Lemos v. State

746 N.E.2d 972, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 395, 2001 WL 499362
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 11, 2001
Docket49S00-0001-CR-5
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 746 N.E.2d 972 (Lemos 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
Lemos v. State, 746 N.E.2d 972, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 395, 2001 WL 499362 (Ind. 2001).

Opinion

BOEHM, Justice.

Albert Lemos was convicted of murder and sentenced to sixty years imprisonment. In this direct appeal, Lemos presents two issues for review: (1) whether the *974 trial court erred by improperly instructing the jury regarding the mens rea requirement for murder, and (2) whether the trial court erred in sentencing him to sixty years imprisonment. We affirm the trial court.

Factual and Procedural Background

In the early morning of May 10, 1998, Albert Lemos, Gary Morrison, and Vongsa Phetsomphou left Lemos' home looking for Michael Pergusan, who had allegedly stolen two of Lemos aunt's bracelets. They found Pergusan in the back seat of an abandoned Lincoln Continental in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

Lemos approached the car, leaned in the back door, and, with the help of Phetsom-phou, pulled Pergusan from the car. As Phetsomphou held Pergusan, Lemos stabbed him in the back with a pocketknife. Pergusan struggled free, but was knocked to the ground and kicked in the face. Pergusan was then held against a wall while Lemos stabbed him in the chest, piercing his heart. Pergusan died at the hospital. Lemos was found guilty of murder and sentenced to an aggravated sentence of sixty years.

I. Jury Instructions

Lemos argues that the jury instructions defining the mens rea of murder allowed the jury to confuse the culpable mental states-"knowingly" and "intentionally"-and conviet on findings that do not support a murder conviction. Lemos did not raise these objections at trial. Therefore, he has waived the issue unless he can show that the instructions constituted fundamental error. Garrett v. State, 714 N.E.2d 618, 622 (Ind.1999). This requires an error so serious and prejudicial that it rendered a fair trial impossible. Barany v. State, 658 N.E.2d 60, 64 (Ind.1995).

The charging information alleged that Lemos "knowingly" killed another human being. The jury was instructed pursuant to Indiana Code section 85-41-2-2(a) that a person acts "knowingly" if, "when he engages in the conduct, he is aware of the high probability that he is doing so." It was also instructed that Lemos acted "intentionally" if the "intent to kill may be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon in a manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm." Lemos contends that the instruction was an incorrect statement of the law and constituted fundamental error. He argues that this language permitted the jury to find intent where only great bodily harm was "likely." He argues that the instruction on intentional killing reduced the requirement from a "high probability" of death to a "likely" result of bodily injury.

The jury instructions do not constitute fundamental error. The instruction on intent arguably had the effect Lemos claims. However, the mens rea requirement in the intentional instruction that the trial court gave is a proper forraulation of that requirement for a "knowing" killing. Barker v. State, 695 N.E.2d 925, 931 (Ind.1998). Thus the combination of the instructions, although superfluous, did not create a false impression of the law. To the contrary, in order to convict under these instructions, the jury must have found a mens rea that was consistent with the law. If is true that the instruction on intentional killing was unnecessary because the charge alleged only a "knowing" killing. However, given that the "intentional" instruction was a correct statement of the law for a "knowing" killing, there was a correct instruction on "knowing," and that the defendant was charged with a "knowing killing," we cannot say that the inclusion of this redundant but correct instruction rendered a fair trial impossible.

*975 II. Sentencing Error

Lemos contends that the trial court's sentence of sixty years was manifestly unreasonable. Much of the argument in support of this claimed error suggests it is more in the nature of a procedural flaw than the imposition of a manifestly unreasonable sentence.

A. Aggravating Circumstances

Lemos contends that the trial court abused its discretion by finding three aggravating cireumstances: (1) Lemos' erimi-nal history, (2) that Lemos sought out Pergusan, and (8) that Lemos killed Per-gusan with a knife. If the trial court relies on aggravating or mitigating cireum-stances, the court must (1) identify all of the significant mitigating and aggravating cireumstances, (2) state the specific reason why each cireumstance is considered to be mitigating or aggravating, and (8) artieu late the court's evaluation and balancing of the circumstances to determine if the mitigating circumstances offset the aggravating ones. Harris v. State, 659 N.E.2d 522, 527-28 (Ind.1995).

Lemos first contends that the trial court failed to provide reasons why each circumstance was aggravating, or why his criminal history was an aggravating circumstance. The trial court stated that Lemos' prior eriminal record and the nature and cireumstances of the crime warranted an aggravated sentence. Although the trial court did not give a detailed explanation of Lemosg' eriminal history, the presentence investigation report indicates that Lemos was on probation for battery at the time of the murder and that he had been convicted of another felony. The trial court took notice of Lemos' eriminal history and judged it to be an aggravating civreumstance. This is sufficient. Ellis v. State, 707 N.E.2d 797, 804 (Ind.1999) (nonviolent Class D felony and various misdemeanor convictions were sufficient to enhance sentence).

Lemos also contends that because seeking out Pergusan and killing him with a knife are elements of the crime, they are inappropriate aggravating circumstances. Lemos is correct that a trial court may not use a material element of the offense as an aggravating cirumstance. Spears v. State, 735 N.E.2d 1161, 1167 (Ind.2000). However, the trial court may find the nature and cireumstances of the offense to be an aggravating cireum-stance. Dowdell v. State, 720 N.E.2d 1146, 1154 (Ind.1999). The fact that Lemos and his assistants hunted down Pergusan is part of the nature and cireumstances of the crime, not an element of the crime itself. The trial court was within its discretion to consider this factor as an aggravating cireumstance. The fact that a knife was used is in itself not an aggravating circumstance, because some means is used in every murder. However, it is not clear that the trial court concluded this was a separate aggravating circumstance. In any event, one aggravating circumstance is sufficient to support the trial court's sentence. Miller v. State, 716 N.E.2d 367, 371 (Ind.1999).

B. Mitigating Circumstances

Lemos also contends that the trial court failed to address the mitigating cireum-stances.

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Bluebook (online)
746 N.E.2d 972, 2001 Ind. LEXIS 395, 2001 WL 499362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lemos-v-state-ind-2001.