Ikemire v. State

852 N.E.2d 640, 2006 Ind. App. LEXIS 1601, 2006 WL 2382153
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 18, 2006
Docket42A01-0510-CR-473
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 852 N.E.2d 640 (Ikemire 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
Ikemire v. State, 852 N.E.2d 640, 2006 Ind. App. LEXIS 1601, 2006 WL 2382153 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Ronnie Ikemire appeals his conviction after a jury trial of dealing in a controlled substance, a Class B felony. The evidence was sufficient to support Ikemire's conviection. Ikemire's trial was held more than 70 days after he was arrested, but he was not entitled to discharge under Criminal Rule 4(B) because he was at least partially at fault for its continuance. He was not entitled to a "mere presence" instruction as the evidence presented at trial did not support such an instruction, and the hearsay objection made by the State was properly sustained. We affirm the trial court in all respects.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 26, 2003, Officer Grove of the Vincennes Police Department responded to a dispatch reporting a strong odor in the 800 block of Tenth Street in Vincennes. He determined the odor was coming from a house at 809 Tenth Street. The house had an enclosed front porch. When Officer Grove opened the porch door, the odor increased significantly and his eyes became irritated. He knocked on the door several times and identified himself as a police officer, but received no response.

Neighbors told him the house was vacant. Officer Grove contacted police headquarters, advised them he believed the odor was ether, and requested backup. Officer Halter arrived and also smelled ether. Officers determined there was no *642 electricity and no running water in the house.

Police officers knocked on the doors and windows numerous times. Officer Halter used a PA. system and announced they were police. Officer Halter then peered through a back window and saw Ikemire walking from the back of the house to the front. Officer Grove looked through a window and saw a lantern with an open flame. Because of the danger of an explosion, police forced the back door open with a battering ram at around 10:30 p.m.

Officers found Ikemire lying on a couch in the living room with his eyes closed. Officer Grove asked Ikemire to put his hands where he could see them, and Ikem-ire responded that he was sleeping. Officer Grove said, "You can't be sleeping if you're telling me you're sleeping." (Tr. at 293.) A search of the house revealed a female hiding inside a duffle bag with clothes stacked on top of it.

Officers complained the fumes irritated their eyes and made them cough. Officer Halter testified the fumes were among the most severe he had encountered at methamphetamine labs. Officers entered the basement of the house and found fumes coming from a five-gallon plastic bucket with a bubbling, pink liquid in it. The liquid smelled like solvent. A specialized Indiana State Police lab team, the Clandestine Drug Lab Team, removed the bucket and some other items from the residence.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Ikerire alleges there was insufficient evidence he manufactured methamphetamine, as there was no evidence of certain stages of the methamphetamine manufacturing process.

When the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction is challenged, we neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Wright v. State, 828 N.E.2d 904, 905-06 (Ind.2005). We affirm if there is substantial evidence of probative value supporting each element of the erime from which a reasonable trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 906. It is the job of the fact-finder to determine whether the evidence in a particular case sufficiently proves each element of an offense, id., and we consider conflicting evidence most favorably to the trial court's ruling. Id.

Indiana State Police Officer James Dotson, an experienced crime scene investigator and member of the Clandestine Drug Lab Team, examined the house the same day Ikemire was found there. He testified that not all steps of methamphetamine manufacturing are done at the same time or at the same place. He testified that many items used in manufacturing methamphetamine were found at the house, including particle masks, a box of salt, glassware with a solvent odor, pop bottles that were indicative of HCL generators and contained residue, a five-gallon plastic bucket containing a liquid that smelled like a solvent, a twelve-ounce bottle of acid, a plastic bottle cut in half, a box containing coffee filters, pie plates that could be utilized to dry methamphetamine, a latex glove, a coffee filter with residue, a square of aluminum foil, and an alkaline substance, either ammonia or anhydrous ammonia. He testified the above items could be used in the methamphetamine manufacturing process. Officer Dotson testified items found in the basement of the house were indicative of an abandoned methamphetamine lab. He characterized what he found as "[if you baked the chocolate cookies and at the end of the process and you throw everything in the trash can, *643 that's basically what I found." 419.) (Tr. at

Other facts and cireumstances support the jury's verdict. Officers attempted for over an hour to rouse anyone in the house, resorting to using a P.A. system and eventually breaking down a door. While the officers were outside the house, they heard people running up and down stairs. Ikem-ire was seen walking from the back to the front of the house. Officers testified the odor inside the house caused eye irritation and coughing. When they entered the house, Ikemire was lying on the couch and said he was sleeping.

Ikemire's allegation of error amounts to a request that we reweigh the evidence and judge the credibility of the witnesses. This we will not do. Haviland v. State, 677 N.E.2d 509, 516 (Ind.1997), reh'g denied. There was ample evidence to support Ikemire's conviction.

2. Discharge under Criminal Rule 4(B)

Ikemire filed his Motion for Early Trial on August 26, 2008 and trial was set for October 21, 2008. The State filed its Pretrial Witness and Exhibit List and Supplemental Discovery on October 14, 2003. On October 16, 2003, Ikemire filed his Motion to Exclude Evidence or in the Alternative Motion to Continue Jury Trial with Resulting Delay Attributable to the State. The trial court heard the pending motions on October 17, 2008, and found both Ikemire and the State had failed to comply with its discovery order. It ordered the case continued and found the delay attributable to both sides.

Ikemire argues his failure to file a notice of discovery compliance did not delay the trial. However, the trial court found the trial had to be continued, at least partially as a result of Ikemire's failure. We review de novo a trial court's denial of motion to dismiss pursuant to Ind. Criminal Rule 4(B). Kirby v. State, T74 N.E.2d 528, 580 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), reh'g denied, trans. denied 792 N.E.2d 33 (Ind.2008). Neither the State nor Ikemire complied with the trial court's August 7, 2008 order establishing discovery deadlines. We cannot say that the trial court erred when it assessed the delay caused by the continuance of the October 21, 2003 trial date to both parties. Ikemire was not without fault for that delay, and the trial court did not err in denying his motion to dismiss.

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Bluebook (online)
852 N.E.2d 640, 2006 Ind. App. LEXIS 1601, 2006 WL 2382153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ikemire-v-state-indctapp-2006.