Gray v. State

563 N.E.2d 108, 1990 Ind. LEXIS 232, 1990 WL 192088
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 28, 1990
Docket49S00-8812-CR-960
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 563 N.E.2d 108 (Gray 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
Gray v. State, 563 N.E.2d 108, 1990 Ind. LEXIS 232, 1990 WL 192088 (Ind. 1990).

Opinion

GIVAN, Justice.

A jury trial resulted in the conviction of appellant of Robbery, a Class A felony, and he was found to be a habitual offender. He was sentenced to a term of fifty (50) years enhanced by thirty (30) years, for a total of eighty (80) years.

The facts are: On November 2, 1987, 80-year-old Mary Miles, the victim, left her residence in Broad Ripple and walked to a dentist’s office. While she was walking, a black male wearing a tan jacket and riding' a blue bicycle grabbed her purse. As he grabbed her purse, she fell to the street and suffered a fractured vertebrae.

This incident was observed by Thomas Pelton, who was in his car, and he followed the perpetrator. In addition, Elizabeth Kaplan and Darryl McClelland were working in an office building when they heard the sound of tires skidding. Both looked out the window, saw a lady lying in the street and a black male riding away on a bicycle with a purse in his hand. The victim told Kaplan that a person riding a bicycle stole her purse. Subsequently, police were called and Officer James Fitzpatrick arrived at the scene to take a description of the perpetrator. He then transmitted the information to the police department for broadcast.

After the incident, David Dickson and Thomas Krier were in their backyards in Broad Ripple and noticed a black male behind a house looking through a purse. Krier approached the man and asked him what he was doing; he threw the purse on the ground and fled. Krier then telephoned the police.

Officer William Armor was patrolling in that neighborhood and noticed a person matching the description in the robbery dispatch. He arrested the suspect. Soon thereafter Krier and Thomas Pelton were taken to where the suspect was being detained, and they identified him. In addition, Elizabeth Kaplan and Darryl McClel-land were brought to the scene and identified appellant as the person who stole the victim’s purse.

Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the identification of witnesses against him. He contends that the show-up held by the police shortly after the crime and apprehension was illegally suggestive.

Appellant argues that the show-up was suggestive in that he was in handcuffs, *110 was the only black person at the scene not wearing a police uniform, and was identified at a location different from where the robbery occurred.

This Court has repeatedly held that while one-on-one confrontations are inherently suggestive, such confrontations are not per se improper. Hill v. State (1982), Ind., 442 N.E.2d 1049. In Hill this Court stated:

“Confrontations immediately after the crime, however, are not per se improper, for it is valuable to have the witness view a suspect while the image of the perpetrator is fresh in the witness’s mind; indeed, the immediacy of the incident substantially diminishes the potential for misidentification.” Id. at 1052.

This Court recently addressed the identification procedure in Wethington v. State (1990), Ind., 560 N.E.2d 496. In Wethington, we stated:

“This Court must determine whether ‘the confrontation conducted in this case was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification’ that appellant was denied due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment. Dillard v. State (1971), 257 Ind. 282, 286, 274 N.E.2d 387, 389 (quoting Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 301-02, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 1972, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199, 1206 (1967)).” Id. at 501.

This Court, in Craig v. State (1987), Ind., 515 N.E.2d 862, listed a number of factors to be examined to determine whether a particular show-up is unduly suggestive. The factors the court will consider include the length of initial observation of the defendant by the person identifying him, lighting conditions, distance between the witness and defendant, the witness’ capacity for observation and his level of certainty, discrepancies between, the witness’ initial and actual description, and any identifications of another person. Id. at 864.

In the instant case, each witness who testified gave an accurate and detailed description of the suspect and had adequate time to observe him. In addition, the show-up identification occurred within fifteen to thirty minutes of the robbery at which time the witnesses identified appellant as the perpetrator. The incident happened at approximately 11:00 a.m. and the weather was clear and sunny. Each witness was able to observe the suspect at close range and there were no discrepancies in their description of the suspect.

With regard to appellant’s contention that the police apprehended him at a location other than the scene of the crime, this Court in Lyons v. State (1987), Ind., 506 N.E.2d 813 approved of a show-up which took place at a location different from where the robbery occurred and where the defendant was the only black male present. See also Dishman v. State (1988), Ind., 525 N.E.2d 284. Appellant also contends that being in handcuffs at the time of the identification was unduly suggestive. In Moore v. State (1988), Ind., 518 N.E.2d 1093, this Court ruled that an identification of a robbery suspect by the victims at the scene of the robbery immediately after the robbery was not impermissibly suggestive even though the defendant was in handcuffs. We find the trial court did not err in denying the motion to suppress.

Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion contesting the charging procedure used by the prosecutor’s office in filing an information with an attached probable cause affidavit. He claims the State was required to have probable cause determined before the information was filed. He cites Hurtado v. California (1884), 110 U.S. 516, 4 S.Ct. 111, 28 L.Ed. 232. Appellant misconstrues Hurtado. A probable cause hearing is necessary before prosecution not before the charge. Gerstein v. Pugh (1975), 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54. Appellant, pro se, filed a motion to dismiss claiming that a neutral and detached magistrate did not make a probable cause determination. The trial court denied the motion.

Appellant’s argument is that the trial court erred by failing to make a probable cause determination as required by Ind. Code §§ 35-33-2-l

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Bluebook (online)
563 N.E.2d 108, 1990 Ind. LEXIS 232, 1990 WL 192088, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gray-v-state-ind-1990.