Justin Cherry v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided June 21, 2019·No. 18A-CR-2120·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be Jun 21 2019, 5:27 am regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK

court except for the purpose of establishing Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals

the defense of res judicata, collateral and Tax Court

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Joel C. Wieneke Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Wieneke Law Office, LLC Attorney General of Indiana Brooklyn, Indiana Evan M. Comer

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Justin Cherry, June 21, 2019 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

18A-CR-2120

v. Appeal from the Putnam Circuit Court

State of Indiana, The Honorable Matthew L. Appellee-Plaintiff Headley, Judge Trial Court Cause No.

67C01-1706-F1-156

May, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2120 | June 21, 2019 Page 1 of 18

[1] Justin Cherry appeals his convictions of Level 2 felony burglary, 1 Level 2 felony conspiracy to commit burglary, 2 Level 1 felony burglary, 3 Level 3 felony conspiracy to commit armed robbery, 4 Level 3 felony criminal confinement, 5 Level 6 felony theft, 6 Level 6 felony auto theft, 7 and two counts of Level 3 felony armed robbery. 8 Cherry argues there was insufficient evidence to place him at the scene of the crimes, there was insufficient evidence to prove he conspired to commit armed robbery or burglary, and numerous convictions violate his constitutional right to be free of double jeopardy. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Facts and Procedural History [2] Around 4 a.m. on April 2, 2017, Terry McCarter heard a loud noise toward the

front of his house. Terry and his wife, Patsy McCarter, were in bed at the time. Upon hearing the noise, Terry went to investigate. Terry was confronted in his

1 Ind. Code § 35-43-2-1(3) (2014).

2 Ind. Code § 35-41-5-2 (2014) (conspiracy); Ind. Code § 35-43-2-1(3) (2014) (burglary).

3 Ind. Code § 35-43-2-1(4) (2014).

4 Ind. Code § 35-41-5-2 (2014) (conspiracy); Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1(1) (2014) (robbery).

5 Ind. Code § 35-42-3-3(b)(2) (2014).

6 Ind. Code § 35-43-4-2(1)(A) (2014).

7 Ind. Code § 35-43-4-2.5(b)(1) (2014).

8 Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1(1) (2014).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2120 | June 21, 2019 Page 2 of 18 dining room by a masked man with a gun. The man ordered Terry to lay face down on the floor.

[3] Three more men came into the house, and one of them held Terry at gunpoint. Another man went to the bedroom, pointed a gun at Patsy, and said “we’re going to rob you.” (Tr. Vol. II at 176.) The man stuffed all of Patsy’s jewelry into a pillow case. He then took the jewelry and a safe he found out of the room, before returning and ransacking the room. The man ordered Patsy out of bed and flipped the mattress. The man found a gun on the nightstand and took it. Because the man was covered from head to toe in black clothing, Patsy was not able to describe any identifying characteristics of the robber, but she noticed he was wearing unique gloves with white patterns. While Patsy was being held in the bedroom, and Terry was being held in the dining room, the other two men searched the rest of the house and stole everything of value. Terry heard one of the men refer to another as “Dustin or Justin or something like that.” (Id. at 159.)

[4] From the house, the men stole $500 from Terry’s wallet, $6,000 from the McCarters’ small business that was stored in a desk, $200 from Patsy’s purse, a .223 rifle, an antique musket loader, a .22 rifle, a single shot shotgun, a leaded- glass clock, multiple prescription medications, Patsy’s jewelry, the safe, and the handgun from the bedroom. From the McCarters’ barn, the men took a chainsaw, a tool set, and some smaller personal items. From the garage, the men took an air compressor and some drills.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2120 | June 21, 2019 Page 3 of 18

[5] After about an hour, when the men had finished plundering the McCarters’ property, the men ordered Terry and Patsy into a sunroom adjoining their bedroom. The men demanded to know where their “stash” was. (Tr. Vol. II at 143.) Then, one of the men hit Terry in the back of the head with the butt of a rifle, knocking Terry unconscious. The men locked Terry and Patsy in the sunroom.

[6] When Terry awoke, he and Patsy watched the four men walk to their garage and steal their 2003 Buick Rendezvous. After the men left, Terry escaped the sunroom through an unlocked, second entrance. He went to the garage, found his cell phone, and drove the couple’s other car to a location with sufficient cell service to call police. Officers responded and began their investigation. On a ramp leading up to the garage, police found a shoe print not belonging to Terry or Patsy.

[7] Terry was evaluated by paramedics but opted not to go to the hospital. The back of Terry’s head turned black and blue. Three days after the robbery, Terry began to have severe headaches that continued to worsen. A nearby hospital diagnosed him with hemorrhaging near the brain. Terry was transferred to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, where the doctors determined the bleeding had stopped. Terry was told he had a large amount of blood on his brain and would continue to have headaches. After going home, Terry’s condition worsened. He returned to St. Vincent Hospital where the doctors discovered the bleeding had begun again. Terry underwent surgery and spent five days in the hospital recovering. Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2120 | June 21, 2019 Page 4 of 18

[8] A few days after the burglary, in Indianapolis, Christina Blair noticed a suspicious vehicle parked along the street outside her home. The driver appeared to be waiting until nobody was watching before he exited the car. Blair watched as the man exited the car and went to a house at 3835 Spann Avenue, which recently had been the site of police activity. Blair walked up to the car and noticed it had a handicapped license plate, despite the man not appearing to be handicapped. Blair reported the vehicle to the police.

[9] The officer responding to Blair’s call ran the car’s plates. He discovered it was the vehicle stolen from the McCarters. The officer surveilled the vehicle for a while, and eventually he had it impounded. The vehicle was transported to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, where it was searched. Police found a receipt from a McDonald’s restaurant on Southeastern Avenue in Indianapolis, and the receipt had a timestamp after the robbery. Deputy McFadden of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department travelled to Indianapolis and drove past the home at 3835 Spann Avenue to gather information. Deputy McFadden drove behind the home and noticed the garage partially open. A man, later identified as Justin Cherry, came out of the garage and watched Deputy McFadden drive by.

[10] On April 9, 2017, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (“IMPD”) executed a search warrant at 3835 Spann Avenue. In the garage, the police discovered pill bottles with the names of Terry and Patsy McCarter on them. Officers also seized a phone belonging to Daltyn Randolph, one of the home’s occupants. Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2120 | June 21, 2019 Page 5 of 18

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