Gibbs v. State

677 N.E.2d 1106, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 253, 1997 WL 126851
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 21, 1997
Docket79A02-9603-CR-155
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 677 N.E.2d 1106 (Gibbs v. State) 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
Gibbs v. State, 677 N.E.2d 1106, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 253, 1997 WL 126851 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

Following a bench trial, Michael E. Gibbs was convicted of Reckless Homicide,1 a class C felony, for the death of John P. James, who was killed when the car he was driving collided with the car being driven by Gibbs.

The sole issue presented on appeal is whether sufficient evidence was presented to sustain Gibbs’s conviction. Gibbs specifically claims that insufficient evidence was presented that (1) his conduct was reckless, (2) his actions were voluntary, and (3) his actions were the direct and proximate cause of the collision that resulted in James’s death.

We affirm.

The facts most favorable to the judgment are that, on January 3,1995, at approximately 5:15 a.m., Mark Hiatt, a truck driver for Wonder Bread, was driving on County Road 650 North in Lafayette. When he got to the intersection of County Road 650 North and State Road 43 and started turning south onto State Road 43, the headlights of his step van illuminated the road and he caught a glimpse of a dark-colored, older-model car traveling northbound on State Road 43 near the intersection of County Road 650 North at about fifty or fifty-five miles per hour. At the time, Hiatt was afraid that he might hit the car because it was barely visible. The car had no headlights; the front of the car had only two very dim lights that barely glowed. Hiatt estimated that the lights on the front of the car became visible to him when they were, at most, ten to fifteen feet away. After Hiatt pulled out onto State Road 43, he looked in his rear view mirror and observed that the car also had no taillights.

Phillip L. Brookbank testified that he was headed southbound on State Road 43 on January 3, 1995, at approximately 5:15 a.m. and that it was “pitch dark”, Record at 101, outside. Brookbank let up on the gas pedal when he observed very faint lights moving toward him in the northbound lane. After the faint lights got within a distance approximately equal to a city block, Brookbank turned on his bright lights and could then discern that the faint lights were yellowish and very dim parking lights on a car that had no headlights. As that ear passed him, Bro-okbank observed that it was a dark-colored, older car. Just then, Brookbank became aware of a car coming up from behind him and immediately heard a collision.

Tippecanoe County Deputy Sheriff Brad Bushman testified that he arrived at the crash scene at approximately 5:45 a.m. Bushman observed, among other things, a black 1978 Chevrolet Impala with extensive damage to the front of the car. Bushman checked the headlight switch on the Impala and found that it had been pulled out only one notch, which indicated that the parking lights had been on, but not the headlights.

Lieutenant Mark Kirby of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department testified that, when he arrived at the crash scene at approximately 6:00 a.m., he observed Gibbs’s Impala on the east side of the road, and James’s Mitsubishi down an embankment on the west side of the road. According to Kirby, the Mitsubishi was traveling southbound in the northbound lane at the point of impact with the Impala.

Kirby found no alternator drive belt on the Impala, and its headlights showed evidence of “cold shock,” which indicated that they were not illuminated at the time of the crash. He also observed evidence of “hot shock” in the Impala’s parking lights, which indicated that those lights were on at the time of the crash.

Roger Barrette, a consultant in traffic accident investigation and reconstruction, testified that he examined the headlights from the Impala and found no “hot shock” and no other evidence which would indicate that the headlights were on at the time of impact. He observed a small amount of “hot shock” in the parking lights, which suggested that they were very dim at the time of impact.

[1108]*1108The State introduced at trial a transcript of an interview during which Gibbs told an insurance claims representative that, when he left home on the morning of the collision, the headlights on his ear were on. During the interview, Gibbs stated in pertinent part:

I had all lights. I come off of 65 onto 43 and I heard something click. Well, then my generator light come on. So I put, told Roger, I said I think I busted an alternator belt. So here we are with, we got going down the road and I said, Roger, I said, we’re losing headlights. They’re getting dim. About that time, Roger looked up and says watch it. He says, somebody’s trying, some idiot’s trying to pass somebody else.

Record at 317.

Roger East, who was in the car with Gibbs at the time of the crash, testified at trial on Gibbs’s behalf. East testified that he and Gibbs were on their way to work at the time of the crash. East testified that, before the two reached State Road 43 on the morning of the crash, Gibbs told him that the alternator belt on his car was “about ready to go.” Record at 360.

East claimed that, at the intersection of County Road 800 North and State Road 43, approximately one-half mile before the site of the accident, he and Gibbs noticed that the car lights were getting dim. At that point, East suggested that they continue driving to Brookston, which was about four miles away, where they could park the car at a Family Pantry and obtain a ride to work from one of several co-workers who always stopped there for coffee before work. East admitted at trial that he had told a police officer that they were trying to make it to work because, if they did not make it, they would lose their holiday pay.

East did not consider it dangerous to continue driving because, even with the dim lights on the car, he could still see approximately one hundred feet down the road. In addition, East claimed that his car had broken down once while he was on State Road 43, and while walking to the state police post, he almost got hit by three ears.

Gibbs testified on his own behalf and claimed that the first time he noticed that his headlights were becoming dim was when he was on State Road 43 approaching County Road 800 North. At that point, he slowed his car down to approximately forty-five to fifty-five miles per hour and moved the car toward the outside edge of the road. He claimed that he could then see approximately one hundred feet down the road. The next thing he saw was a car coming toward him and another one pull out around the first. He tried to get off the road, but was unable to do so quickly enough to avoid the collision.

Gibbs denied that he ever pushed the knob for the headlights in so that only the parking lights were on.

The standard of review in sufficiency cases is well settled. Without weighing the evidence or judging the credibility of witnesses, we look solely to the evidence most favorable to the judgment and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. Coleman v. State, 490 N.E.2d 711 (Ind.1986). A criminal conviction will be affirmed if there is evidence of probative value from which a trier of fact could reasonably infer that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

It is well established that every criminal conviction must be supported by evidence of each material element of the crime charged. Thomas v. State, 423 N.E.2d 682 (Ind.Ct.App.1981).

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Gibbs v. State
677 N.E.2d 1106 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
677 N.E.2d 1106, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 253, 1997 WL 126851, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibbs-v-state-indctapp-1997.