Fair v. State

364 N.E.2d 1007, 266 Ind. 380, 1977 Ind. LEXIS 407
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJune 15, 1977
Docket375S56
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 364 N.E.2d 1007 (Fair 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
Fair v. State, 364 N.E.2d 1007, 266 Ind. 380, 1977 Ind. LEXIS 407 (Ind. 1977).

Opinions

Prentice, J.

Defendant (Appellant) was charged by indictment with first degree murder for hire, Ind. Code § 35-13-4-1 (b) (Burns 1975), for the shooting death of Robert Warren, first degree murder (not for hire), Ind. Code § 35-13-4-1 (a) (Burns 1975), for the related shooting death of Otis Johnson and conspiracy to commit a felony, to-wit: conspiracy to murder Robert Warren, Ind. Code § 35-1-111-1 (Burns 1975). He was tried by a jury and found guilty upon all three counts, for which he was sentenced to death for the murder of Robert Warren, to life imprisonment for the murder of Otis Johnson and to imprisonment for not less than two nor more than fourteen years for the conspiracy. In this direct appeal, the following alleged errors are assigned:

(1) That none of the verdicts were sustained by the evidence.

(2) The denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment based upon participation in the grand jury proceedings by unauthorized persons.

(3) That a postal card inferentially written by the defendant and an exemplar of his handwriting, taken from his personal effects following his arrest, were improperly admitted into evidence.

(4) That the defendant was illegally arrested and that incriminating evidence obtained in consequence of such arrest was admitted.

[382]*382(5) That the statute under which the defendant was charged for the murder of Robert Warren is unconstitutional.

On January 31, 1974, the decedents, Robert Warren and Otis Johnson were shot to death while at the Lighthouse Methadone Clinic in South Bend, where they were procuring written authorization for treatments. Hardin Lanier, an employee of the clinic, was an eyewitness. The assailant walked into the room where the three were transacting their business and inquired of Mr. Lanier as to whether or not he knew Robert Warren. Simultaneously, the assailant pulled a gun from a paper sack and fired several times, killing both Warren and Johnson. The witness, Lanier, immediately escaped from the room but saw the assailant leave the clinic by way of the front entrance. The paper sack was left behind on the floor of the room where the shooting had occurred. The reports from the gun were not loud but sounded more as would shots from a B-B gun.

At the trial, the witness, Lanier, gave a general description of the assailant as being between five feet ten inches and six feet tall, weighing about one hundred sixty pounds, of medium build, wearing a mid-thigh length trench coat, and having dark shoulder length hair. He appeared to the witness to be between thirty and thirty-five years old and to be white, but he was neither real light nor real dark of complexion. He did not have gray bushy hair nor an Afro-style hair cut. The witness did not remember the assailant to be wearing glasses or as having a bushy mustache, such as was worn by the defendant at the trial. The witness saw the assailant only momentarily and was very excited at that time. He was of the opinion that he would not be able to identify the assailant if he should see him again but that the defendant was not the one he had seen kill the decedents.

* * #

ISSUE I

That two crimes of first degree murder had been committed has been clearly established and has not been dis[383]*383puted. The defendant’s insufficiency claim, in regard to these convictions, is that there was insufficient evidence that he was the one who committed the crimes.

“When the sufficiency of the evidence is raised as an issue upon appeal, this Court will consider only that evidence of probative value most favorable to the State, together with all logical and reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom. If such evidence and inferences would permit a reasonable trier of fact to find the existence of each element of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt, the verdict will not be disturbed.” Baum v. State, (1976) 264 Ind. 421, 345 N.E.2d 831 at 834, 835, and cases there cited.
“As this Court has repeatedly emphasized, it will not on appeal judge the weight of the evidence or the credibility of the witnesses. Lottie v. State, (1974) 262 Ind. 124, 311 N.E.2d 800; Brown v. State, (1974) 261 Ind. 619, 308 N.E.2d 699; Turner v. State, (1972) 259 Ind. 344, 287 N.E. 2d 339; Gibson v. State, (1971) 257 Ind. 23, 271 N.E.2d 706; Fuller v. State, (1971) 256 Ind. 681, 271 N.E.2d 720.” Rosell v. State, (1976) 265 Ind. 173, 352 N.E.2d 750, 751.

In view of the law of appellate review above quoted, it is unnecessary to review all of the evidence, much of which we acknowledge was conflicting and of dubious credibility. Rather, we will relate that evidence which contrary to the defendant’s position warranted the jury in returning guilty verdicts upon all counts.

During the late morning on January 30th, a man of average height and wearing a dark top coat walked into an automobile service garage located directly behind the Methadone Center and obtained a wire coathanger with which to fix his muffler. He was clean shaven, dark complexioned and had straight black hair. On the following day, the same man was seen, from the service station, walking across a vacant lot towards the Center. On this occasion, he was carrying a large paper sack. The time of day of this occurrence was not fixed precisely, but it took place in the forenoon. The vacant lot adjoins the Methadone Center premises and extends to the alley that separates the Center premises and the garage premises.

[384]*384From a hairdressing salon located diagonally across the street from the Methadone Center, a man was observed on January the 30th standing for most of the day on the porch of an apartment building situated next door to the Center. On January 31st, the same man was again observed standing in the same place during most of the morning. At about 11:00 a.m. he moved over to the Methadone Center, looked both ways and “* * * kind of slipped in.” He was carrying a brown paper bag. This man answered the same general description as did the man who was observed from the garage — “three-quarter length trench coat.” Hair, “medium length, dark, fairly well groomed.” Height, “I guess around five eleven.” Build, “medium, I guess maybe a little heavy. He looked white.”

About two minutes after the above described man was seen entering the Center, a man of the same appearance ran north alongside the east side of the Center building. On this occasion, the sack was not seen.

The State’s theory of the case was that the defendant conspired with Larry Eddington, Edward Landau, Sr. and Edward Dicks to kill Warren, who was a material witness in narcotics prosecutions pending against Eddington, Landau, his son Edward Landau, Jr.

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Bluebook (online)
364 N.E.2d 1007, 266 Ind. 380, 1977 Ind. LEXIS 407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fair-v-state-ind-1977.