Leonard Booker v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: October 23, 2020
• Docket: 19A-CR-2817
• Status: Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Oct 23 2020, 10:00 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Anna Onaitis Holden Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Zionsville, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

George P. Sherman Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Leonard Booker, October 23, 2020 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 19A-CR-2817 v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Lisa F. Borges, Appellee-Plaintiff Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49G04-1804-MR-11747

May, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2817 | October 23, 2020 Page 1 of 6 [1] Leonard Booker appeals his conviction of Level 2 felony voluntary

manslaughter. 1 He argues the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted

a confession to the shooting that he made to one of the officers on scene. He

claims the confession was illegally obtained because police had not advised him

of his rights in accordance with Miranda v. Arizona 2 before obtaining his

confession. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] On April 6, 2018, Booker and his family celebrated Booker’s birthday with a

party at Booker’s house. Booker became intoxicated as the day progressed.

Late in the afternoon, he went into the garage and started “screaming and

fussing” at his wife, Tonya, about a business they operated together. (Tr. Vol.

II at 148.) Others at the party attempted to calm down Booker, but were

unsuccessful.

[3] Around 8:00 p.m., Tonya’s biological son and Booker’s stepson, David Starks,

arrived at Booker’s home. Booker was “on the floor . . . counting his money”

and people were “still trying to calm him down.” (Id. at 151.) Shortly after

Starks arrived, Booker gave Starks some money and asked him to purchase a

bag of ice. Starks did so, and he returned with his friend, Jeremy White.

1 Ind. Code § 35-42-1-3. 2 384 U.S. 436 (1966), reh’g denied.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2817 | October 23, 2020 Page 2 of 6 Booker was still upset about the business he ran with Tonya when Starks

returned, and Starks asked him to “calm down.” (Id. at 154.) Starks told

Booker that Booker was “disrespecting [his] mother[.]” (Id. at 184.) A physical

confrontation between Booker and Starks ensued.

[4] Booker attacked Starks and “grabbed [Starks] up by his hoodie.” (Id. at 229.)

Starks tried to punch Booker and instead “nick[ed] him in the chin [be]cause

[Starks’ sister] blocked it.” (Id. at 230.) Booker said he was “going to kill the

mother fucker” and Starks left the house. (Id. at 235.) Starks’ partner, Breanna

Harney, ran outside after him. Booker followed Starks and Harney outside.

Starks attempted to move Harney out of the line of fire and said, “[w]atch out,

boo.” (Id. at 160.) Booker than shot at Starks and Harney “six or seven” times.

(Id. at 161.) Starks fell to the ground. Harney called 911.

[5] Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Chad Montgomery arrived at the

scene, which he described as “very chaotic.” (Id. at 197.) Other officers and

EMS arrived shortly thereafter. Starks was alive when officers and EMS first

arrived on the scene, but he died at the scene a short time later. Officer

Montgomery observed Booker leaning against a truck in the driveway and

testified that “unlike everybody else that was there he was very – very calm.”

(Id. at 199-200.) Officer Montgomery asked Booker “if he knew who had –

who had done this . . . what happened” and Booker told Officer Montgomery

that “he shot the – shot the victim.” (Id. at 201.) Officer Montgomery then

handcuffed Booker. After Booker arrived at the police station, Detective Lottie

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2817 | October 23, 2020 Page 3 of 6 Parker advised Booker of his Miranda rights. Booker then told Detective Parker

that he shot Starks.

[6] On April 11, 2018, the State charged Booker with murder. 3 Booker’s jury trial

was held on September 16-17, 2019. The jury returned a guilty verdict of Level

2 felony voluntary manslaughter and the trial court entered a conviction

thereof. On November 1, 2019, the trial court sentenced Booker to twenty-five

years, with five years suspended to probation.

Discussion and Decision [7] We typically review rulings on the admission of evidence for an abuse of

discretion. Pavlovich v. State, 6 N.E.3d 969, 975 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014), trans.

denied. An abuse of discretion occurs if the trial court misinterprets the law or if

its decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances

before it. Id.

[8] Booker did not object at trial to the admission of his confession to Officer

Montgomery. Failure to object at trial waives the issue on review unless

fundamental error occurred. Halliburton v. State, 1 N.E.3d 670, 678 (Ind. 2013).

Fundamental error is an extremely narrow exception that applies only when the

error amounts to a blatant violation of basic principles, the harm or potential for

harm is substantial, and the resulting error denies the defendant fundamental

3 Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2817 | October 23, 2020 Page 4 of 6 due process. Mathews v. State, 849 N.E.2d 578, 587 (Ind. 2006). The claimed

error must be so prejudicial to the rights of a defendant as to make a fair trial

impossible. Taylor v. State, 717 N.E.2d 90, 93 (Ind. 1999).

[9] Booker argues the trial court committed fundamental error when it admitted his

confession to Officer Montgomery at the scene because Officer Montgomery

did not first advise Booker of his Miranda rights. However, even if the trial

court erred in admitting Booker’s statement to Officer Montgomery, such error

was harmless and therefore does not constitute fundamental error. “Errors in

the admission or exclusion of evidence are to be disregarded as harmless error

unless they affect the substantial rights of a party.” Crawford v. State, 770

N.E.2d 775, 779 (Ind. 2002). The erroneous admission of evidence is harmless

if it is cumulative of other evidence properly admitted. Purvis v. State, 829

N.E.2d 572, 585 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005), trans. denied.

[10] Here, after Booker was transported to the police station, Detective Parker

advised him of his Miranda rights. After the advisement, Booker told Detective

Parker that he killed Starks. Two eyewitnesses testified they saw Booker shoot

Starks. Booker never denied he shot Starks. Rather, Booker testified he shot

Starks in self-defense. Any error in the trial court’s admission of Booker’s

confession to Officer Montgomery was harmless because it was cumulative of

other properly-admitted evidence. See Pelissier v. State, 122 N.E.3d 983, 988

(Ind. Ct. App. 2019) (error is harmless when it is cumulative of other properly-

admitted evidence), trans. denied.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2817 | October 23, 2020 Page 5 of 6 Conclusion [11] Any error in the admission of Booker’s statement to Officer Montgomery

during which he confessed to shooting Starks was harmless because it was

cumulative of Booker’s later confession, Booker’s statements at trial, and

eyewitness testimony. Accordingly, we affirm Booker’s conviction of Level 2

felony voluntary manslaughter.

[12] Affirmed.

Riley, J., and Altice, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2817 | October 23, 2020 Page 6 of 6