Edwin S. Short v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 17, 2018
Docket18A-CR-429
StatusPublished

This text of Edwin S. Short v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Edwin S. Short v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) 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
Edwin S. Short v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be Dec 17 2018, 6:07 am regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals the defense of res judicata, collateral and Tax Court

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE John L. Tompkins Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

Justin F. Roebel Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Edwin S. Short, December 17, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 18A-CR-429 v. Appeal from the Gibson Circuit Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Jeffrey F. Meade, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 26C01-1605-F2-447

Barteau, Senior Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-429 | December 17, 2018 Page 1 of 18 Statement of the Case [1] Edwin Short appeals his conviction for conspiracy to deal methamphetamine in 1 an amount of at least ten grams, a Level 2 felony, contending the trial court

abused its discretion in the admission of certain evidence during his jury trial.

We affirm.

Issues [2] Short presents the following restated issues for our review:

I. Did the trial court abuse its discretion by admitting drug evidence obtained during warrantless searches of a vehicle?

II. Did the trial court abuse its discretion by admitting evidence obtained through wiretap recordings and text messages?

Facts and Procedural History [3] Kari Fourthman began using drugs when she was around ten years old. As an

adult, she was by then a severely addicted drug user and was purchasing

methamphetamine from Melissa Thompson. On one occasion in July or

August of 2015, Fourthman and Thompson were at a bar. Thompson

introduced Fourthman to a person called Knox, but who was later identified as

1 Ind. Code § 35-48-4-1.1(e) (2014).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-429 | December 17, 2018 Page 2 of 18 Edwin Short. During the introduction, Thompson referred to Knox as Louis’

boss. “Louis” was Louis Short, a drug dealer, who was suspected by law

enforcement to be Thompson’s drug source. Tr. Vol. II, p. 18. Edwin was

displeased with the introduction and denied being the boss. Nonetheless, after

the two had been introduced, Edwin “fronted” a total of three ounces of

methamphetamine to Fourthman over the course of five separate occasions

during a one-week period. Tr. Vol. III, pp. 143-44. Fourthman sold most of

the methamphetamine at a price that would enable her to pay back Edwin

while making a profit for herself and to use the excess methamphetamine to

support her addiction.

[4] In early October of 2015, Fourthman contacted the Princeton Police

Department, inquiring about working as a confidential informant. The

Princeton Police Department referred her to the Indiana State Police.

Fourthman began working with Indiana State Police Trooper Lucas Zeien, an

undercover officer in the drug enforcement section. Fourthman made two

controlled buys from Thompson and introduced Trooper Zeien to Thompson.

Trooper Zeien made two purchases from Thompson during October 2015, each

time buying half an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,000.

[5] On February 1, 2016, officers sought and received a wiretap warrant for the

cellphone number Fourthman called to contact Thompson. Sometime around

February 11 through February 13, 2016, officers intercepted phone calls in

which Thompson indicated that she had no methamphetamine to sell and was

awaiting a new delivery. In one of those calls, Thompson explained that her

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-429 | December 17, 2018 Page 3 of 18 daughter, Taylor Cates, would be traveling with Thompson’s supplier the next

morning at 9:00 a.m.

[6] On February 12, 2016, officers used a pole camera to conduct surveillance on

the location of a suspected drug stash house. Officers observed Louis and

Taylor entering a black Lincoln passenger car owned by and registered to 2 Thompson. Also, on that date, officers received a pen register warrant to

monitor the location of a cellphone that Fourthman identified as belonging to

Louis. The officers were able to track the Lincoln and Louis’ phone as Louis

and Taylor traveled to Jackson, Mississippi and returned to Indiana.

[7] Meanwhile, Edwin was in Indianapolis arranging for his cousin’s boyfriend,

Travontae Franklin, to “make a run for him” to Jackson, Mississippi in

exchange for payment of $1,000. Tr. Vol. III, p. 135. Franklin understood this

to mean that he was to pick up drugs for Edwin. Edwin, Franklin, and

Franklin’s friend, Tyshecqua Cook, left around 11:00 a.m. on February 12,

2016, to drive directly to Mississippi. Edwin gave Franklin a flip phone that

could not be traced and provided gas money for the trip.

[8] Once they reached Mississippi, Edwin gave Franklin directions to a house

where, after arriving, Franklin and Cook waited outside in the car while Edwin

2 “A pen register is very–it’s similar to a wiretap with the exception of you don’t get the phone calls, you don’t get the text messages, but you get the cellular information. You get the cell site–cell tower information. You get the incoming and outgoing information from who and to who. And it–basically, it’s just informational status. It tells you who’s calling or who they’re receiving calls from or–or texts or such.” Tr. Vol. II, p. 208.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-429 | December 17, 2018 Page 4 of 18 went inside. Edwin emerged from the house after about five to ten minutes

with Louis and Taylor. Edwin was carrying a bag full of a substance that

looked like cocaine. Edwin put the bag in a door panel on the passenger side

beneath the window switch of Franklin’s vehicle. Franklin testified that the bag

fit in the door panel without much effort.

[9] When they left, Cook and Franklin were in Franklin’s car and Cook was

driving. That car was followed by Edwin, Louis, and Taylor in Thompson’s

Lincoln. According to Franklin, as they drove back to Indiana from

Mississippi, Franklin received phone calls or texts from Edwin instructing them

to drive faster or slower.

[10] Officers who were tracking Louis’ phone identified and observed the two

vehicles traveling together on Interstate 64 and then separately stopped both

vehicles after they exited onto U.S. Highway 41 in Gibson County, Indiana.

Thompson’s car, which was driven by Taylor, was stopped for following a

vehicle too closely and for cutting off the officer’s vehicle. During the stop, the

officer detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from Thompson’s

vehicle. Taylor received a traffic ticket, and Louis was arrested for possessing a

small amount of marijuana. Edwin, who was in the back seat of the vehicle

was not arrested.

[11] In the second traffic stop, officers stopped Franklin’s vehicle for a broken tail

light and failing to signal a lane change. Officers noted an odor of marijuana

emanating from that vehicle as well. Cook, who was driving, received two

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