Garland P. Jeffers, Jr. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: May 29, 2018
• Docket: 64A03-1710-CR-2324
• Status: Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any May 29 2018, 10:59 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Bryan M. Truitt Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Valparaiso, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

Lyubov Gore Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Garland P. Jeffers, Jr., May 29, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 64A03-1710-CR-2324 v. Appeal from the Porter Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable William E. Alexa, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 64D02-1402-FB-1595

Najam, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A03-1710-CR-2324 | May 29, 2018 Page 1 of 5 Statement of the Case [1] Garland P. Jeffers, Jr. appeals his conviction for robbery, as a Class B felony,

following a jury trial. Jeffers raises a single issue for our review, namely,

whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support his conviction. We

affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] On July 28, 2013, three black males robbed Low Bob’s cigarette shop in

Portage. Amy Halford and Jordan Breezley, two store employees, and

Kristopher Kremke, a customer, were in the store at the time. Soon after the

robbery, Breezley triggered an alarm, and police arrived shortly thereafter.

[3] Kremke had observed the robbers’ vehicle as a “blue or green” Dodge with a

Wisconsin license plate number of 640TZE. Tr. Vol. 2 at 192. One of the

responding officers ran that license plate number and identified the vehicle as

belonging to a rental car company in Wisconsin. The officer contacted the

company, and the company stated that Jeffers had recently rented the vehicle.

[4] Halford and Breezley described one of the robbers as about 5’10” and heavier

set with dark, heavy clothes. Halford got a “clear look at his face.” Id. at 116.

Later, she identified him from a recent Facebook photograph as Jeffers.

[5] The State arrested Jeffers and charged him with robbery, as a Class B felony.

Jeffers represented himself at his ensuing jury trial. At that trial, Halford

testified and identified Jeffers as the robber whose face she had seen and added

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A03-1710-CR-2324 | May 29, 2018 Page 2 of 5 that she could identify him “without a doubt or contradiction.” Id. at 146. She

also testified that she recognized Jeffers’ “distinctive voice.” Id. at 147.

[6] While incarcerated and awaiting his trial, Jeffers shared a jail cell with Reginald

Edwards. During that time, Jeffers told Edwards that “he was involved” in the

robbery at Low Bob’s shop. Tr. Vol. 3 at 11. Jeffers stated that he “and a

couple more guys” had committed the robbery and that they had taken

“cigarettes and some money.” Id. Edwards testified to those facts at Jeffers’

jury trial.

[7] The jury found Jeffers’ guilty as charged. The trial court entered its judgment of

conviction against Jeffers and sentenced him accordingly. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision [8] On appeal, Jeffers argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence that

he was one of the three robbers of Low Bob’s store in July of 2013. Our

standard of review on a claim of insufficient evidence is well settled:

For a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we look only at the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict. Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind. 2007). We do not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh the evidence. Id. We will affirm the conviction unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

Love v. State, 73 N.E.3d 693, 696 (Ind. 2017). The identity of the defendant as

the perpetrator of the charged offense is of course an essential element of the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A03-1710-CR-2324 | May 29, 2018 Page 3 of 5 offense. E.g., Groves v. State, 479 N.E.2d 626, 628 (Ind. Ct. App. 1985). And,

here, Jeffers’ challenge goes only to the State’s proof of his identity rather than

to any of the statutory elements of robbery.

[9] The State presented sufficient evidence of Jeffers’ identity as one of the three

robbers of Low Bob’s store in July of 2013. Halford, an employee of the store

who was present during the robbery, got a “clear look” at Jeffers’ face during

the robbery, Tr. Vol. 2 at 116; she identified him in a recent Facebook

photograph to police during their investigation of the robbery; and she

identified him in court for the jury, noting that she had no doubt in doing so.

She further testified that she recognized Jeffers’ distinctive voice.

[10] The State’s evidence to the jury further included Jeffers’ admissions to

Edwards, his cellmate. Those admissions included not just Jeffers’

participation in the robbery but an acknowledgement that he had engaged in the

robbery with two other men and that they had stolen cash and cigarettes. And

the State additionally demonstrated that the Wisconsin vehicle Jeffers had

rented shortly before the robbery was used in the commission of the robbery.

[11] Jeffers’ arguments on appeal are merely requests for this court to disregard the

evidence most favorable to the verdict and, instead, reweigh the evidence in a

manner more favorable to Jeffers. We reject Jeffers’ argument on appeal and

will not reweigh the evidence. The State presented sufficient evidence that

Jeffers was one of the three robbers, and we affirm his conviction.

[12] Affirmed.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A03-1710-CR-2324 | May 29, 2018 Page 4 of 5 Robb, J., and Altice, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A03-1710-CR-2324 | May 29, 2018 Page 5 of 5