Hash v. State

284 N.E.2d 770, 258 Ind. 692, 1972 Ind. LEXIS 625
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 6, 1972
Docket1269S296
StatusPublished
Cited by130 cases

This text of 284 N.E.2d 770 (Hash 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
Hash v. State, 284 N.E.2d 770, 258 Ind. 692, 1972 Ind. LEXIS 625 (Ind. 1972).

Opinions

Prentice, J.

The defendant (appellant) was charged with robbery under 1956 Repl. Burns Ind. Stat. Ann. § 10-4101, IC 1971 §35-13-4-6, Acts of 1941, ch. 148, §6; he was convicted in a trial by jury of Theft and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years and disfranchised. His appeal presents two questions for review: (1) the sufficiency of the evidence and (2) refusal of the trial court to give a tendered instruction relative to a lesser included offense and failure of the trial court to include a verdict form upon the lesser included offense.

(1) The evidence, viewed most favorably to the State, supports the following circumstances. The prosecuting witness, Gary Williamson, was driving an automobile alone in the city of Bloomington. The defendant was driving an automobile in which there were several young men companions as passengers. Williamson made several attempts to pass the defendant, but upon each occasion, the defendant pulled his vehicle to the left in front of Williamson and blocked his way. Ultimately, the defendant blocked the way in such a manner as to require Williamson to stop. Some words were exchanged and one of the passengers in the defendant’s automobile got out, and as Williamson attempted again to pass, this person kicked the right rear fender of his automobile. Williamson completed the passing operation but then stopped, alighted, saw that his vehicle was damaged and walked a short distance back to the defendant’s automobile to demand an explanation and to obtain the vehicle’s license number. The defendant alighted from his automobile and struck Williamson in the face. A brief fight ensued, in the course of which the defendant knocked Williamson to the ground and demanded his money and thusly obtained from him approximately $20.00 [695]*695in U.S. currency and two one-hundred franc French bills. When apprehended later in the evening, the defendant had the French bills upon his person.

At the trial, the defendant admitted having had a fight with Williamson and having the French bills upon his person when arrested. He denied taking anything from Williamson, however, and testified that after he had knocked Williamson down, Williamson got to his feet and ran away, and that as he (the defendant) walked a short distance to return to his automobile, he found the French bills lying upon the ground.

We hold the above evidence sufficient to sustain the conviction of theft from the person of Williamson, under Burns Ind. Stat. Ann. § 10-3030, IC 1971, 35-17-5-3, Acts of 1963, Spec. Sess. ch. 10, § 3 and the penalty provisions thereof, being Burns 10-3039 (5) (e).

When the sufficiency of the evidence is raised as an issue on appeal, this Court will consider only that evidence most favorable to the State along with all logical and reasonable inferences that may be drawn therefrom. Fuller v. State (1971), 256 Ind. 681, 271 N. E. 2d 720; Gibson v. State (1971), 257 Ind. 23, 271 N. E. 2d 706; Rusher v. State (1971), 256 Ind. 520, 270 N. E. 2d 748. Conviction will be affirmed if, from that viewpoint, there is substantial evidence of probative value from which the trier of fact could reasonably infer that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Fuller v. State, supra; Gibson v. State, supra; Taylor v. State (1971), 256 Ind. 170, 267 N. E. 2d 383. This Court on appeal will not weigh the evidence nor determine the credibility of witnesses. Cravens v. State (1971), 257 Ind. 381, 275 N. E. 2d 4; Potter v. State (1971), 257 Ind. 370, 274 N. E. 2d 699; Fuller v. State, supra.

(2) The defendant’s second proposition presents a novel and bona fide question but we believe it also to be without merit. The court instructed upon the doctrine of included offenses and included its instruction No. 8, advising of the lesser included offense of theft and the penalty therefor, if [696]*696from a person, which offense we shall hereinafter refer to as “theft from the person.” The penalty therefor being prescribed by Burns § 10-3039 (5) (e), IC 35-17-5-12 (5) (e). The defendant, however, maintains that he was also entitled to an instruction upon the penalty provided by Burns § 10-3039 (1), IC 35-17-5-12 (1), which provides the penalty for theft not from the person (hereinafter called simple theft). The only evidence of the value of the property taken from Williamson placed it as less than $100.00; hence, if the defendant were entitled to an instruction upon simple theft, as an offense included in robbery and theft from the person, he would also have been entitled to the submission of the “lesser penalty” verdict forms.

It is not questioned that a defendant is generally entitled to an instruction covering all offenses that are necessarily included in the offense charged and a submission of forms for all possible verdicts under the offense charged. Sullivan v. State (1957), 236 Ind. 446, 139 N. E. 2d 893. The test for determining what offenses are included has recently been reiterated in Hobbs v. State (1969), 253 Ind. 195, 252 N. E. 2d 498, wherein we reaffirmed the test from Watford v. State (1957), 237 Ind. 10, 143 N. E. 2d 405, as follows:

“ * * to be necessarily included in the greater offense, the lesser offense must be such that it is impossible to commit the greater without first having committed the lesser. This being true, the court is compelled to hold that, if a party is charged with a given crime, he can not be convicted of another crime of lesser magnitude under the provisions of section 2148, supra, [§ 9-1817, Burns’ 1956 Replacement], unless a conviction of the crime charged necessitates proof of all the essential elements of the lesser offense, together with the added element which makes the difference in the two offenses.’ ” 252 N. E. 2d at 500.

[697]*697[696]*696The foregoing test, however, must not be administered merely by applying the elements of the respective crimes as [697]*697defined by the statutes; but rather, it is also necessary to look to the charging affidavit or indictment to see if a lesser offense is necessarily included in the greater one, as charged. In Sullivan v. State, supra, we observed that it was quite apparent in a charge of homicide where death is alleged to have been caused by poisoning, a charge of the lesser offense of assault and battery would not be included. In addition to the statutes, then, we must also look to the wording of the offense charged in each case to determine what lesser offenses, if any, are included.

Applying only the foregoing test to the circumstances at bar, it would appear that the defendant was entitled to his tendered instruction and the misdemeanor verdict form under Burns § 9-1816 and § 9-1817, IC 35-1-89-1, 35-1-39-2, Acts 1905, ch. 169, § 271 and § 272, as follows:

“Upon an indictment or affidavit for an offense consisting of different degrees, the jury may find the defendant not guilty of the degrees charged in the indictment or affidavit, and guilty of any degree inferior thereto or of an attempt to commit the offense.”
“In all other cases, the defendant may be found guilty of any offense, the commission of which is necessarily included in that with which he is charged in the indictment or affidavit.”

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Bluebook (online)
284 N.E.2d 770, 258 Ind. 692, 1972 Ind. LEXIS 625, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hash-v-state-ind-1972.