Francis v. State

758 N.E.2d 528, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 1031, 2001 WL 1521313
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 30, 2001
Docket49S00-9909-CR-473
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 758 N.E.2d 528 (Francis 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
Francis v. State, 758 N.E.2d 528, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 1031, 2001 WL 1521313 (Ind. 2001).

Opinion

RUCKER, Justice.

Stacy Francis appeals his convictions for murder, felony murder, and three counts of robbery. We address the following rephrased issues: (1) did the trial court err *530 in denying Francis' motion for mistrial; (2) did the trial court err by allowing into evidence an out-of-court-statement attributed to Francis' associate in crime; (8) did the trial court err in imposing sentences for robbery as a Class B felony; and (4) was the evidence sufficient to sustain the murder conviction. We vacate the sentences for robbery as Class B felonies and remand for resentencing as Class C felonies. In all other respects we affirm the trial court's judgment. 1

FACTS

The facts most favorable to the verdiet show that in the late evening hours of April 8, 1998, Stacy Francis and two associates, Amanda Jones and Thomas Dangerfield, were present in a room at a motel on the east side of Indianapolis. In an adjoining room there was another group that included Seott Foor, Dewaun Sanders, Jason Thrasher, and Willie Thomas. During the course of the night the two groups got together and were gambling and smoking marijuana. At some point an argument erupted between Francis and Foor, whereupon Francis produced a handgun declaring, "I want everything you all got." R. at 394, 426. Demanding Foor to lis on the floor and firing a weapon in his direction, Francis continued, "You all think I'm playing. T'll kill you [m*f*s]." R. at 398. Francis then directed Jones and Dangerfield to check everyone's pockets. They complied, taking money and drugs from Thomas, Thrasher, and Foor. The evidence is in conflict whether during this escapade Francis gave his handgun to Dangerfield telling him to "cap ['shoot'] all these [m*f*s]," R. at 531, or whether while Francis was pointing the gun, Dangerfield told him to "shoot 'em all," R. at 686. In any case, Jones, Dangerfield, and Francis eventually left the motel. As Francis left, he fired several shots into the room, two of which struck Sanders: one in the chest and the other in the abdomen. Sanders died as a result.

Subsequently, Francis was arrested and charged with murder, felony murder, four counts of robbery as Class A felonies, and one count of carrying a handgun without a license. At the close of the State's case-in-chief, Francis moved for judgment on the evidence concerning one of the robbery counts, which the trial court granted. As to the remaining charges, the jury returned verdicts of guilty. Prior to sentencing, the trial court merged the felony murder into the murder conviction, reduced the convictions for Class A felony robbery to Class B felonies, and sentenced Francis to a total executed term of sixty-one years. 2 This direct appeal followed. Additional facts are set forth below where necessary.

DISCUSSION

I.

Francis contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial based on an allegation that the State improperly elicited evidence concerning Francis' post-arrest silence. 3 The essential facts are *531 that after the shooting, Francis fled to Evansville where he was eventually arrested and held in custody. In its case in chief, the State called to the stand investigating officer Michael Hornbrook from the Marion County Sheriff's Department. The following exchange occurred:

Q. Did it come a point in time after the night of these events that you went to Evansville, Indiana?
A. Yes, there was.
Q. Are you able to give us the date that you went there?
A. If I could have a moment I could research that. I went to Evansville, Indiana on April 14th, 1998.
Q. And what was your purpose for going there?
A. They had apprehended the Defendant in Evansville, Indiana and I went down to try to interview Mr. Francis.

R. at 926. At that point defense counsel asked to approach the bench and during a side bar conference moved for mistrial. The trial court denied the motion but struck the officer's response from the record. R. at 929. At the close of the officer's testimony, one of the jurors submitted the following question to the court:

Why are we not allowed to hear the statement that they took from Francis. [I)s this not important evidence to the case and for us to hear.

R. at 1075, 1078. The record is not clear what response, if any, was given to the juror. In any case, defense renewed its motion for mistrial, which the trial court again denied. During final instructions the trial court advised the jury among other things that it should not consider any answers and statements that had been stricken from the record. R. at 268. Francis contends that striking the officer's remark and admonishing the jury were not enough; rather, the trial court should have declared a mistrial. He argues that the officer's remark "amounted to a comment on the defendant's right to remain silent and not to testify as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment." Br. of Appellant at 9.

Although citing absolutely no authority to support his argument, Francis makes a claim for what is commonly referred to as a Doyle violation. In Doyle v. Ohio, the United States Supreme Court held that "the use for impeachment purposes of petitioners' silence, at the time of arrest and after receiving Miranda warnings, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." 426 U.S. 610, 619, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 LEd.2d 91 (1976) 4 The Court explained, "[WJhile it is true that the Miranda warnings contain no express assurance that silence will carry no penalty, such assurance is implicit to any person who receives the warnings." Id. at 618, 96 S.Ct. 2240. Not limiting Doyle solely to "the use for impeachment purposes," this Court has held that "[djuring trial, the State may not comment upon a defendant's post-arrest, post-Miranda warning silence because that silence may be nothing more than an exercise of the Fifth Amendment right." Wisehart v. State, 698 N.E.2d 23, 64 (Ind.1998). Indeed, the Supreme Court has noted that where, as here, a defendant's silence is used not as impeachment but as affirmative proof in the State's case in chief, "The constitutional violation might thus be especially egregious because, unlike Doyle, there was no risk that exclusion *532 of the evidence would merely provide a shield for perjury." Wainwright v. Greenfield, 474 U.S. 284, 292 n. 8, 106 S.Ct. 634, 88 L.Ed.2d 623 (1986) (quotation omitted).

In Nicks v. State, an investigating officer testified as follows: "I left the Courthouse and went down to the station to conduct an interview with [the defendant] and when I got to the station Sergeant Hammerlein assisted me in the interview. We waited a few minutes and got things together and then we sat down to interview Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
758 N.E.2d 528, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 1031, 2001 WL 1521313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/francis-v-state-ind-2001.