Parks v. State

921 N.E.2d 826, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 238, 2010 WL 565259
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 18, 2010
Docket70A01-0907-CR-355
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 921 N.E.2d 826 (Parks 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
Parks v. State, 921 N.E.2d 826, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 238, 2010 WL 565259 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Keith Parks appeals his convictions of Class B felony burglary 1 and Class D felony theft, 2 along with an habitual offender enhancement. 3 Parks argues the trial court erred by replaying a witness's testimony for the jury during deliberations and there was insufficient evidence to support the habitual offender enhancement. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 31, 2008, Kelly Richardson arrived home and noticed a ear parked near her front porch. When she went inside the house, she found two men attempting to dismantle her computer. Kelly knew one of the men was Parks, because she had been friends with Parks when they were teenagers, and they had remained on friendly terms throughout the years.

Parks, who had something under his shirt, ran out the back door of the house. Kelly went out the front door to the porch, and she saw Parks get in the car parked nearby. Kelly called Parks by name, and he "bowed his head and said it's not me." (Tr. at 281.) The other man ran out the door from the laundry room. He had something underneath his shirt, and he got into the car with Parks. Parks backed out of the driveway and drove away.

Kelly called 911, and then called her husband, Tim. Kelly and Tim inventoried their home and determined they were missing a PlayStation 3, the PlayStation remotes, a Guitar Hero game, and a digital camera.

*829 Kelly knew Parks' father, Terry, had a store in New Castle. The day after the burglary, Tim went to Terry's store and gave Terry his cell phone number. About half an hour later, Tim received a call from a man who identified himself as "Keith" and said "my dad said I should call you ['leause you said I robbed your house yesterday." (Id. at 272.) Parks said he had not been at the Richardsons' house and claimed he had been at home watching his children all day. However, Parks said, "I can see what I can do about getting your stuff back." (Id. at 273.)

Parks was charged with Class B felony burglary and Class D felony theft, The State later amended the information to include an habitual offender count.

Thereafter, Parks called Tim and said he would replace the missing items if the Richardsons would drop the charges. He offered to buy new items and told Tim he could come to the store and pick them up. Tim called the police and told them about the call. Tim then called Parks back and said "the officer said for you to just bring the stuff and ... come on down to the jail." (Id. at 274.) Parks said "that's not what he wants to do right now," but he said he would turn himself in later. (Id.)

At trial, Tim also testified Parks' father Terry offered to resolve the matter by giving him and Kelly their things back, plus $2,000. Parks objected to Tim's testimony about the content of the conversation, and the court sustained the objection. Parks did not ask for the testimony to be stricken from the record or for the jury to be admonished.

Parks presented testimony from his wife and his wife's boss in an attempt to establish he was with his wife at the time of the offense. After Parks rested, the jury submitted questions pertaining primarily to Parks' alibi defense. After consulting with the attorneys, the court informed the jury that the witnesses had left the stand, and they were therefore unable to answer the questions.

The jury was sent to deliberate on the burglary and theft charges at 5:12 p.m. About two hours later, the jury was brought into the courtroom, and the following conversation occurred:

Court: ... [Djo you think the jury is close to reaching a verdict? I'm sorry I need that verbally for the record.
Foreperson: No I'm afraid we're not.
Court: Okay is there, uh, anything that, that either the Court or the, uh, counsel can do which would assist you and the jury in your deliberations?
Foreperson: I think if we had a couple questions answered it's very possible.
Court: Okay ... what I would like to do then is, um, for you to return to the jury room and, and put those questions in, in writing.

(Id. at 384.)

About ten minutes later, the jury sent out two questions: whether Parks had been interviewed and why some of the State's witnesses had not testified. The parties and the court agreed the questions could not be answered. The jury was brought into the courtroom and was informed the questions could not be answered. The foreperson then indicated the jury wanted a transcript of Tim's testimony. The court told the jury to return to the jury room and continue discussing what other assistance might be rendered while the court and the parties discussed the possibility of replaying Tim's testimony. After the jury had returned to the jury room, Parks objected to replaying Tim's testimony, arguing it would draw too much attention to a single witness's testimony.

*830 The court made no ruling at that time, but around 9:00 p.m., the court went on record and told the parties:

[The bailiff has indicated, uh, that ... the jury has, um been working on their issues and deliberating, continuing to deliberate, but are now at the point that they do want to know whether they are going to get to hear the, uh, the testimony. Um, so that they are still having difficulty with that testimony. ...

(Id. at 393.) The court stated the jury was at an impasse and indicated it would allow Tim's testimony to be replayed to the jury. Parks again objected "based on the jury's previous questions and things that have occurred." (Id. at 397.)

The court replayed Tim's testimony for the jury, but the parts to which Parks had objected were redacted. The court then asked if further assistance was needed, but the foreperson indicated rehearing the testimony had "cleared up a couple items ... [tlhat we were talking about." (Id. at 405.) About twenty minutes later, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on both the burglary and theft counts.

At the habitual offender phase of the trial, the State admitted several documents into evidence and then rested. Parks moved for a directed verdict, which was denied, and then he rested without presenting evidence. The jury returned a verdict that indicated it had found Parks had committed all the alleged predicate felonies and that he was an habitual offender.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Parks asserts the trial court erred by replaying Tim's testimony, and there was insufficient evidence to support the habitual offender enhancement.

1. Replaying Testimony

Under our Jury Rules, which went into effect in 2003, trial courts "have greater leeway to "facilitate and assist jurors in the deliberative process, in order to avoid mistrials'" Ronco v. State, 862 N.E.2d 257, 259 (Ind.2007) (quoting Tincher v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
921 N.E.2d 826, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 238, 2010 WL 565259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parks-v-state-indctapp-2010.