Kenneth N. McFall v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 29, 2019
Docket18A-CR-2322
StatusPublished

This text of Kenneth N. McFall v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Kenneth N. McFall 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
Kenneth N. McFall v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Apr 29 2019, 8:51 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Matthew J. McGovern Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Anderson, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

Jesse R. Drum Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Kenneth N. McFall, April 29, 2019 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 18A-CR-2322 v. Appeal from the Perry Circuit Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Mary Lucille Appellee-Plaintiff. Goffinet, Judge The Honorable Karen A. Werner, Magistrate Trial Court Cause No. 62C01-1804-F3-325

Najam, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2322 | April 29, 2019 Page 1 of 17 Statement of the Case [1] Kenneth N. McFall appeals his convictions following a jury trial for dealing in

methamphetamine, as a Level 3 felony; possession of marijuana, as a Class B

misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, as a Class C misdemeanor. He

presents three issues for our review, which we restate as follows:

1. Whether McFall preserved for appellate review his argument that the trial court erred under the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution when it admitted evidence that law enforcement officers had seized pursuant to a search of his residence.

2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it did not allow a witness to testify in front of the jury.

3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it declined to give a proffered jury instruction.

[2] We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [3] On April 23, 2018, Sergeant Jason Shadwick of the Tell City Police Department

applied for a search warrant for McFall’s residence. In support of his request

for the search warrant, Sergeant Shadwick filed an affidavit of probable cause

that stated in part:

On April 23, 2018[,] Officer Bryan Hammack and Affiant both observed a 2001 tan or grey Chevrolet truck park along Jefferson Street at 747 14th Street. Officer[s] were conducting surveillance

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2322 | April 29, 2019 Page 2 of 17 in the area in reference to tips received by citizens of drug dealing from this residence and another nearby residence. In the past, Tell City Police Department has also received information of Kenny McFall dealing in methamphetamine. While conducting surveillance on this residence, Officer Hammack observed Kenny McFall exit his home and go to the vehicle for a short time. Mr. McFall then went back to his residence and the vehicle left the residence. A short time later, Officer Hammack and I conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle in question on Franklin Street after observing the vehicle disregard a stop sign and discovering the vehicle plate was false/fictitious, coming back to a 1996 maroon Dodge.

I then identified the driver as Henry Kellems. Mr. Kellems displayed an unusual level of nervousness. Mr. Kellems also indicated that he didn’t have current insurance on the vehicle and his driver status was found to be HTV (Habitual Traffic Violator). During the course of the traffic stop, I deployed my K9 partner, “Piko” to perform a free air sniff of the vehicle. During the free air sniff of the vehicle, K9 “Piko” gave a positive alert of a narcotic odor coming from the vehicle’s interior. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, I located a clear plastic bag containing a crystal like substance that appeared to be methamphetamine. That substance also field tested positive for methamphetamine. It should be noted that K9 “Piko” is a certified narcotics detection and police patrol dog.

During an interview with Mr. Kellems, he confirmed that the substance was methamphetamine and that Mr. McFall delivered it to his vehicle when he arrived. Mr. Kellems admitted to getting methamphetamine from Kenny McFall’s residence in the past. Mr. Kellems stated that today, he and Kenny made a prior arra[nge]ment by phone that he would trade some sandstones to Kenny for some meth. Mr. Kellems stated the amount wasn’t agreed upon prior to meeting Kellems [sic] today. However, Mr.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2322 | April 29, 2019 Page 3 of 17 Kellems did cite other times of trading things to McFall for methamphetamine.

Mr. Kellems admitted that Kenny McFall had provided him with methamphetamine in the past prior to today, as well as today. Mr. Kellems also corroborated Officer Hammack’s surveillance of McFall coming out of his residence and delivering the bag of methamphetamine to him (Kellems) in his vehicle.

Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 164-65. The trial court granted the search warrant

that same day.

[4] Later that evening, officers executed the search warrant. During the search,

officers found an Altoids tin that contained a baggie with 7.92 grams of

marijuana and rolling papers, an eyeglasses case that contained a corner baggie

of methamphetamine that was tied with a blue twist tie and a pipe that had

methamphetamine residue in it, an Altoids tin that contained four corner

baggies of methamphetamine that were tied with blue twist ties, plastic baggies

missing their corners, $658 in cash, and two long guns.

[5] The State charged McFall with two counts of dealing in methamphetamine, as

Level 3 felonies (Counts I and II); one count of possession of

methamphetamine, as a Level 5 felony (Count III); one count of maintaining a

common nuisance, as a Level 6 felony (Count IV); one count of possession of

marijuana, as a Class B misdemeanor (Count V); and one count of possession

of paraphernalia, as a Class C misdemeanor (Count VI).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2322 | April 29, 2019 Page 4 of 17 [6] On May 24, McFall filed a motion to suppress any evidence seized during the

search of his residence. In that motion, McFall asserted that the search warrant

was unlawful because the affidavit for probable cause that Sergeant Shadwick

had filed in support of his request for the search warrant contained only

untrustworthy information. During the hearing on McFall’s motion, McFall

specifically asserted that the affidavit in support of the search warrant was based

only on hearsay statements and that the affidavit did not contain any

information to indicate that the hearsay statements were reliable or credible.

The trial court denied McFall’s motion.

[7] The trial court held a jury trial from August 6 through August 8. During the

trial, the State called Officer Hammack as a witness and questioned him about

the search of McFall’s house. Specifically, the State asked Officer Hammack

what officers had found during the search, and Officer Hammack stated that

“[t]here was marijuana found, and there was methamphetamine found.” Tr.

Vol. III at 163. At that point, McFall objected. The trial court overruled

McFall’s objection, but, on McFall’s request, the trial court stated that it would

show a continuing objection.

[8] The State moved to admit as evidence photographs that officers had taken at

McFall’s house. Specifically, the State moved to admit the following: a picture

of a baggie of marijuana and rolling papers; a picture of an Altoids tin with

marijuana; a picture of an open eyeglasses case that contained a glass pipe and

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Kenneth N. McFall v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kenneth-n-mcfall-v-state-of-indiana-mem-dec-indctapp-2019.