Poling v. State

515 N.E.2d 1074, 1987 Ind. LEXIS 1146, 1987 WL 20695
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 2, 1987
Docket1084S377
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 515 N.E.2d 1074 (Poling 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
Poling v. State, 515 N.E.2d 1074, 1987 Ind. LEXIS 1146, 1987 WL 20695 (Ind. 1987).

Opinion

PIVARNIK, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Michael W. Poling was found guilty by a jury in the Daviess Circuit Court of murder while in the perpetration of rape, and was subsequently sentenced by the trial judge to a term of sixty (60) years.

Seven issues are raised for our consideration in this direct appeal:

1. error in allowing Poling's oral and written statements into evidence;
2. error in permitting accomplice Christopher Deckard to testify;
3. permitting four prosecutors to sit at the State's table during trial;
4. - alleged improper sequestration of the jury;
5. refusal to grant a mistrial due to actions of the Posey County Sheriff's deputies;
6. final instructions; and
7. sentencing.

The facts show that at about 7:00 p.m. on July 2, 1983, fifteen-year-old Cindy Lou Mason went to the carnival in Linton, Indiana. She was supposed to meet a friend there and return home by 11:00 p.m. When she was not home by 11:80, family members began looking for her without success. Her body was found the next evening at a partially built abandoned home in the country in Greene County, known locally as the stone house. Mason had been shot in the head three times, once about five minutes after she died. She had superficial wounds or cuts on her shoulders, which had been made while she was alive and standing. Her face and neck also showed cuts but those had been made after she died. Her pants, which had been cut and torn, were around her ankles. Her bra, which also was cut or torn, and her blouse, which was inside out, were near her head.

On that same evening, Appellant Poling and Christopher Deckard also went to the carnival at Linton. Both boys were seventeen years of age. Before he left home, Deckard put his step-father's .357 magnum Smith & Wesson handgun in the glovebox of the car. He also took along a bottle of whiskey, which the boys drank on their way to the carnival. When they arrived at the carnival they met Cindy Mason, the victim. The three of them later left the carnival and went to the abandoned country home where Mason was found the next *1077 day. Poling told the San Francisco, California police that Deckard and Mason first went into the house and came back after ten or fifteen minutes. He stated he and Mason then went into the house while Deckard remained in the car. He stated they were petting in the house and he requested Mason have intercourse with him but she refused and called him a "bastard." He said he had taken the pistol from the glove compartment of the car and he became so enraged at Mason's attitude that he pulled out the gun and shot her in the head "four or five times." He then came out and he and Deckard left the scene immediately.

At trial, Poling stated he did not go into the house with Mason. Rather, he stated Deckard had gone in. Poling said he heard shots and noise, and then Deckard came back and said they had to leave immediately. During Poling's trial, Deckard testified he went into the house with Mason for a short time and then came out. Deckard stated Poling then went into the house with Mason. Deckard heard shots and Poling came out, telling him they must leave immediately. The boys then went to Deck-ard's house and obtained Deckard's mother's automobile, about $286.00 in cash, and clean clothes, then headed for California. In Missouri they replaced the Indiana license plate on the car with a Missouri license plate. They put the Indiana plate underneath the front seat of the automobile. After spending about three weeks in California, they were arrested in a San Francisco parking lot.

I

Poling first asserts his original arrest was without probable cause and subsequent statements he made were therefore inadmissible as fruit of a poisonous tree. A police officer may make an initial or investigatory stop of a person or automobile under circumstances where probable cause for arrest is lacking when the facts known to the officer at the time of the stop are such as to warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe an investigation is appropriate. Terry v. Ohio (1968), 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 LEd.2d 889; Taylor v. State (1980), 273 Ind. 558, 561, 406 N.E.2d 247, 250. Even in a routine stop, based on safety concerns, an officer may, consistent with the Fourth Amendment, exercise discretion to require a driver who commits a traffic violation to exit the vehicle even though the officer lacks any particularized reason for believing the driver possesses a weapon. New York v. Class (1986), 475 U.S. 106, 106 S.Ct. 960, 89 L.Ed. 2d 81, citing Pennsylvania v. Mimms (1977), 434 U.S. 106, 98 S.Ct. 330, 54 L.Ed. 2d 331.

Consistent with Terry and its progeny, it was reasonable for the police to make a routine investigation of the cireumstane-es under which they observed Poling and Deckard in this area. San Francisco Police Sergeant Michael W. McNeil was on patrol with Recruit Officer Charles Lyons in the area of Polk and Bush Streets,. They testified this was an extremely high crime area in San Francisco, known for homosexual prostitutes, a great deal of trafficking, and drug abuse, particularly use of cocaine. They saw the two boys in a car in the parking lot. They noticed the automobile had a Missouri license plate and also observed that because of the ages of the boys they could be runaways. The officers could not tell if the boys were asleep or unconscious from drug use, and decided to investigate. They approached the vehicle and asked the boys to get out. When asked his identity, Poling first gave his true name and then changed it. Deckard said there was a knife under the front seat on the passenger side and began to reach for it. McNeil ordered Deckard out of the car and then, for his own protection, McNeil reached under the seat to retrieve the knife himself. He first found the car's original Indiana license plate and a holster for a handgun. He also found the knife. The police had probable cause to believe the vehicle was stolen and the boys had used it to run away from home. This was sufficient probable cause to take the boys into custody and the trial court properly denied the motion to suppress.

*1078 Poling next claims the statements were inadmissible because he was denied access to an attorney and he did not have an opportunity to have a meaningful consultation with his mother before making the statements, citing Lewis v. State (1972), 259 Ind. 431, 288 N.E.2d 138, 142, and Chandler v. State (1981), 275 Ind. 624, 419 N.E.2d 142. The requirements for juvenile admissions are codified in - Ind.Code § 31-6-7-3. These requirements are adjuncts to the requirements of the Miranda case which sets forth procedural safeguards which must be met prior to custodial interrogations by police.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
515 N.E.2d 1074, 1987 Ind. LEXIS 1146, 1987 WL 20695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/poling-v-state-ind-1987.