the trial court should not have admitted various items of physical evidence that Defendant had helped police to find in Lake Michigan several days after his second statement, during which Defendant had told the officers he had thrown his knife and other items into the lake. We reject these contentions.

Before a confession may be admitted into evidence, the State must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect intelligently and knowingly waived [949]*949his rights not to incriminate himself and to have an attorney present. See, Chamness v. State (1982), Ind., 431 N.E.2d 474, 476; see generally, Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694. However, this Court will not reweigh the evidence in evaluating a trial court's decision to admit a confession, but will only determine whether the record includes sufficient evidence to sustain the trial court's ruling that the confession was voluntarily made. See, e.g., Ortiz v. State (1976), 265 Ind. 549, 553, 356 N.E.2d 1188, 1191 and authorities cited.

Prior to taking Defendant's first statement police officers read to Defendant, and had him read and sign, a waiver of rights form which included the following advise-ments:

"YOUR RIGHTS
Before we ask you any questions, you must understand your rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions, and to have him with you during questioning. You have this right to the advice and presence of a lawyer even if you cannot afford to hire one. We have no way of giving you a lawyer, but one will be appointed for you, if you wish, if and when you go to court. If you wish to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering questions at any time. You also have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer."

The record contains no indication that Defendant questioned the officers or expressed any confusion concerning the content of these advisements, nor any indication that Defendant requested an attorney before or during his statement. Defendant's first statement claimed that the vie-tim, after spending part of the evening with Defendant, had gone with other persons in a van to the Lake Michigan shoreline while Defendant followed at a distance, that the persons in the van had then approached Defendant, told him they had "dropped off" the victim, and that they then beat him. Thus, outside of Defendant's having admitted that he was with the victim the evening of the crime near the crime seene, facts which he had already reported to police officers before they took him into custody, Defendant's first statement contained nothing implicating himself in the attack upon her.

Following further investigation, police officers asked Defendant to make a second statement one day later, and he agreed. Prior to taking the second statement, police read to Defendant and had him read and sign a waiver form which included the following advisements:

"1. Before making this statement, I was advised that I have the right to remain silent and that anything I might say may or will be used against me in a court of law.

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Eagan v. State
480 N.E.2d 946 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1985)

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480 N.E.2d 946, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 911, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eagan-v-state-ind-1985.