Petty v. State

532 N.E.2d 610, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 11, 1989 WL 1594
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 11, 1989
Docket10S00-8611-CR-944
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 532 N.E.2d 610 (Petty 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
Petty v. State, 532 N.E.2d 610, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 11, 1989 WL 1594 (Ind. 1989).

Opinion

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

Appellant Billy Joe Petty was tried before a jury and convicted of burglary, a class B felony, Ind.Code § 85-43-2-1 (Burns 1985 Repl.). The judge sentenced Petty to twenty years, consecutive to any sentence Petty was serving in Kentucky.

*611 On November 11, 1984, Petty and an accomplice burglarized the house of Jeffrey and Regina Hurst. While the Hursts were away, Petty and his accomplice kicked open the back door. The Hursts returned during the burglary and discovered Petty's automobile parked in their driveway. Police later found items belonging to the Hursts in Petty's automobile trunk, and Petty's shoe prints were found on the back door of the Hurst home. Petty confessed to committing the burglary.

Petty raises five issues in this direct appeal:

I. Whether the trial court erred in failing to suppress Petty's admissions which were not reduced to writing and not provided to him prior to trial;
II. Whether the trial court erred in failing to give lesser included instructions on theft and conversion;
III. Whether the trial court erred in failing to waive costs assessed to Petty, who had been found to be an indigent;
IV. Whether the trial court erred in denying Petty's motion to dismiss because of an alleged plea bargain agreement that was fulfilled by Petty; or, alternatively, failing to enforce such an agreement at sentencing;
V. Whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury on criminal penalties that inaccurately stated the law as it applied to Petty.

As to the first four issues, we conclude that the trial court acted properly. Although the court erred on the fifth issue, the error was harmless and we therefore affirm.

I. Admissibility of Unrecorded Statements

Petty asserts that the trial court should have suppressed his statements to police about his part in the burglary because they were neither recorded nor provided to defense counsel pursuant to the court's discovery order.

Petty waived this issue by failing to assert these specific grounds in his objection at trial. Strickland v. State (1977), 265 Ind. 664, 359 N.E.2d 244. At trial, Petty's attorney objected to admission on grounds that the statements were not given voluntarily and intelligently.

Moreover, evidence at the suppression hearing revealed that Petty requested that the police not record the statements. Parties may not complain of an error that they invite. Lacy v. State (1982), Ind., 488 N.E.2d 968. Petty cannot complain about police failure to turn over a statement which the police did not record. Appellant had the opportunity to depose or interview the police officers who testified about his statement at trial.

II. Instructions on Lesser Included Offenses

Petty asserts that the trial court erred by not giving jury instructions on theft and conversion as lesser included crimes.

'The decision to instruct a jury on lesser included crimes is within the discretion of the trial court. A trial court commits reversible error in deciding upon jury instructions only when it abuses that discretion. Tanner v. State (1984), Ind., 471 N.E.2d 665.

The trial court is required to instruct on a lesser included offense only if both parts of a two-step test are met. The first step may be satisfied in either of two ways. An offense may be included if all the statutory elements of the lesser offense are inherently part of the statutory definition of the greater offense. In the alternative, an offense may be included if the charging instrument reveals that the manner and means used to commit the essential elements of the charged crime include all the elements of the lesser crime. Jones v. State (1986), Ind., 491 N.E.2d 980. As for this first step, the State concedes that theft and conversion are included offenses in this case because of the charging instrument. It contains language and allegations facially tracking the statutory definitions of theft and conversion.

The second step of the analysis requires that the evidence at trial justify giving the instruction. The evidence presented must establish all the elements *612 of the lesser included offenses and reveal a serious dispute on the element(s) which distinguish the charged offense from the lesser included offense. If the evidence supporting the charged offense is compelling and without serious conflict, then the trial court is justified in refusing the lesser included instruction. Lawrence v. State (1978), 268 Ind. 330, 375 N.E.2d 208.

The elements that distinguish burglary from theft and conversion are breaking and entering. Petty argues that the evidence on these elements is highly speculative. He asserts that there is no eyewitness testimony placing him inside the house and that the only evidence of his breaking and entering came from a police officer who based his testimony on drawings of a shoe print found on the Hurst door. He suggests a jury could easily believe that Petty and his accomplice swapped shoes because there was a substantial time lapse between when the burglary occurred and when the police stopped Petty's automobile. Petty asserts his own confession indicates intent to perform only conversion.

Appellant's argument at best casts doubt on the weight of the evidence, but fails altogether because it overlooks his own confession. The testimony by police officials about appellant's confession directly states appellant's intent to break and enter the Hurst dwelling.

Because there was not a serious eviden-tiary dispute on the elements which distinguish the charged offense from the lesser included offenses, the trial court was within its discretion in refusing to instruct on theft and conversion.

III. Assessing Court Costs to an Indigent

Appellant asserts that the trial court erred by assessing costs against him after he had been found indigent. In the sentencing order, the trial judge stated: "I don't believe by statute that I can waive the cost, but I most certainly will not enforce that part of the order. We will note that he is indigent." ‘

This Court recently held that when fines or costs are imposed upon an indigent, the trial court must expressly state that the defendant shall not be imprisoned for failing to pay the fine. Whitehead v. State (1987), Ind., 511 N.E.2d 284, cert. denied, - U.S, -, 108 S.Ct. 761, 98 L.Ed.2d 778 (1988). Judge Barthold was correct in stating that she may not suspend or waive the costs, but that she will not and may not enforce the order of costs against an indigent.

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Bluebook (online)
532 N.E.2d 610, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 11, 1989 WL 1594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petty-v-state-ind-1989.