Hack v. State

437 N.E.2d 486, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1309
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 14, 1982
Docket1-1181A338
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 437 N.E.2d 486 (Hack 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
Hack v. State, 437 N.E.2d 486, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1309 (Ind. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

ROBERTSON, Judge.

Appellant, Gene Hack, appeals his conviction of burglary, a Class C felony.

We affirm.

The facts most favorable to the decision show that on December 21,1980, at approximately 7:15 p.m., Officer Richard Alvey of the Evansville police department observed a man break and enter Walt’s Sunoco Service Station. The station had been closed since 6:00 p.m. that evening. Officer Alvey saw the man roll out of a parked car in front of the station, kick out a panel of the overhead door, and enter the building. These events were observed by Officer Alvey as he waited in his vehicle for the green light at the intersection where Walt’s station is located. Officer Alvey pulled into the station and told the man to come out. Officer Alvey was off duty and out of uniform at this time. A man, identified as Gene Hack, came out of the building wearing gloves and holding a flashlight. Officer Alvey then arrested Hack and took him into custody.

On appeal Hack argues that the trial court erred in refusing his jury instruction No. 1. This instruction would have charged the jury that the presumption of innocence operates as evidence in favor of the defendant. In considering whether the trial court erred in refusing to give an instruction we must determine: (1) whether the tendered instruction correctly states the law; (2) whether there is evidence in the record to support the giving of the instruction; and (3) whether the substance of the tendered instruction is covered by other instructions. Richey v. State (1981) Ind., 426 N.E.2d 389.

We agree with the State on this issue and consider Underhill v. State (1981) Ind., 428 N.E.2d 759 to be controlling. In Underhill, appellant was convicted of escape while armed with a deadly weapon and of being an habitual offender. On appeal, he assigned as error the trial court’s refusal to give an instruction like the one proposed in the case at bar. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected appellant’s argument and stated:

The presumption of innocence accorded each defendant is not “evidence” to support the innocence of the accused. Rather, it is merely a rule of law which describes the bare point from which the jury must begin its assessment of the evidence and its deliberations thereon. It is in this latter conceptual sense that the jury must understand and apply the pre *488 sumption of innocence, (citations omitted)

Id. at 767.

Consequently, Hack’s proposed instruction No. 1 is an incorrect statement of the law in Indiana. Also, it should be noted that presumption of innocence was adequately explained in the court’s instructions No. 5 and No. 9. Thus, there is no error in the trial court’s refusal of Hack’s instruction No. 1.

. The next argument propounded by Hack is that criminal trespass, Ind.Code 35-^43-2-2, is a lesser included offense of burglary and as such he was entitled to have a jury instruction on the lesser included offense. Hack contends that the trial court’s refusal to submit these instructions to the jury constitutes reversible error.

Recently our Supreme Court has applied the test set out by Judge Staton in Roddy v. State (1979) Ind.App., 394 N.E.2d 1098 for determining whether the jury should have been instructed on a lesser included offense. See Goodpaster v. State (1980) Ind., 402 N.E.2d 1239. The test employs a two step methodology for determining what constitutes a lesser included offense. Basically, there are two kinds of lesser included offenses, the first being an inherently included offense where the elements of the lesser offense are necessarily committed during the commission of the charged offense. Inherently included offenses are those defined by the traditional test set forth in Ind.Code. 35-41-1-2. According to the above statute, a lesser included offense “[i]s established by proof of the same material elements or less than all the material elements required to establish the commission of the offense charged.”

The second type of included offense under the Roddy analysis, is a possibly included offense where the elements of the lesser offense, by virtue of the manner and means allegedly employed in the commission of the charged crime, are alleged in the charging instrument. Thus, even if it were possible to commit the charged crime without first committing the lesser crime, a defendant can properly be convicted of the lesser crime if the facts as alleged in the charging instrument correlate with the elements of the lesser offense.

It is necessary to examine the two statutes creating the offenses. The burglary statute Ind. Code 35-43-2-1 at the time of Hack’s conviction read as follows:

Burglary.—A person who breaks and enters the building or structure of another person, with intent to commit a felony in it, commits burglary, a class C felony. However, the offense is a class B felony if it is committed while armed with a deadly weapon or if the building or structure is a dwelling, and a class A felony if it results in either bodily injury or serious bodily injury to any other person. [IC 35-43-2-1, as added by Acts 1976, P.L. 148, § 3, p. 718; 1977, P.L. 340, § 42, p. 1533.] 1

The elements of a class C burglary are the (1) breaking and (2) entering of (3) the building or structure (4) of another (5) by one who intends to commit a felony therein.

Hack’s instruction No. 4 relating to section (a)(4) of the criminal trespass statute reads as follows:

DEFENDANT’S INSTRUCTION NO. 4
The crime of criminal trespass is defined by statute as follows:
“A person who knowingly or intentionally interferes with the possession or use of the property of another person without his consent, commits criminal trespass, a Class A Misdemeanor.”
The State must prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally interfered with the possession or use of the property of another person, without the other person’s consent.
If the State failed to prove each of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant should be found not guilty. *489 If the State did prove each of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant guilty of criminal trespass, a Class A Misdemeanor. 2

Instruction No. 5 relating to subsection (a)(1) of the statute reads as follows:

DEFENDANT’S INSTRUCTION NO. 5
You are instructed that included in the offense of Burglary, a Class C Felony, is the lesser included offense of criminal trespass, which is defined by statute as follows:

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Related

Thompson v. State
646 N.E.2d 687 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1995)
Valentin v. State
567 N.E.2d 792 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1991)
Wormbly v. State
550 N.E.2d 95 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1990)
Hack v. Broglin
566 F. Supp. 1505 (N.D. Indiana, 1983)
Walker v. State
445 N.E.2d 571 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
437 N.E.2d 486, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hack-v-state-indctapp-1982.