Goodloe v. State

252 N.E.2d 788, 253 Ind. 270, 1969 Ind. LEXIS 310
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 9, 1969
Docket168 S 9
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 252 N.E.2d 788 (Goodloe 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
Goodloe v. State, 252 N.E.2d 788, 253 Ind. 270, 1969 Ind. LEXIS 310 (Ind. 1969).

Opinions

Jackson, J.

Appellant was charged by an indictment filed December 29, 1966, with the crime of manslaughter as defined by Acts 1941, ch. 148, § 2, p. 447, being Ind. Ann. Stat. § 10-3405 (1956). To this charge appellant entered a plea of not guilty.

The cause was tried before a jury on September 25 and 26, 1967, and appellant was found guilty as charged. On October 13, 1967, the trial court sentenced appellant to the Indiana Women’s Prison for a term of not less than two (2) nor more than twenty-one (21) years.

On October 24, 1967, appellant filed an amended motion for a new trial complete with supporting memorandum. This motion was overruled by the trial court on November 21, 1967. On appeal appellant’s sole Assignment of Error is that the trial court erred in overruling the amended motion for a new trial.

The statute under which appellant was charged, § 10-3405 supra, reads in pertinent part as follows:

“Whoever voluntarily kills any human being without malice, express or implied, in a sudden heat, or involuntarily in the commission of some unlawful act, is guilty of manslaughter, and on conviction shall be imprisoned not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty-one (21) years.”

The indictment charging appellant with the above crime reads as follows:

“The Grand Jury for the County of Marion in the State of Indiana, upon their oath do present that SHIRLEY MAXINE GOODLOE on or about the 21st day of NOVEMber, A.D. 1966, at and in the County of Marion and in the State of Indiana did then and there unlawfully, feloniously and voluntarily kill one PAUL W. GOODLOE, a human being, in a sudden heat, but without malice, by then and there unlawfully, feloniously, and voluntarily, but without malice, shooting at and against the body of the said PAUL W. GOODLOE with a shot gun loaded with gunpowder and [272]*272metal pellets, then and there held in the hands of the said SHIRLEY MAXINE GOODLOE, and did then and there and thereby inflict mortal wounds in and upon the body of the said PAUL W. GOODLOE of which mortal wounds the said PAUL W. GOODLOE then and there and thereby died; and so the Grand Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid, do say and charge that the said SHIRLEY MAXINE GOODLOE, in the manner and form and by the means aforesaid, unlawfully, feloniously and voluntarily but without malice, in a sudden heat, did kill the said PAUL W. GOODLOE, then and there being contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Indiana.”

From the evidence adduced at trial it appears that sometime during the evening of November 20, 1966, appellant and her husband, Paul W. Goodloe, the victim, engaged in a violent argument concerning appellant’s refusal to perform an unnatural sex act with him. According to the appellant’s testimony, her husband had, at various times, demanded that she perform the act with him, but she had always refused. However, on the night in question her husband attempted to force her into submission. She struggled with him and managed to free herself and run into another room.

Appellant testified that the next morning, November 21, 1966, her husband was rude and insolent, and still angry over the aifairs of the previous evening. Upon leaving for work he threatened to shoot appellant’s children by a previous marriage “in the mouth”. Later that morning he called the appellant and threatened her and the children over the phone. According to appellant he said, “I’ll take care of all of you when I get home.” She also stated that he threatened to “kill and wipe out from the biggest and me on down.” After the phone call the appellant called the police, but they informed her that they could take on action.

At approximately. 5:00 p.m. on November 21, 1966, Paul Goodloe returned home from work. He approached the house talking quite loudly, and said “I meant what I said over the phone, and I’m intending to do it and I’m going to do it.” [273]*273Hearing her husband, the appellant got a shotgun that was in a nearby closet. When she heard the key in the door, appellant fired through the door at her husband.

When the police arrived at the scene at approximately 5:52 p.m. Paul Goodloe was still alive and was in the back seat of his car. He was described as bleeding profusely from a shotgun wound in the chest. He died several days later from a combination of bronchial pneumonia and peritonitis, which, in the opinion of the doctor who performed the autopsy, “he became a candidate for because of the gunshot wound.”

Appellant’s amended motion for a new trial contains eleven separate specifications of error. In appellant’s brief, however, counsel argues only four grounds for reversal. These are: 1) the verdict of the jury is not sustained by sufficient evidence; 2) the evidence was insufficient to establish the cause of death, thus depriving the appellant of the right to effectively cross-examine the State’s expert witness and prove the existence of an intervening cause of death; 3) the evidence was insufficient to prove the corpus delicti; 4) the court erred in admitting the extra-judicial statements of the appellant over the objection of appellant’s counsel.

In view of the determination that we are compelled to make we will address ourselves only to proposition four (4) above.

At trial the arresting officer testified that after finding the decedent he went to the appellant’s home and began to question her about her husband. Appellant’s counsel objected on the grounds that the officer had not advised the appellant of her constitutional rights as mandated by Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U. S. 436. The objection was sustained. The State then asked the witness if he advised the appellant of her rights. He testified that he did. The State then asked the witness to relate what he told the appellant, and he answered as follows:

“I told her — after I arrested her, I told her that she was arrested for Assault and Battery With Intent to Kill. I [274]*274advised her that she did not have-to make any statement to me whatsoever, and if she did, it would be used against her in court. I advised her that if she didn’t have any money for an attorney the state would furnish her an attorney. I asked her what her education consisted of and she said a high school education.”

Over the objection of appellant’s counsel, the witness was then allowed to relate a conversation that he had with the appellant concerning the shooting of the decedent. He testified that the appellant told him that she shot her husband through the door with the shotgun when she heard him put the key in the door.

It is appellant’s contention that the arresting officer inadequately advised the appellant of her constitutional rights in that the statement made to the appellant by the arresting officer did not fully comply with the requirements set forth in Miranda v. Arizona, supra. Appellant contends that since the warning was inadequate it was reversible error to allow the State’s witness to testify as to what the appellant told him subsequent to. her arrest.

The issue raised by appellant concerns the requisite procedure to be followed prior to the interrogation of a suspect whose freedom is being significantly restrained by the authorities.

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Goodloe v. State
252 N.E.2d 788 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
252 N.E.2d 788, 253 Ind. 270, 1969 Ind. LEXIS 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodloe-v-state-ind-1969.