Parker v. State

424 N.E.2d 132, 1981 Ind. App. LEXIS 1552
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 30, 1981
Docket3-1080A328
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 424 N.E.2d 132 (Parker 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
Parker v. State, 424 N.E.2d 132, 1981 Ind. App. LEXIS 1552 (Ind. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinions

HOFFMAN, Presiding Judge.

Constantine (Connie) Parker was tried on a charge of murder and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The issues raised by Connie in this appeal are:

(1) whether the jury’s verdict was an improper compromise verdict;
(2) whether portions of the State’s cross-examination of Connie were improper; and
(3) whether the trial court erred in sentencing Connie to the maximum term of eight years plus a fine of $10,000.

The evidence reveals that Richard and Connie Parker were married in 1963. Richard and Connie worked together and eventually acquired five service stations. The Parkers were also involved in a gasoline brokerage agency. In 1978 Richard and Connie began having serious marital problems. They separated in July of 1979. Later, Richard and Connie mutually agreed to file for a divorce.

Early in the morning of November 19, 1979, Connie went to the offices of the Parker Oil Company and got a key to one of the service stations. Connie went to the station and set off the burglar alarm knowing that Richard would respond. Connie then went back to the main office to wait for Richard.

Richard and a friend, Mary Louise Parker, arrived at the office to turn off the alarm. Richard went into the building while Mary Louise waited in the car. Within seconds after Richard left the car, Mary Louise heard five gunshots. Four shots were in succession followed by a pause, then a fifth shot. Mary Louise looked toward the building and saw Connie standing inside the building. Mary Louise then drove away to notify the police.

Richard was found dead in the office. An autopsy revealed that he had been shot twice. One wound was to the third finger on his left hand.. The fatal wound resulted from a bullet entering the left side of his back which severed the aorta. No gunpowder residue was found at the entrance site of the bullet.

[134]*134Connie was tried for murder. The jury was also given an instruction on attempted murder along with instructions on lesser included offenses. After several hours of deliberation, the jury notified the judge that its members could not agree on a single verdict. The judge brought the jury back into the courtroom and gave it an “Allen” instruction.1 The jury later returned a verdict finding Connie guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Connie asserts that her conviction for involuntary manslaughter should be reversed because it is the result of a court induced compromise verdict. As support for this argument, Connie refers this Court to three alleged errors made by the trial court which served to encourage a compromise verdict. The errors claimed by Connie include: 1) giving of the “Allen” charge, 2) giving an attempted murder instruction, and 3) refusing a tendered instruction which set out guidelines for the jury to follow in analyzing the lesser included offenses.

It is well settled that a conviction for a lesser included offense cannot be considered a compromise verdict where the evidence is sufficient to support it. White v. State (1981), Ind., 417 N.E.2d 912; McCawley v. State (1980), Ind., 409 N.E.2d 594. “ ‘In considering whether a verdict is supported by sufficient evidence, we can consider only the evidence sustaining the verdict, and cannot give any credence to the evidence which contradicts this evidence.’ ” White v. State, supra, 417 N.E.2d at 913, citing Acton v. State (1930), 201 Ind. 686, 171 N.E. 197.

The evidence is uncontroverted that Connie fired the shots that killed Richard. Although Connie testified that the shots were fired during a struggle for the gun, the jury was not required to believe her testimony. Evidence that the defendant shot the victim is sufficient to support a conviction for battery. Colburn v. State (1978), Ind.App., 383 N.E.2d 378; Padgett v. State (1978), Ind.App., 380 N.E.2d 96. Intent to commit a battery may be determined from a consideration of the conduct and the natural and usual sequence to which such conduct logically and reasonably points. McIntosh v. State (1970), 254 Ind. 484, 260 N.E.2d 775. The evidence is sufficient to raise the inference that Connie fired the gun at Richard with the intent to injure him. Because Richard died as a result of the Battery, the evidence is sufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict on involuntary manslaughter.2 The verdict therefore cannot be considered a compromise verdict.

Connie next contends that the trial court erred in permitting the State, on cross-examination, to ask her whether she had had sexual relations with a Foster Harris. Connie contends that the question is irrelevant, improper for impeachment purposes and caused the jury to be unduly [135]*135prejudiced against her. Connie cites Hensley v. State (1971), 256 Ind. 258, 268 N.E.2d 90; Woods v. State (1954), 233 Ind. 320, 119 N.E.2d 558 and Otto v. State (1980), Ind. App., 398 N.E.2d 716 as authority for the proposition that improper evidence of prior misconduct is reversible error.

The State failed to introduce any evidence to show that Connie was in fact having sexual relations with Harris. It appears that the prosecutor was conducting a fishing expedition with the hope of bringing such evidence before the jury. The question, in this posture, is improper. The improper question does not, however, automatically mandate reversal. The prejudicial effect of the question was minimal inasmuch as Connie denied having sexual relations with Harris. The cases cited by Connie are distinguishable in at least two notable aspects. First, the evidence admitted in response to the improper questions established that incidents of past misconduct had actually occurred. The evidence in the present ease shows that no past misconduct had occurred. Secondly, in the cases cited, the past misconduct involved prior crimes. There is no suggestion of prior crimes in the present case. Any prejudice against Connie as a result of the improper question is insufficient to require a reversal.

Connie also contends that the State improperly used documents pertaining to the pending divorce proceeding during its cross-examination of her. Connie objected on the ground that the State failed to properly authenticate the documents. Connie also objected to the relevancy of the testimony regarding the second document.

The record indicates that the documents in question were used to refresh Connie’s recollection and were not in themselves submitted as evidence. The foundational requirements for using a written memorandum to refresh a witness’s recollection were established by the Indiana Supreme Court in Clark v. The State (1853), 4 Ind. 156, at 157:

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Parker v. State
424 N.E.2d 132 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
424 N.E.2d 132, 1981 Ind. App. LEXIS 1552, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parker-v-state-indctapp-1981.