Kelly v. State

324 N.E.2d 158, 264 Ind. 19, 1975 Ind. LEXIS 253
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1975
DocketNo. 3-1073A140
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 324 N.E.2d 158 (Kelly 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
Kelly v. State, 324 N.E.2d 158, 264 Ind. 19, 1975 Ind. LEXIS 253 (Ind. 1975).

Opinion

Dissenting Opinion on Petition to Transfer

DeBruler, J.

Pat Kelly, also known as Willard Patrick, was charged with possession and sale of heroin, respectively, Ind. Code § 35-24.1-4-1 (c), being Burns § 10-3561 (c), and Ind. Code § 35-24.1-4-1 (a) (1) (i), being Burns § 10-3561 (a) (1) (i). In a trial by jury before Judge George N. Beamer, Jr., in the St. Joseph Superior Court, appellant was found guilty of both counts and sentenced to a term of two to ten years for possession and five to twenty years for the sale, to be served concurrently. Later, the court vacated the guilty verdict and the sentence for possession in light of this Court’s ruling in Thompson v. State, (1973) 259 Ind. 587, 290 N.E.2d 724, cert. den’d, 412 U.S. 943.

He appealed to the Court of Appeals which affirmed his conviction. Ind. App., 315 N.E.2d 382. The primary issue presented by this petition to transfer is whether or not the State is required to have and make a showing of probable cause for the initiation of a scheme of entrapment, in cases where a previously unsuspected third party stranger, whom no one intended to trap is the ultimate defendant. The defense of entrapment, erected upon a foundation of fundamental fairness and due process, is now being used in more and more drug cases, where those engaged in the enforcement of drug laws have relied more and more upon the use of undercover agents and informants to solicit the purchase [20]*20of drugs and to thereby make drug arrests. Because the issues surrounding the entrapment situation are continuing and important to the fair administration of criminal and constitutional law, I have felt it necessary to publish this opinion in dissent to the denial of transfer in this case.

The evidence most favorable to the State is as follows: The South Bend Police Department had received calls from “citizens observing traffic in and out” of a house at 1004 West LaSalle in South Bend. The Department had also discussed the situation with an informant known as Pooky, who told them that someone she knew had purchased drugs from a Dot Jennings at the West LaSalle address. Pooky did not give the name of the purchaser. At 2:00 a.m., on June 29, 1972, acting on instructions of the South Bend Police Department, Officer Dunlap and Pooky drove to 1004 West LaSalle in order to buy drugs. Two other police officers followed in another car and parked nearby to observe.

Dot Jennings answered the door and, once inside, Pooky asked Jennings “if she had anything.” Jennings replied that she did not, but then called upstairs: “James, come on downstairs and hit the streets because you have some business.” James Whiting came downstairs and appellant accompanied him. Appellant asked Dunlap how much she wanted. She replied: “Two caps.” Appellant told her to wait outside on the corner, but then they decided to go to his house on West Colfax. Dunlap drove Pooky, Whiting, and appellant to his house. Whiting and appellant got out, and appellant told the police officer and the informant to wait a few minutes. After a minute or two, appellant returned, gave two capsules to Dunlap, and told her the price was $7.00 each. Dunlap paid appellant $14.00 in bills which the Police Department had given her. She then took the capsules to the Police Department.

Appellant’s argument is that the State must prove that it had probable cause to initiate its scheme of entrapment, not only when the defendant is the person whom the State in[21]*21tended, to entrap, but also when an unsuspected third person becomes the ultimate defendant.

In Walker v. State, (1970) 255 Ind. 65, 262 N.E.2d 641, this Court held:

“[I]t is not necessary for the officers to have all of the information leading to probable cause prior to the beginning of the investigation. It is sufficient if during the investigation but before the transaction which is alleged to be entrapment the officers acquire the information which supplies probable cause.” 255 Ind. at 71.

In Smith v. State, (1972) 258 Ind. 415, 281 N.E.2d 803, we reaffirmed that requirement:

“[E]ven should we differ in our opinions as to whether the offense was conceived and enticed by the agent, there can be no doubt that no evidence was presented to render the defendant suspect of any offense prior to the time the State’s scheme was set into motion. Probable cause for ‘baiting the trap’ was therefore absent, and the work product of the scheme cannot be utilized, thereby condoning and encouraging that which was illegal in the first instance.” 281 N.E.2d at 806.

The Smith opinion made two findings. When the defense of entrapment has been raised: (1) The State has the burden to convince the trier of fact, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was no entrapment. To do so, the State must prove that the defendant, before he was approached by the informant, was engaged in the sale of heroin or that he had the predisposition to make such a sale if the opportunity presented itself. Gray v. State, (1967) 249 Ind. 629, 231 N.E.2d 793; (2) The State also has the burden to show that, before it set into operation a scheme to trap the defendant, it had probable cause for its suspicions that he was engaged in illegal conduct. Often the State may present the same evidence to satisfy both burdens. However, information concerning the defendant’s prior sales or his reputation as a narcotics dealer, which was learned after the commencement of the alleged entrapment, will not satisfy the probable cause requirement spelled out in Walker and Smith. Whereas, such [22]*22information will suffice to rebut the defense of State inducement. U.S. v. Russell, (1973) 411 U.S. 423, 93 S.Ct. 1637, 36 L.Ed.2d 366; Sherman v. U.S., (1958) 356 U.S. 369, 78 S.Ct. 819, 2 L.Ed.2d 848; Sorrells v. U.S., (1932) 287 U.S. 435, 53 S.Ct. 210, 77 L.Ed. 413; Gray v. State, supra.

Appellant raises this further issue: In the event that the State discovers in its trap a defendant (1) whom the State had not previously suspected, or (2) whom the State had dealt with through the innocent intervention of a third party, who made the requests on behalf of the State, or (3) whom a third party induced to act illegally in the officer’s presence, but without his instigation, can this defendant require the State to show that it had probable cause to suspect a particular person was acting illegally and that it had discovered the defendant in the course of its legitimate scheme to trap that person?

Quoting from Thompson v. State, supra,

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Related

Payne v. State
343 N.E.2d 325 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
324 N.E.2d 158, 264 Ind. 19, 1975 Ind. LEXIS 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelly-v-state-ind-1975.