Forrester v. State

440 N.E.2d 475, 1982 Ind. LEXIS 964
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 7, 1982
Docket580S146
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 440 N.E.2d 475 (Forrester 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
Forrester v. State, 440 N.E.2d 475, 1982 Ind. LEXIS 964 (Ind. 1982).

Opinion

PRENTICE, Justice.

Defendant (Appellant) was convicted after trial by jury of Rape, Ind.Code § 35-42-4-1 (Burns 1979), Criminal Deviate Conduct, Ind.Code § 35-42-4-2 (Burns 1979), and Criminal Confinement, Ind.Code § 35-42-3-3 (Burns 1979) and sentenced to ninety-five (95) years imprisonment. This direct appeal presents the following issues:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in giving certain preliminary instructions.

(2) Whether the trial court erred in allowing the testimony of certain witnesses.

(3) Whether the trial'court erred in allowing the testimony of the prosecutrix.

(4) Whether the trial court erred in allowing the testimony of the accomplice.

(5) Whether the trial court erred in admitting Defendant’s pre-trial statements into evidence.

(6) Whether the trial court erred in refusing to suppress certain items of evidence.

(7) Whether the trial court erred in admitting certain exhibits into evidence.

(8) Whether the trial court erred in failing to admonish the jury to disregard witness’ references to a jacket which was not admitted into evidence.

(9) Whether the trial court commented upon Defendant’s failure to testify.

(10) Whether the evidence is sufficient to support the convictions of Rape and Criminal Deviate Conduct as Class A felonies.

(11) Whether the trial court erred in not giving instructions upon Battery as a lesser included offense.

(12) Whether the trial court erred in including certain items of data in the pre-sen-tence investigation report.

(13) Whether the trial court erred in conducting the sentencing.

(14) Whether the trial court erred in imposing an enhanced sentence and in making the sentences run consecutively.

The evidence most favorable to the State reveals that at about 3:15 a.m. on April 1, 1979 the prosecutrix drove out of the park *479 ing lot at Castleton Square shopping mall in Indianapolis, after having been to a restaurant with some acquaintances. Another vehicle followed her down 82nd Street and then north on Allisonville Road.

About a block from her home she stopped her car, and the pursing vehicle, a Chevrolet Camaro, also stopped. Defendant approached the prosecutrix’s car, stated that she knew him and showed her a driver’s license. She returned the license and he said, “I knew what I was going to do,” whereupon she looked up and saw that he was holding a “little automatic pistol.” Defendant then removed the keys from the ignition and ordered her back to his automobile. An accomplice then drove Defendant’s automobile while Defendant, in the backseat, forced the prosecutrix to perform fellatio upon him. He also raped her twice. She told him that she was having her menstrual period and refused to cooperate with his orders, but he threatened her life, and she submitted. The accomplice drove to a secluded area, and as Defendant reached into his jacket, the prosecutrix, thinking he was reaching for the gun and fearing for her life, opened the passenger door and jumped from the moving vehicle. She ran to some nearby houses to seek help and to summon the police.

* * * * * *

ISSUE I

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in giving preliminary instructions numbered 8 and 12. He has failed, however, to set forth the “verbatim objections” made at trial as required by Ind.R. App.P. 8.3(A)(7). We, therefore decline to treat the issues other than to state that we have reviewed the instructions, the objections and the authority cited and have considered his arguments. We find the assignments of error to be without merit.

ISSUE II

Defendant next contends that the trial court erred in allowing the testimony of several witnesses.

At trial over two separate objections, the physician, who examined the prosecutrix at a hospital after the attack, testified about the condition of her external genitalia and tests he performed. He also stated that her hymen had been recently torn. Defendant argues that this testimony allowed the jury to infer that the prosecutrix was a virgin at the time of the attack. He asserts that this is evidence of the victim’s past sexual conduct inadmissible under the Rape Shield Statute, Ind.Code § 35-1-32.5-1 (Burns 1979):

“In a prosecution for a sex crime as defined in IC 35-42-4 evidence of the victim’s past sexual conduct, opinion evidence of the victim’s past sexual conduct may not be admitted, nor may reference be made thereto in the presence of the jury, except as provided in this chapter.”

Defendant’s position is not well taken. It is the victim, not the accused, that the statute was designed to shield. Sections (2) and (3) of the statute provide exceptions, in the event the Defendant, under prescribed circumstances, proposes evidence proscribed by Section 1. Conspicuous by its absence is a corresponding requirement applicable to the State. The exceptions, it will be observed, are to permit evidence of past sexual activity supportive of a defense, i.e. it grants relief, under appropriate circumstances, to the party affected. There was no need for relief provisions for the State, because the proscription, obviously was not intended to apply to it. It might, arguably, be otherwise under the revised rape shield statute, effective September 1, 1982 (I.C. 35-37-4-4); however the revision is designed to shield witnesses as well as victims.

Obviously, testimony that a prosecutrix had had no prior sexual experience would be inadmissible because irrelevant to the crime charged. However, where, as here, the testimony was of a physical finding that corroborated the evidence that intercourse had occurred, it is immaterial that it, coincidentally, revealed a prior existing condition that might have been prejudicial to the defendant. On balance, the relevance greatly outweighed the tendency for undue prejudice.

*480 At trial a police officer testified concerning the tire prints which were found at the scene:

“Q. When those individuals, especially when Officer Tom Davidson arrived at the scene, had those prints changed since the first time you observed them?
“WILMER E. GOERING, II: Your Hon- or, I’ll object to that and ask leave to ask a preliminary question.
“THE COURT: You may ask a preliminary question.
“Q. From the time you arrived on the scene until uh, Inspector David-, Investigator Davidson arrived, were you there constantly?
“A. No sir.
“WILMER E.

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

Related

State v. Ryan Hugh Mulhern
2022 WI 42 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2022)
Robert Kemp v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Alvies v. State
905 N.E.2d 57 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2009)
State v. Foy
862 N.E.2d 1219 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)
People v. Wigfall
253 A.D.2d 80 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1999)
Smith v. State
655 N.E.2d 532 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1995)
Wear v. State
593 N.E.2d 1179 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1992)
Holderfield v. State
578 N.E.2d 661 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1991)
Wethington v. State
560 N.E.2d 496 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1990)
Drake v. State
555 N.E.2d 1278 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1990)
Ford v. State
555 N.E.2d 829 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1990)
Stone v. State
555 N.E.2d 475 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1990)
Owens v. State
544 N.E.2d 1375 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1989)
Sullivan v. State
540 N.E.2d 1242 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1989)
McConnell v. State
540 N.E.2d 100 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1989)
Marcum v. State
771 S.W.2d 250 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1989)
Cox v. State
512 N.E.2d 1099 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1987)
Hughes v. State
508 N.E.2d 1289 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1987)
Parr v. State
504 N.E.2d 1014 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1987)
Hall v. State
504 N.E.2d 298 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
440 N.E.2d 475, 1982 Ind. LEXIS 964, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/forrester-v-state-ind-1982.