Fransuah Mathews v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 10, 2020
Docket19A-CR-2436
StatusPublished

This text of Fransuah Mathews v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Fransuah Mathews 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
Fransuah Mathews v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Aug 10 2020, 11:31 am

court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Christopher Kunz Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Marion County Public Defender Attorney General of Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana Jodi Kathryn Stein Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Fransuah Mathews, August 10, 2020 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-CR-2436 v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Barbara Crawford, Appellee-Plaintiff Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49G01-1804-MR-13496

Baker, Senior Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2436 | August 10, 2020 Page 1 of 18 [1] Fransuah Mathews appeals his convictions for Murder1 and two counts of Level

1 Felony Attempted Murder,2 arguing that the trial court erred by (1) denying

his motion for a mistrial, and (2) not allowing him to cross-examine a certain

witness, thereby violating his rights under the Sixth Amendment. Finding no

error, we affirm.

Facts [2] In April 2018, Bradley Jones was dating Kylie Price. The couple lived with

Ralph Jones, Bradley’s father, on the west side of Indianapolis. On April 19,

2018, Ralph, Bradley,3 and Price ran errands together and then drove to the

Clover Leaf Apartments, where Ralph met with and picked up Anthony Smith,

a friend Ralph had known for several years. That day, Ralph was driving a

Crown Victoria with cash on hand to buy a vehicle for Bradley and Price.

Ralph also had a .357-caliber handgun that day that he planned to use as

collateral when purchasing the vehicle.

[3] Once Ralph picked up Smith, the plan was to then go see a vehicle that

Mathews had for sale. Mathews was a neighbor of Smith’s, and Ralph knew

Mathews from previous encounters. Smith got into the front passenger seat of

Ralph’s vehicle and told him to follow Mathews, who was driving Smith’s

1 Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1. 2 Id.; Ind. Code § 35-41-5-1(a). 3 Because Bradley and Ralph have the same last name of Jones, we refer to each by their first name throughout the opinion for the sake of clarity.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2436 | August 10, 2020 Page 2 of 18 vehicle. Bradley and Price were sitting in the backseat, with Price on the

driver’s side and Bradley on the passenger’s side. After the group stopped at a

gas station, Smith directed Ralph to drive to a house at 1229 Manhattan

Avenue, where Mathews had parked Smith’s vehicle out front. Ralph told

Bradley and Price to wait in the car as he and Smith walked around to the back

of the house, where the cars for sale were located.

[4] Next, Ralph walked up to the vehicle he believed to be for sale and saw

Mathews doing work under the hood. Mathews told Ralph that he was

changing the plugs on the vehicle. Ralph “didn’t like the vibes he got” from

Mathews and decided he “didn’t like the looks of the car anyways,” and told

Mathews he was no longer interested in buying the vehicle. Tr. Vol. III p. 73.

As Ralph turned away, Smith grabbed the back of his shirt and said “just give

us the money, Ralph,” at which point Smith and Mathews “jumped” him. Id.

They both beat Ralph before Smith fired his revolver at Ralph, shattering the

bone in Ralph’s right arm. Ralph was shot four more times while he was face

down on the ground; they also took his wallet and cash.

[5] Meanwhile, still in the backseat of Ralph’s Crown Victoria, Bradley heard “four

or five” gunshots but was unable to tell where they were coming from. Tr. Vol.

II p. 233. Smith and Mathews then “surround[ed]” the Crown Victoria, with

Smith at the passenger side and Mathews on the driver’s side, and began

“shooting up the back two windows of the car.” Id. at 235. Bradley was unable

to clearly see them holding guns and shooting, but saw “bright flashes on both

sides of [him]” being fired at the same time. Id. Next, Bradley saw Smith enter

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2436 | August 10, 2020 Page 3 of 18 the passenger side of Smith’s car and Mathews enter the driver’s side before

Mathews quickly drove away.

[6] When responding officers arrived at the scene a few minutes later, Bradley was

still in the backseat of the Crown Victoria and Price was found outside the

vehicle, “slumped over on her knees with her head up against the driver’s side

rear tire.” Id. at 103. Both Bradley and Price were critically injured; Price had

two gunshot wounds in her shoulder and was in and out of consciousness and

Bradley appeared to have several gunshot wounds in his back and chest and

was “barely breathing.” Id. at 104. Within a few more minutes, officers also

discovered Ralph behind the house, and he was also in critical condition.

[7] Price died a short time after arriving at the hospital. One gunshot had entered

her left shoulder and passed through her heart and right lung, and the second

gunshot entered the right side of her pelvis and through to her buttock. Both

bullets were recovered from her body. The cause of death was determined to be

gunshot wounds and the manner of death was determined to be homicide.

Bradley’s injuries left him in the hospital for a month, and he still has a bullet in

his right shoulder that causes him daily pain and has the potential to cause

paralysis in the future. Ralph was hospitalized for three months, eleven weeks

of which he was in a coma. The shooting and mugging caused a severed spine

and sciatic nerve, causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down; he is now

wheelchair bound. His right arm is also held together by plates and rods. Three

of the bullets remain inside Ralph’s body.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2436 | August 10, 2020 Page 4 of 18 [8] At some point following the shooting, detectives interviewed Bradley and

Ralph and had them identify Smith and Mathews from photo arrays. Bradley

also described the location and appearance of Smith’s and Mathews’s

apartments. Detectives executed a search warrant at Mathew’s apartment that

revealed the .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun that fired the two bullets

removed from Price’s body and the four shell casings found in the front and

back yard of 1229 Manhattan Avenue. They also found Mathew’s fingerprint

on an ammunition box located next to the safe where the .45 caliber firearm

was held. At 1229 Manhattan Avenue, officers recovered a cigarillo in the

backyard near where Ralph was shot, and Smith’s DNA was identified on the

tip of the cigarillo.

[9] Mathews also voluntarily gave a statement to detectives, during which he

admitted that he owned a .45 caliber handgun that he kept in a safe and stated

that Smith was his friend and neighbor. Mathews admitted to being at 1229

Manhattan Avenue when the shooting occurred, but claimed that he arrived

with Smith at 1229 Manhattan Avenue the day of the shootings and that Smith

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

Related

Thomas v. State
510 N.E.2d 651 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1987)
Webb v. State
364 N.E.2d 1016 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1977)
Timberlake v. State
690 N.E.2d 243 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)
Gaines v. State
456 N.E.2d 1058 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1983)
Gregory v. State
540 N.E.2d 585 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1989)
Pierce v. State
677 N.E.2d 39 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Fransuah Mathews v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fransuah-mathews-v-state-of-indiana-mem-dec-indctapp-2020.