Ford v. State

439 N.E.2d 648, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1383
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 30, 1982
Docket3-482A86
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 439 N.E.2d 648 (Ford v. State) 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
Ford v. State, 439 N.E.2d 648, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1383 (Ind. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

STATON, Judge.

After a jury trial, Tyrone Ford was found guilty of two counts of voluntary manslaughter, a class B felony. 1 He received two consecutive 10 year sentences.

On appeal, 2 Ford raises the following issues: 3

*650 (1) Did the trial court err when it did not suppress his confession to the police?

(2) Was his conviction as a matter of law supported by sufficient evidence?

(3) Did the trial court err when it refused his tendered instructions on involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide?

We affirm.

I.

Confession

When Ford was arrested he was given his Miranda rights. The Miranda rights were also read to him from a printed form when he was at the police station. Officer Her-ma, having been informed that Ford had been advised of his rights, had the following conversation with Ford:

“A. I told him I had his gun, also the shells. It was better for him to tell the truth. He might as well get it off his chest. There wasn’t anything he could do about it, what happened is what happened; nothing he could do about it now.
“Q. [the Prosecutor] Did he make any response to you?
“A. He looked at me and then he said, ‘Can I talk to you?’ I said, ‘Well, just a minute.’ At which time the door of the conference room was open. I called for Lt. Brown. He was in the hallway. He came into the room. I told him Tyrone Ford would like to speak to me, and at this time Tyrone Ford said, ‘I’ll talk to him too.’ ”

Ford then confessed.

On appeal, Ford argues that his confession was not voluntary. He argues that the statements by Officer Herma were made with the intent to deceive and trick him to give a confession by implying that he did not need counsel and that giving a confession would not be damaging because nothing could be done for Ford; therefore, the trial court erred when it did not suppress his confession. We disagree.

The admissibility of a confession is controlled by determining from the totality of circumstances whether or not the confession was given voluntarily and not through inducements, violence, threats or other improper influences so as to overcome the free will of the accused. Smith v. State (1982), Ind., 432 N.E.2d 1363, 1369. The trial court determines if the confession was voluntarily given. We review the question on appeal as we do other sufficiency matters; we do not weigh the evidence. We determine if there was substantial evidence of probative value to support the finding of the trial court. Id.

Our Supreme Court has consistently held that vague and indefinite statements by the police such as “seeing what they could do for him” or it would “be in his best interest to tell the real story” are not sufficient inducements to render a subsequent confession inadmissible. Id. Nor will confronting an accused with incriminating evidence amount to coercion or render a resulting confession inadmissible. Ward v. State (1980), Ind.App., 408 N.E.2d 140, 143.

There is sufficient evidence of probative value to support the determination of the trial court that Ford’s confession was voluntarily given. The trial court did not err in admitting Ford’s statements.

II.

Sufficiency of Evidence

Ford argues that there is not substantial evidence of probative value from which the jury could reasonably infer that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

When evidence to support a conviction is reviewed on appeal, we do not reweigh the evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses. We only consider that evidence most favorable to the State and all *651 reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. We will not disturb the verdict if there is substantial evidence of probative value to support each element of the offense. Hall v. State (1980), Ind., 405 N.E.2d 530, 535.

Ford has failed to state in his argument what element of the crime for which he was convicted is not supported by sufficient evidence. He has waived this error. Ind. Rules of Procedure, Appellate Rule 8.3(A)(7). However, we note that his conviction is sufficiently supported by his confession. Officer Herma stated:

“Tyrone Ford told me that he had been by Stacey’s house earlier and that Stacey had threatened him with a gun. He left that location, went home, got his gun and came back to 16th and Connecticut. That Stacey and his girlfriend were both there sitting on a car. That Stacey’s woman threatened him, told him that if she caught him in her gangway again she would kill him. He said he didn’t know if Stacey still had his gun with him. He says he pulled out his gun and shot them both and ran away.”

III.

Instructions

Ford tendered instructions on involuntary manslaughter and on reckless homicide. The trial court refused to give these instructions. On appeal, Ford argues that the trial court erred when it refused his tendered instructions because the jury was entitled to be instructed on the lesser included offenses.

The test for determining the propriety of giving an instruction upon the lesser included offense was delineated by this Court in Roddy v. State (1979), Ind.App., 394 N.E.2d 1098. A two-step methodology was developed to determine whether a defendant may properly be convicted of a lesser offense. 4 The first step is designed to determine whether the lesser offense is “included” within the crime charged. That determination is made by examining the elements set forth by statute of the greater and lesser offenses, together with the factual allegations contained in the charging instrument. From this examination, the court determines whether a conviction of the greater offense, as it is charged in the indictment or information, requires proof of all essential elements of the lesser offense, plus an additional element which distinguishes the two offenses. Id. at 1104. If it is determined that the lesser offense is “included” within the greater crime charged, step two is triggered.

The second step of the methodology has been explained by this Court as follows:

“Step two of the Lawrence [v. State (1978), 268 Ind. 330, 375 N.E.2d 208] inquiry is designed to insure that the final instructions which are given to the jury conform to the issues and evidence before it. Harris v. State

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Street v. State
559 N.E.2d 375 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1990)
Mays v. State
469 N.E.2d 1161 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1984)
Elliott v. State
450 N.E.2d 1058 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
439 N.E.2d 648, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-v-state-indctapp-1982.