Gentry H. Jackson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 30, 2020
Docket19A-PC-1249
StatusPublished

This text of Gentry H. Jackson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Gentry H. Jackson 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
Gentry H. Jackson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any Jul 30 2020, 9:19 am

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

APPELLANT PRO SE ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Gentry H. Jackson Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Bunker Hill, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Samuel J. Dayton Caryn N. Szyper Deputy Attorneys General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Gentry H. Jackson, July 30, 2020 Appellant-Petitioner, Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-PC-1249 v. Appeal from the Lake Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Salvador Vasquez, Appellee-Respondent. Judge The Honorable Kathleen A. Sullivan, Magistrate Trial Court Cause No. 45G01-1711-PC-8

Mathias, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-PC-1249 | July 30, 2020 Page 1 of 17 [1] Gentry H. Jackson (“Jackson”) was convicted in Lake Superior Court of

murder. Following an unsuccessful direct appeal, Jackson filed a petition for

post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court denied Jackson’s petition, and

Jackson appeals, claiming that the post-conviction court clearly erred in

determining that he was not denied the effective assistance of trial counsel.

[2] We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [3] In Jackson’s direct appeal, we set forth the facts underlying his conviction as

follows:

Jackson is married to Michelle Jackson. Previously, Michelle was married to Alec McCloud for eight to nine years and had five children with him. Two of those children were Justin McCloud and Alexis McCloud Rogers; Justin was twenty-two at the time of trial, and Alexis was nineteen. Michelle asserted that Alec had been abusive towards her during their marriage, and Alec and Jackson had a very antagonistic relationship. Alec was not welcome at Jackson’s residence.

On August 3, 2015, Alexis was living with Jackson and Michelle in Gary. Justin also was at the house that day. At some point on that day, before the sun went down, Alexis returned to the house from an outing and had to knock on the door because she did not have a key. As she was knocking, she saw Alec drive up to the house in his mother’s car. Alexis had not spoken to Alec for months and was surprised to see him. Justin opened the door for Alexis and also saw Alec parked outside; he had spoken to Alec earlier and was aware he was in town.

Alexis got into an argument with Michelle after going into the house and mentioning to Justin that their father was outside.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-PC-1249 | July 30, 2020 Page 2 of 17 Justin went outside while Alexis and Michelle continued arguing. When Michelle noticed that Alec was outside, she yelled at Alexis, “why did [you] bring him over here.” Alexis noticed Jackson go into his bedroom, come back out carrying a gun, and go outside. As Jackson walked past Michelle, she said, “make sure that’s him.” Justin could see that Alec was on his phone, sitting in the car, when Jackson approached the car and said, “I got you now.” Justin did not see anything else in Alec’s hands besides his cell phone. Jackson then began shooting at the car and eventually fired a total of eight shots. Alec began driving away as Jackson opened fire.

Alec drove for a short distance before wrecking the car. Justin and a friend of his arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. Justin and his friend saw Alec’s phone in his lap and nothing else, such as a gun. Police never recovered a gun from Alec or the car. There were five bullet holes in the driver’s side front door and one in the rear door. Alec suffered gunshot wounds to his back, abdomen, and buttocks. After undergoing emergency surgery, Alec died.

After the shooting, Jackson took the chamber out of the gun, called 911, reported the shooting, and waited for police to arrive. While waiting, Michelle told Alexis, “Look what you made my husband do. My husband better not go to jail.” When police arrived, Jackson told them he had shot Alec because he had seen Alec point a gun at him.

In Alexis’s first statement to police immediately after the shooting, she said that Alec had called Jackson to the car and that she saw Alec holding a gun. She also said Alec may have shot first. Alexis also made similar statements to defense counsel. However, at the end of December 2015, Alexis went to the police station with Alec’s mother and said she had lied in her earlier statements, and that in fact from where she was standing she could not see if Alec was holding anything in his hands. Alexis explained that she felt pressured to lie because of Michelle’s perceived threat to her that Jackson “better not go to jail.” Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-PC-1249 | July 30, 2020 Page 3 of 17 Jackson v. State, No. 45A03-1609-CR-2032, 2017 WL 2628444 at *1–2 (Ind. Ct.

App. June 19, 2017), (record citations omitted) trans. denied.

[4] The State charged Jackson with murder. Jackson filed a pre-trial motion in

limine to prevent the State from presenting evidence that Michelle had

threatened Alexis that Jackson had “better not go to jail.” The trial court

initially granted the motion but later reversed itself and allowed the admission

of the statement. During the direct examination of Alexis at trial, the State

presented evidence of Michelle’s statement in order to explain why Alexis’s

initial statements (that she saw Alec with a gun) differed from her later

statements and from her trial testimony (that she did not see Alec holding a

gun). The trial court allowed Alexis to testify as to Michelle’s statement, but

instructed the jury that it was to consider Alexis’s testimony regarding what

Michelle told her only to show Alexis’s state of mind at the time, not to prove

the truth of the matter asserted by Michelle.

[5] Jackson testified on his own behalf at trial, claiming that Alec asked him to

approach the car, and as he did so, that Alec raised a gun and pointed it at him.

Jackson claimed he then pulled his gun out of his waistband and began firing it

at the car, not really aiming at Alec, as he ran backwards and attempted to take

shelter behind his own car. The jury rejected Jackson’s claim of self-defense and

found Jackson guilty as charged.

[6] On direct appeal, Jackson presented three issues: (1) whether the trial court

abused its discretion by permitting the State to present evidence of Michelle’s

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-PC-1249 | July 30, 2020 Page 4 of 17 statement to Alexis; (2) whether there was sufficient evidence of Jackson’s mens

rea to support his conviction for murder; and (3) whether there was sufficient

evidence to rebut Jackson’s claim of self-defense. Jackson, 2017 WL 2628444 at

*1. We rejected these claims, concluding that the admission of the statement

was not unduly prejudicial, that the evidence was sufficient to support Jackson’s

murder conviction, and that there was sufficient evidence to rebut Jackson’s

claim of self-defense. Id. at *4–5. Our supreme court denied Jackson’s petition

to transfer. Jackson v. State, 92 N.E.3d 1090 (Ind. 2017) (table).

[7] On November 29, 2017, Jackson filed a pro se petition for post-conviction

relief. Jackson filed an amended petition, by counsel, on September 14, 2018.

The post-conviction court held an evidentiary hearing on Jackson’s petition on

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