McPhearson v. State

219 N.E.2d 907, 247 Ind. 579, 1966 Ind. LEXIS 405
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 29, 1966
Docket30,383
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 219 N.E.2d 907 (McPhearson 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
McPhearson v. State, 219 N.E.2d 907, 247 Ind. 579, 1966 Ind. LEXIS 405 (Ind. 1966).

Opinion

JACKSON, J.

Appellant was, on October 5, 1961, charged by affidavit with the crime of robbery and commission of a felony while armed with a deadly weapon.

*580 Thereafter, on March 2, 1962, he was charged by amended affidavit in four counts as follows: Count I charged appellant with the crime of robbery by taking the sum of $2,500.00 from one William Russell after putting him in fear. Count II charged appellant with taking property of the Ten High Brooks Bar in the sum of $2,500.00 while armed with a deadly weapon. Count III charged appellant had been previously convicted of a felony, to-wit: vehicle taking in the Circuit Court of Vermillion County, Indiana, and also convicted of a felony, to-wit: vehicle taking in the Circuit Court of Tipton County, Indiana. Count IV alleged the same prior felony convictions.

Appellant was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. The issue of fact was whether appellant was the person who committed the alleged robbery by putting William Russell in fear, whether he was the person who took the goods from the Ten High Brooks Bar while armed with a deadly weapon and whether the appellant was the same person who had been convicted of a felony in the Vermillion Circuit Court and the Tipton Circuit Court.

Appellant filed Notice of Alibi on July 31, 1962, and on September 12, 1962, the State filed its answer to appellant’s Notice of Alibi.

Trial was had by jury resulting in finding and verdict on Count II of the amended affidavit as follows:

“We, the Jury, find the defendant Earl Franklin Mc-Phearson, guilty of Commission of A Felony While Armed with Deadly Weapon as charged in Count Two of the Amended Affidavit and that he be imprisoned for the term of Ten (10) years, and we further find the defendant’s age is 37 years.”

The verdict as to Count IV of the amended affidavit was as follows:

“We, the Jury, find the defendant, Earl Franklin Mc-Phearson has on two or more separate and previous oc-cassions (sic) has been convicted, sentenced and imprisoned in a penal institution for felonies as described and charged in Count Four (4) of the Amended Affidavit.”

*581 Upon the verdict of the jury, the court entered judgment against the appellant under Count II of the amended affidavit and sentenced him to the Indiana State Prison for a determinate period of Ten (10) years. The court further sentenced appellant to the Indiana State Prison for life on Count IV of the amended affidavit.

Thereafter, appellant within time, filed his motion for a New Trial, which motion was overruled on December 20, 1962.

Appellant’s Motion for New Trial contained eleven (11) grounds, the first of which contained fifty-six parts and the remaining ten each contained one or more. In view of the length of the motion for new trial only those grounds specifically argued and relied on will be discussed later on in this opinion.

The appellant’s Assignment of Errors contained the single specification: “1. The Court erred in overruling appellant’s motion for new trial.”

Appellant has not here questioned the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the jury’s verdict as to either count of the amended affidavit, hence in the interest of brevity no resume of the evidence is included herein.

The grounds of the motion for new trial argued in the brief and relied on by appellant are as follows:

Ground No. 1, part “b” reading as follows:

“Error of law occurring at the trial in this that the Court erred in overruling defendant’s motion to withdraw submission of this cause, and to discharge the Jury and to declare a mistrial on account of the highly prejudicial remark of the witness William Arthur Yohe. The inflammatory answer, the motion thereon, and the reading of the Court are as follows: . . . .”

Ground No. 1, part “c” reading as follows:

“Error of law occurring at the trial in this that the Court erred in overruling defendant’s motion to withdraw the submission of this cause and to discharge the Jury, and to declare a mistrial in account of the highly prejudicial question propounded by the Deputy Prosecutor, John Tran- *582 berg in the question propounded to James M. Stevens on re-direct examination, a witness for the State, the question, the motion thereon, and the ruling of the Court are as follows: . . .

Ground No. 1, part “n” reading as follows:

“Error of law occurring at the trial in this that the Court erred in refusing to give the defendants (sic) preliminary instructions Number One, as tendered.”

Ground No. 1, part “u” reading as follows:

“Error of law occurring at the trial in this that the Court erred in refusing to give the tendered defendant (sic) final Instruction Number Seven, the subject thereof not being properly given by other instructions.”

Ground No. 1, part “ww” reading as follows:

“Error of law occurring at the trial because the Jury was guilty of misconduct tending to prevent a fair and due consideration of the case in that the Jury was denied to the defendant herein, the protection of the presumption of innocence and denied and ignored the burden of the State of Indiana, to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and unlawfully placed upon the defendant the burden of proving his innocence as shown by the affidavits attached hereto, and made a part of this Motion hereof, and designated defendant’s Exhibit ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C,’ showing that the verdict of the jury was not the verdict of the twelve (12) jurors who had been sworn into to try said cause, and who had been sent to the jury room to deliberate herein; further the action of the jury conclusively shows that after more than four and half (4%) hours of deliberation, eleven of said jury voted for conviction and one (1) on said jury voted for acquittal and steadfastly held out for acquittal, and when said juror Number Nine, Anna Taylor, was removed from said jury and alternate juror Number Thirteen, Joseph McDaniel, was placed in said jury as an alternate juror to replace said juror Number Nine, only thirty to thirty-five minutes was necessary for said eleven (11) jurors to deliberate with said new juror Number Thirteen, Joseph McDaniel, and thus the defendant was denied a fair and due consideration of his case in that the said eleven (11) jurors failed to change the vote and conviction of said juror Number Nine, Anna Taylor, in more than four and half (4*/2) hours, yet said eleven (11) jurors did sway and convince and conclusively mould the opinion and verdict of juror Number Thirteen, Joseph McDaniel, so that after thirty or thirty-five minutes of de *583 liberation, he joined with the opinions of the said eleven (11) jurors and returned with them a verdict of guilty in the said cause, thereby denying the defendant a fair, impartial and due consideration of his cause, all as shown by said Exhibits of defendant ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C.’ ”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
219 N.E.2d 907, 247 Ind. 579, 1966 Ind. LEXIS 405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcphearson-v-state-ind-1966.