McNeely v. State

529 N.E.2d 1317, 1988 Ind. App. LEXIS 807, 1988 WL 116561
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 3, 1988
Docket74A01-8802-CR-61
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 529 N.E.2d 1317 (McNeely v. State) 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
McNeely v. State, 529 N.E.2d 1317, 1988 Ind. App. LEXIS 807, 1988 WL 116561 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

NEAL, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Defendant-appellant, Russell A. McNeely (McNeely), appeals his convictions by the Spencer Circuit Court of two counts of child molesting, both Class C felonies under IND.CODE 85-42-4-8.

We affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On September 19, 1986, an Information was filed in the Spencer Circuit Court charging McNeely with two counts of child molesting. Count I of the Information alleged McNeely had engaged in sexual intercourse with B.F., his 14 year old stepdaughter, on or about July 31, 1986. Count II alleged McNeely had intercourse with B.F. on or about August 14, 1986. Following a jury trial, McNeely was con-viected and sentenced to eight years on each count to be served consecutively. He subsequently instituted this appeal.

ISSUES

McNeely raises several issues for our review which we restate as follows:

I. Whether the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury regarding the alibi defense.
II. Whether the trial court erred in giving certain instructions containing the phrase "depraved sexual instinct."
III. Whether the trial court erred in refusing McNeely's tendered instruction regarding the use of pri- or similar crimes evidence.
IV. Whether the trial court erred in giving instructions regarding the presumption .of innocence and the State's burden of proof.
V. Whether the trial court erred in denying McNeely's motion for a continuance.
VI. Whether the trial court erred in refusing to permit McNeely to cross-examine the victim regarding allegations of her prior drug use.
Whether there is sufficient evidence to support the convictions. VIL
*1321 VIII. Whether McNeely's sentence is manifestly unreasonable.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

ISSUE I; Alibi Instruction

McNeely first contends the trial court erred in instructing the jury with regard to his alibi defense. The Information filed against McNeely alleged that the molestations occurred "on or about the 381 day of July, 1986," and "on or about the 14 day of August, 1986." Record at 27. Pursuant to IND.CODE 35-36-4-1 McNeely filed a notice of alibi defense indicating his whereabouts on an hourly basis throughout the days of July 31 and August 14. The State did not respond to the alibi notice.

McNeely claims the trial court erred in refusing to give his tendered Final Instructions Nos. 2 and 3, and giving the State's tendered Final Instruction No. 3 instead. With respect to the alibi defense, the jury was instructed as follows:

The State of Indiana has charged the Defendant with commission of the offenses of child molesting and has stated the time of the offenses as follows: "On or about July 31, 1986" and "On or about August 14, 1986." The Defendant has filed the defense of alibi, in which the Defendant alleges that he was not at the place of the alleged offenses on July 31, 1986 and on August 14, 1986.
The State of Indiana is not required to specify the exact date or the exact time of day of the offenses if the evidence available to the State does not permit such a statement of specific time or specific date. If you find that the evidence available to the State of Indiana does not permit the State to specify the exact date or the exact time, and if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant committed the offense or the offenses within reasonable proximity to the date or dates alleged, then the State has met its burden of proof on the issue of the time of the offenses.

Record at 889. McNeely emphasizes that the State did not respond to his notice of alibi and argues that it was reversible error to instruct the jury that "[the State of Indiana is not required to specify the exact date or exact time of day of the offenses if the evidence available to the State does not permit such a statement of specific time or specific date." In support of his argument he cites Jennings v. State (1987), Ind., 514 N.E.2d 836.

In Jennings the defendant charged with burglary and theft filed a notice of alibi defense. The State responded, specifying an exact date upon which the alleged offenses occurred. At the conclusion of trial the trial court instructed the jury that "the State is not required to prove that [the offense] was committed on that particular date." On appeal, our supreme court held that it was reversible error to inform the jury that the State was not limited to proving that the crime alleged was committed on the date specified in the State's response to the notice of alibi. Id. at 837.

Jennings is readily distinguishable from the case at bar, however. In that case the State responded to the notice of alibi with a statement specifying an exact date and time that the alleged offense was committed, thereby limiting its evidence and assuming a special evidentiary burden. Here, the State never responded to the notice of alibi or restricted itself to an exact date in the Information, nor was it required to.

The filing of an alibi defense does not impose a greater burden of proof on the State than would otherwise be required. Merritt v. State (1978), 267 Ind. 460, 371 N.E.2d 382. However, an alibi defense does make the time of an alleged offense of the essence. The effect of the State's answer to the notice of alibi is to restrict the State to proof of the date in the answer. Webster v. State (1981), Ind., 426 N.E.2d 1295. However, the State need not respond to the alibi notice if it intends to prove the time or place alleged in the charging instrument. Gibbs v. State (1984), Ind.App., 471 N.E.2d 20; IND.CODE 35-36-4-2(a) In the event the State does not respond to the notice, only evidence consistent with the date and time set forth in the indictment or information *1322 may be introduced. Id.; IND.CODE 35-36-4-3(c). Moreover, the alibi statute requires that the State set forth the date of the offense charged only with such reasonable specificity as the circumstances of the case allow. Clifford v. State (1985), Ind., 474 N.E.2d 963; Thurston v. State (1985), Ind., 472 N.E.2d 198; Bruce v. State (1978), 268 Ind. 180, 375 N.E.2d 1042, cert. denied 439 U.S. 988, 99 S.Ct. 586, 58 L.Ed.2d 662.

In Bruce the defendant challenged the specificity of the time of the offense set forth in the State's response to his alibi notice, stating that the response should state the exact time as well as the exact date of the offense. Our supreme court responded:

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Bluebook (online)
529 N.E.2d 1317, 1988 Ind. App. LEXIS 807, 1988 WL 116561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcneely-v-state-indctapp-1988.