Mykel Smith v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 8, 2018
Docket18A-CR-637
StatusPublished

This text of Mykel Smith v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Mykel Smith v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) 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
Mykel Smith v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION FILED Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be Nov 08 2018, 6:55 am

regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK Indiana Supreme Court court except for the purpose of establishing Court of Appeals and Tax Court the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Victoria L. Bailey Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Michael R. Fisher Attorney General of Indiana Marion County Public Defender Agency Indianapolis, Indiana Laura R. Anderson Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Mykel Smith, November 8, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 18A-CR-637 v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Marc T. Appellee-Plaintiff. Rothenberg, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49G02-1510-F2-37383

Barteau, Senior Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-637 | November 8, 2018 Page 1 of 18 Statement of the Case [1] After a jury trial, Mykel Smith appeals his convictions of one count of burglary, 1 2 a Level 2 felony, one count of resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and 3 one count of carrying a handgun without a license, a Class A Misdemeanor,

contending there is insufficient evidence to support each of his convictions. We

affirm.

Issues [2] Smith presents the following issues for our review:

I. Should Smith’s burglary conviction be reversed because a material variance existed between the crime alleged in the charging information and the evidence adduced at trial and no handgun was found by law enforcement?

II. Should Smith’s conviction of resisting law enforcement be reversed because he was a passenger in the vehicle fleeing from law enforcement?

III. Should Smith’s conviction of carrying a handgun without a license be reversed because no handgun was found on his person, in the car, or along the route between the

1 Ind. Code § 35-43-2-1(3)(A) (2014). 2 Ind. Code § 35-44.1-3-1(b)(1)(A) (2014). 3 Ind. Code § 35-47-2-1 (2014).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-637 | November 8, 2018 Page 2 of 18 victim’s house and the location where he was apprehended?

Facts and Procedural History [3] On October 17, 2015, Joshua Helton left his home around 11:00 a.m. to fix a

flat tire on his truck and then go to work. While he was gone, Helton’s

neighbors, Melinda Nash, and her daughter, Kahlel Nash, saw a blue Buick

drive past Helton’s house, reverse back to Helton’s house and back into his

driveway. A female, later identified as Lovey Shaw, exited the driver’s side of

the Buick, approached Helton’s house and knocked on the front door for

several minutes. Shaw then approached a side door of the house near the

driveway and knocked several times. Shaw returned to the front of the house

and peered in a window on the side of the house near the driveway. She

returned to the car and spoke with Smith, who was seated in the passenger seat.

He pulled a hoodie over his head. Kahlel called the police to report the

suspicious activity because they had never seen those people at Helton’s house

before and the Nashes knew the only person who visited Helton was his

mother.

[4] Shaw climbed into the back seat of the car and retrieved what appeared to be a

crowbar. Shaw and Smith then proceeded to the rear of Helton’s house. Next,

Shaw exited the house carrying a laptop that she placed in the back seat of the

car. She then re-entered the house. After exiting the house again, she placed

additional items in her car.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-637 | November 8, 2018 Page 3 of 18 [5] Meanwhile, Helton had finished fixing the flat tire on his truck and began

driving to work. His route to work took him past his house and on that day he

observed the blue Buick in his driveway. After Helton exited his truck,

neighbors shouted that a male and a female were breaking into his house.

Helton first approached Shaw, who had jumped back into the driver’s seat of

the car as Helton arrived home. He knocked on the car window and asked her

what she was doing, but she did not respond. Instead, she sped out of the

driveway, honked the car horn, and headed down the street.

[6] After Shaw left, Helton proceeded toward his house. Neighbors continued to

yell, warning Helton that Smith remained inside the house. When Helton got

to the back of his house, he saw that the back door, which he had previously

closed and locked, was open. He entered his house and saw Smith standing

there with items in his hands, including Helton’s PlayStation. After Helton

asked Smith what he was doing in the house, Smith dropped the items that

were in his hands and reached for a small black handgun that was in his

waistband.

[7] When Smith raised the gun and pointed it in Helton’s general direction, Helton

turned and ran out of the back of the house. Smith yelled for Helton to return.

Instead, Helton continued to run behind a tree, then behind a garage, and then

jumped a fence to get into the neighbor’s yard.

[8] Melinda was standing in the middle of the street trying to locate Helton, who

had been out of sight for around five to ten minutes. Another neighbor, Dave

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-637 | November 8, 2018 Page 4 of 18 Palmer, had joined her. They observed Smith running out of the house and

carrying several items in his hands. He dropped some of the items as he ran

away from the house, but his hoodie remained full of other items.

[9] As Smith was running, he extended his arm behind him and started shooting.

At certain times he would stop running so he could shoot. Palmer, who had his

gun with him, fired a shot at the ground attempting to scare Smith so he would

stop shooting.

[10] Helton heard the gunshots and ran to the front of the house as he tried to call

911. Four police vehicles were already coming down the street in response to

the report of a burglary in progress with shots being fired. Because it was an

emergency run, officers were using their lights and sirens on their vehicles.

[11] One of the responding officers, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Paul

Humphrey, observed the blue Buick with Smith seated on the passenger side

wearing his hoodie up. The officer attempted to stop the Buick and observed

items being thrown out of the vehicle from the passenger side. Because the

vehicle did not stop, Officer Humphrey and several other officers continued to

pursue the vehicle down numerous streets.

[12] A pursuit intervention technique, or PIT, vehicle was called to assist in the

pursuit because the chase was nearing streets with more vehicle congestion.

The PIT vehicle executed a maneuver causing the Buick to spin, swerve back

and forth, go off the road through two different yards, and strike a vehicle

waiting to turn while in an intersection. The Buick was not immobilized, and

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-637 | November 8, 2018 Page 5 of 18 Shaw and Smith continued to flee. After a second PIT maneuver was executed,

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