Harry Spicer v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided January 30, 2017·No. 15A01-1512-CR-2205·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be Jan 30 2017, 8:30 am

regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK court except for the purpose of establishing Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals

and Tax Court

the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Kathie A. Perry Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Baldwin Kyle & Karnish Attorney General of Indiana Franklin, Indiana Katherine Modesitt Cooper Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Harry Spicer, January 30, 2017 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

15A01-1512-CR-2205

v. Appeal from the Dearborn Circuit Court

State of Indiana, The Honorable James D. Appellee-Plaintiff. Humphrey, Judge Trial Court Cause No.

15C01-1404-FA-35

Pyle, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 15A01-1512-CR-2205 | January 30, 2017 Page 1 of 17

Statement of the Case

[1] Harry Spicer (“Spicer”) appeals, following a jury trial, his conviction and

sentence for Class A felony conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine.1 Spicer argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction and that his forty-year sentence is inappropriate. Concluding that there is sufficient evidence to support Spicer’s conviction and that Spicer—who was on probation from his conviction for Class B felony conspiracy to deal in a narcotic drug (methamphetamine) at the time of his offense—has failed to show that his sentence is inappropriate, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

[2] We affirm.

Issues

1. Whether sufficient evidence supports Spicer’s conviction.

2. Whether Spicer’s sentence is inappropriate pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B).

Facts

[3] In January 2014, several law enforcement agencies—including officers in

Dearborn County, Indiana and in Butler County, Ohio—were engaged in an

1 IND. CODE § 35-41-5-2; I.C. § 35-48-4-1.1. We note that, since the time of Spicer’s offense, the dealing in methamphetamine statute has been twice amended, effective July 2014 and July 2016, and that the conspiracy statute has been amended, effective July 2014. Because Spicer committed his offense in February 2014, we will apply the statutes in effect at that time.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 15A01-1512-CR-2205 | January 30, 2017 Page 2 of 17 investigation regarding a methamphetamine manufacturing operation. Spicer’s brother, Sam Spicer (“Sam”), and Lisa Ellis (“Ellis”) were two of the suspects in the methamphetamine manufacturing investigation. Through their investigation, officers discovered, in relevant part, that Ellis and Sam would take pseudoephedrine to a residence in Butler County, Ohio, where Vernis Newton (“Newton”) would use the pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamine.2 For each 96-count box of pseudoephedrine that Ellis and Sam provided, Newton was able to manufacture two grams of methamphetamine, of which one gram would go to Newton and the other gram would go to Ellis and Sam to share. To obtain the necessary pseudoephedrine, Ellis and Sam either purchased the pseudoephedrine themselves or—due to monthly quantity limitations on how much pseudoephedrine a person could purchase3—they paid other people to purchase it.4

[4] Around February 6, 2014, Ellis and Sam took five boxes of pseudoephedrine to Newton in Ohio so he could make some methamphetamine. While Ellis and

2 The residence was owned by Mike Wiscupps (“Wiscupps”) but used by Newton to manufacture the methamphetamine. 3 According to a police officer’s testimony at trial, a person is limited to purchasing 7.2 grams of pseudoephedrine every thirty days. See also IND. CODE § 35-48-4-14.7(e)(2) (2014) (providing that a “person may not purchase drugs containing more than . . . seven and two-tenths (7.2) grams of . . . pseudoephedrine . . . in a thirty (30) day period[.]”). 4 Ellis and Sam paid these people to purchase the pseudoephedrine with either methamphetamine or Suboxone.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 15A01-1512-CR-2205 | January 30, 2017 Page 3 of 17

Sam were in Ohio, their car broke down. They borrowed Newton’s car, went to a Walmart, and Sam was arrested for shoplifting.

[5] The following day, Ellis contacted Spicer about getting Sam bonded out of jail. Spicer and Ellis exchanged text messages and also spoke by phone. They were ultimately unable to bond Sam out of jail that day.5 Before returning to Indiana, Spicer took Ellis to see Newton, who “owed” Ellis some methamphetamine. (Tr. 107). Spicer drove Ellis back home to Indiana, and she shared the methamphetamine with Spicer. Ellis and Spicer then discussed taking boxes of pseudoephedrine to Newton the following day, and they each agreed to obtain some pseudoephedrine.

[6] On February 8, 2014, Ellis texted Newton and told him, “Harry [Spicer] wanted me to ask you if you will do the same for him as you do [S]ammy [and] if so[]can we come see you[?]” (State’s Ex. 21). Newton responded, “How many[?]” (State’s Ex. 21). Ellis texted “5[,]” and Newton responded, “Come on[.]” (State’s Ex. 21).

[7] Ellis had already purchased her monthly limit of pseudoephedrine, so she took Sebastian Duerstock (“Duerstock”) to a grocery store in Lawrenceburg to purchase a box of pseudoephedrine for her. Spicer, who was prohibited by law from purchasing pseudoephedrine due to his prior conviction, got someone else to purchase three boxes of pseudoephedrine. Spicer and Ellis then took the four

5 Sam was able to bond out of jail on February 10, 2014.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 15A01-1512-CR-2205 | January 30, 2017 Page 4 of 17 boxes of pseudoephedrine to Newton in Ohio. They expected that they would ultimately get four grams of methamphetamine since those four boxes would be used to manufacture eight grams of methamphetamine. Newton gave them one gram of methamphetamine and said he needed to make some more, so they planned to return later to collect their other three grams of methamphetamine. Spicer and Ellis, however, were unable to return to collect the manufactured methamphetamine from Newton because he was arrested the following day.6

[8] On February 13, 2014, Ellis, who was using methamphetamine, called the police because Sam was “drunk” and “was yelling all in [her] face[.]” (Tr. 114). When speaking to the police, Ellis ended up telling them about the multiple people involved in the pseudoephedrine purchasing/methamphetamine manufacturing scheme. She also specifically mentioned that Spicer was using methamphetamine and had gathered boxes of pseudoephedrine to take to Ohio when Sam was in jail. The police obtained a search warrant for Ellis’s cell phone records, performed a forensic analysis of her phone, and then conducted a recorded interview with Ellis on March 26, 2014. During this interview, the police questioned her about Spicer’s involvement.

[9] Thereafter, on April 4, 2014, the State charged Spicer with Class A felony conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine (based on manufacturing)

6 Following Newton’s arrest, the police executed a search warrant at the property that Newton used to manufacture the methamphetamine, and they found evidence and ingredients of an active methamphetamine lab.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 15A01-1512-CR-2205 | January 30, 2017 Page 5 of 17 in an amount of three grams or more. The overt act alleged to be in furtherance of the agreement was the purchase of pseudoephedrine by Spicer or Ellis for the manufacture of methamphetamine.7

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