MacLin v. State

394 N.E.2d 163, 271 Ind. 606, 1979 Ind. LEXIS 726
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided September 25, 1979·No. 1078S242·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

DeBRULER, Justice.

Appellant, James R. Maclin, was convicted in a jury trial of rape, Ind.Code § 35-13-4-3 (Burns Code Edition) since repealed effective October 1, 1977, and kidnapping, Ind.Code § 35-1-55-1 (Burns Code Edition) since repealed effective October 1, 1977. He was sentenced to twenty-one years and life imprisonment. Two issues are raised on appeal: (1) whether the verdicts were supported by sufficient evidence; and (2) whether the trial court erred in overruling appellant’s motion to suppress the in-court identification of appellant by the alleged victim.

The gravamen of the charged offenses is that appellant abducted a woman from the public street at gunpoint and transported her in a car to a building which he forced her to enter and while therein he sexually assaulted her. He contends in this appeal that the evidence serving to identify him as the perpetrator of these offenses was wholly insufficient to support the jury verdicts. In determining this question we do not weigh the evidence nor resolve questions of credibility but look to the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom which support the verdict. The conviction will be affirmed if from that viewpoint there is evidence of probative value from which a reasonable trier of fact could infer that appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Glover v. State, (1970) 253 Ind. 536, 255 N.E.2d 657.

The evidence which the jury could have based its verdict on is as follows. The victim, a twenty-six year old woman, an employee of the City of Gary, was walking to work at 8:30 a. m. on August 17,1977. A lone man driving a gold Cadillac asked her if she wanted a ride and she responded that she did not. He then proceeded to park the car ahead of her on the street and as she passed he exited the car with a gun in his hand and ordered her inside. She did so and as they drove off he told her to pull a hat down over her eyes which she did. The car proceeded for about five minutes and pulled into a garage at the rear of a building. She removed the hat as they emerged and walked into the basement of the building. She then noticed that her assailant dragged one leg as he walked. While there, under the continuing threat of the gun which he held in his hand, she disrobed. She submitted to repeated sexual intercourse for one and one-half hours, during which time he kept the gun on a table next to the bed. The victim noticed a scar on the man’s chest. After this episode he took the gun again in hand and they left the building returning to the car. The man then drove the car to a filling station where *165 he bought gas and delivered her to her place of employment. The entire abduction had lasted about two hours. The victim within an hour reported the attack and on the same day went to the Gary Police Department and viewed many photographs there in an unsuccessful attempt to identify her assailant.

From the victim’s description of the car including a distinctive windshield sticker and the building the investigators had located both the car and building within a week. Upon searching the basement they located the bed and area described by the victim. The building was occupied by appellant’s mother.

At trial the victim pointed out appellant from the witness stand as the man who had abducted and assaulted her. Appellant’s grandmother provided alibi evidence that appellant was living with her in Tennessee during the entire month of August. During the grandmother’s testimony she described appellant as being crippled and as having a scar on his chest. Appellant was required on motion of the prosecutor to walk about in front of the jury.

Appellant concedes that a conviction may properly be sustained upon the uncorroborated testimony of a single witness. Wims v. State, (1977) Ind., 370 N.E.2d 358. Appellant argues that the testimony of the victim fails to adequately support the identification of appellant as the perpetrator of the crimes as it was not precise and certain and because the witness had only a limited opportunity to observe her assailant while in an intense emotional state. He likewise points out that the victim testified that appellant had longer hair and a beard which beard was not present on August 17, 1977, and that no weapon was found at the residence or in the car. The victim did have her view of her abductor obstructed by the hat while in the car. Her opportunity to observe him was not, however, impeded at all for a period of one and a half hours while she was being held and mistreated in the basement of the building. She also got a good look at him before she was seized while on the street and again following their departure from the building while at the filling station. Her testimony at trial was direct, unexaggerated and unequivocal. It was unshaken. We find that her testimony identifying appellant as her assailant did not lack the requisite evidentiary quality to support the jury’s conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was the perpetrator of these offenses.

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MacLin v. State, 394 N.E.2d 163, 271 Ind. 606, 1979 Ind. LEXIS 726 (Ind. 1979).

394 N.E.2d 163 (MacLin v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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