John B. Myles v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 16, 2018
Docket45A04-1611-PC-2602
StatusPublished

This text of John B. Myles v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (John B. Myles v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) 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
John B. Myles v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION FILED May 16 2018, 10:11 am Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as CLERK Indiana Supreme Court precedent or cited before any court except for the Court of Appeals and Tax Court purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

APPELLANT PRO SE ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE John B. Myles Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Michigan City, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Ellen H. Meilaender Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

John B. Myles, May 16, 2018

Appellant-Petitioner, Court of Appeals Case No. 45A04-1611-PC-2602 v. Appeal from the Lake Superior Court. The Honorable Salvador Vasquez, Judge. State of Indiana, The Honorable Kathleen Sullivan, Appellee-Respondent. Magistrate. Trial Court Cause Nos. 45G01-0910-PC-9 45G01-0911-PC-10

Friedlander, Senior Judge

[1] John B. Myles appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. We

affirm.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A04-1611-PC-2602 |May 16, 2018 Page 1 of 16 [2] This appeal arises from two post-conviction cases that the court consolidated

for hearing. In Cause Number 45G01-0701-FB-7 (FB-7), the facts were as

follows:

On October 4, 2006, Cindy Allbritten was working as a store manager at Walgreens in Schererville. When Cindy arrived for work at approximately 7:30 a.m., fellow employee Anita Walker was already there. As Cindy was opening the door, a man approached Cindy and Anita, pointed a gun at them, and ordered them to enter the store office. When Cindy looked at the man’s face, he told her, ‘Don’t look at me, or I’ll kill you.’ Tr. p. 35. The man then instructed Cindy to open the store safe at gunpoint. Cindy opened the safe and removed approximately $2200. The man then handcuffed Cindy and Anita so that they were face down on the floor. As the man bagged the money, he told Cindy and Anita several times, ‘Don’t turn around or I’ll kill you.’ Id. at 40. The man left Walgreens. Another employee arrived approximately fifteen minutes later, found the women on the floor, and called the police. Police officers arrived on the scene about five minutes later and removed the handcuffs from Cindy and Anita. The police were able to lift fingerprints from the handcuffs. Cindy described the robber as a dark-skinned, African-American male in his sixties with a medium build. She said he was wearing a black hat and a long, black trench coat. Anita similarly described the man as a dark-skinned, African-American male in his sixties with pockmarked skin and a medium build. She also said he was wearing a hat and a dark jacket. In January 2007, both Cindy and Anita identified Myles in a photo array as the man who had robbed Walgreens and handcuffed them. Also in January 2007, a search warrant was obtained and executed for Myles’ apartment. Police officers found U.S. currency totaling $2920. In January 2008, the Indiana State Police Lab matched Myles’ fingerprints to a print taken from the handcuffs.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A04-1611-PC-2602 |May 16, 2018 Page 2 of 16 The State charged Myles with Class B felony robbery, two counts of Class B felony criminal confinement, and two counts of Class D felony criminal confinement. The State also alleged that Myles was a habitual offender. Following a jury trial, Myles was found guilty as charged. Myles then pled guilty to being a habitual offender.

Myles v. State, Cause No. 45A03-0806-CR-287, *2-3 (Ind. Ct. App. Dec. 29,

2008) (CR-287). Myles appealed, claiming the trial court erred in the admission

of evidence. The Court affirmed.

[3] In 45G01-0701-FB-8 (FB-8), the facts were as follows:

[S]hortly before 7:00 a.m. on October 11, 2006, assistant manager Nathaniel Thompson and photo specialist Staci Gamblin unlocked the front entrance of their Walgreens drugstore in Hammond. Thompson noticed a man, later identified as Myles, ‘pacing a little bit’ across the street. Tr. at 90. Thompson and Gamblin entered the store, locked the door behind them, and passed through two locked doors to the office. Thompson then returned to the front of the store to organize the newspapers and open for business. As Thompson unlocked the front entrance, he saw Myles approaching the store. Myles wore a ballcap, eyeglasses, and a mask covering his nose and mouth. When Thompson greeted him, Myles pulled a black revolver from his waistband and asked, ‘Where is the girl?’ Id. at 100. Thompson raised his hands and led Myles to the office. Myles ordered Gamblin to lie on her stomach and told Thompson to empty two safes. Thompson deposited the money into a bag Myles gave him. Myles ordered Thompson to lie next to Staci. As Thompson did so, he turned and saw Myles holding a latex glove and a pair of handcuffs in one hand, attempting to chain Thompson’s left wrist to Gamblin’s right wrist. Myles fastened the handcuffs around Gamblin’s wrist and told them not

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A04-1611-PC-2602 |May 16, 2018 Page 3 of 16 to move or he would kill them. After Myles left the store, Gamblin called the police. Evidence technicians collected the handcuffs and one latex glove from the office and a second latex glove behind the first locked door leading to the office. State police laboratory analysts recovered Myles’s DNA from inside one of the gloves and his left index fingerprint from the handcuffs. In November 2006, police showed Gamblin and Thompson a photo lineup that did not include Myles’s photo. Gamblin identified one of the men as the perpetrator. Thompson was unable to identify any of the men as the perpetrator. In January 2007, police showed Thompson a photo lineup that included a photo of Myles not wearing eyeglasses. Thompson circled Myles’s photo and stated that he was 90% certain that Myles was the perpetrator. Police then showed Thompson a driver’s license photo of Myles wearing eyeglasses, and Thompson stated that he was “a hundred percent sure” that Myles was the person who had robbed the drugstore. Id. at 188. On January 17, 2007, the State charged Myles with one count of class B felony robbery and two counts of class B felony criminal confinement. The State also filed a habitual offender allegation, which was later dismissed. A jury trial began on November 3, 2008. After the State rested, Myles moved for a directed verdict on the basis that the State had failed to prove identity. The trial court denied the motion. On November 5, 2008, the jury found Myles guilty as charged. Myles v. State, No. 45A03-0901-CR-33, * 2-3 (Ind. Ct. App. Sept. 9, 2009) (CR-

33). Myles appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the

convictions. The Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment.

[4] In 2009, Myles filed petitions for post-conviction relief for his convictions in

FB-7 and FB-8. The post-conviction court referred the petitions to the State

Public Defender, who declined to represent Myles. Myles asked the post-

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A04-1611-PC-2602 |May 16, 2018 Page 4 of 16 conviction court to appoint different counsel for him, but the court denied his

request. The court consolidated the post-conviction cases for an evidentiary

hearing. After the hearing, the post-conviction court issued findings of fact and

conclusions of law denying Myles’ petitions. This appeal followed.

[5] Myles raises several claims, which we restate as follows: (1) whether the post-

conviction court erred in denying Myles’ request for appointed counsel; (2)

whether the court abused its discretion by denying Myles’ request to subpoena

police officers who had participated in his arrest; (3) whether the court erred by

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