Quintin Mayweather-Brown v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 19, 2016
Docket20A03-1601-CR-206
StatusPublished

This text of Quintin Mayweather-Brown v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Quintin Mayweather-Brown 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
Quintin Mayweather-Brown v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be Aug 19 2016, 8:08 am

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

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Amy D. Griner Gregory F. Zoeller Mishawaka, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

Jodi Kathryn Stein Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Quintin Mayweather-Brown, August 19, 2016 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 20A03-1601-CR-206 v. Appeal from the Elkhart Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Stephen R. Appellee-Plaintiff Bowers, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 20D02-1506-FB-17

Crone, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A03-1601-CR-206 | August 19, 2016 Page 1 of 17 Case Summary [1] Quintin Mayweather-Brown (“Brown”) appeals his conviction for class B

felony burglary following a jury trial. On appeal, he makes numerous claims,

including that the trial court abused its discretion in rejecting his notice of alibi

and thereby excluding alibi witnesses from testifying at trial. He also asserts

that the trial court abused its discretion during jury selection and in admitting

certain evidence, that the prosecutor committed misconduct during rebuttal

closing argument, and that the State presented insufficient evidence to sustain

his conviction. We find that Brown has waived his challenge to the trial court’s

decision to reject his notice of alibi. Further, we find neither an abuse of

discretion nor prosecutorial misconduct, and we conclude that the evidence was

sufficient. Therefore, we affirm Brown’s conviction.

Facts and Procedural History [2] On November 12, 2013, Craig Johnson discovered that someone had broken

into his apartment in Elkhart and stolen several items, including change from a

coin jar, a Playstation console and controller, two sports hats, two sports

jerseys, shoes and jeans, a thick silver necklace, a watch, a laptop computer, a

military-issued backpack, a cell phone, and a pendant that contained his

deceased brother’s ashes. One of the sports hats and one of the sports jerseys

were special ordered by Johnson and had unusual, distinctive, and recognizable

characteristics.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A03-1601-CR-206 | August 19, 2016 Page 2 of 17 [3] When investigating the break-in, police found that a front window screen of the

apartment had been cut and the window was unlocked. They also found that

the handle of the back door in the kitchen was locked, but the deadbolt was not

locked. A fingerprint later identified as Brown’s was found on the empty coin

jar in Johnson’s apartment. The coin jar had been moved during the

commission of the crime from Johnson’s bedroom to the living room. After

police informed Johnson of the fingerprint identification and Brown’s name,

Johnson researched Brown on Facebook. Johnson did not know Brown. He

saw photographs of Brown wearing what he believed to be his special ordered

L.A. Lakers hat, Oakland Raiders football jersey, and thick silver necklace.

The photographs were taken approximately two months after the items were

stolen.

[4] The State charged Brown with class B felony burglary. An initial hearing was

held on June 25, 2015, and Brown indicated that he wished to proceed pro se

with the appointment of standby counsel. The trial court set an omnibus date

and pretrial conference hearing for August 24, 2015. On September 3, 2015,

Brown provided notice of alibi, which the trial court rejected as untimely.

Brown filed a motion to reconsider, which the trial court denied. 1 A jury trial

1 Although Brown states that he filed his notice on September 3, 2015, the chronological case summary contains no entry regarding the filing of a notice of alibi by Brown. However, in denying Brown’s motion to reconsider, the trial court referenced the filing of the notice.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A03-1601-CR-206 | August 19, 2016 Page 3 of 17 began on December 15, 2015. The jury found Brown guilty as charged. This

appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

Section 1 – Brown has waived his assertion that the trial court abused its discretion in excluding alibi witnesses. [5] Brown first claims that the trial court abused its discretion in rejecting his notice

of alibi as untimely and thereby excluding alibi witnesses from testifying at trial.

However, we agree with the State that Brown has waived our review of the trial

court’s ruling. Brown failed to include a copy of his notice of alibi in the record

on appeal, and therefore we have no way of assessing whether the notice

complied with statutory requirements. See Ind. Code § 35-36-4-1. 2 It is the

appellant’s duty to present an adequate record clearly showing the alleged error,

and failure to do so results in waiver of the issue on appeal. Brattain v. State,

777 N.E.2d 774, 776 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002). Moreover, it does not appear that

Brown ever made an offer of proof to the trial court regarding the identity of the

2 Whenever a defendant in a criminal case intends to offer in his defense evidence of alibi, the defendant shall, no later than: (1) twenty (20) days prior to the omnibus date if the defendant is charged with a felony; or (2) ten (10) days prior to the omnibus date if the defendant is charged only with one (1) or more misdemeanors; file with the court and serve upon the prosecuting attorney a written statement of his intention to offer such a defense. The notice must include specific information concerning the exact place where the defendant claims to have been on the date stated in the indictment or information.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A03-1601-CR-206 | August 19, 2016 Page 4 of 17 alleged alibi witnesses or the nature of their testimony. “An offer of proof is the

method by which the proponent of evidence preserves any error in its

exclusion.” Tyson v. State, 619 N.E.2d 276, 281 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993), trans.

denied, cert. denied (1994). The offer of proof must demonstrate the substance,

purpose, relevancy, and materiality of the excluded evidence in order to enable

the appellate court to determine on appeal whether the exclusion was proper.

Id. Failure to make an offer of proof about the nature of the testimony of alibi

witnesses results in waiver of the issue on appeal. Herrera v. State, 679 N.E.2d

1322, 1325 (Ind. 1997). We conclude that Brown has waived our review of this

issue.

Section 2 – The trial court did not abuse its discretion during jury selection. [6] Brown next contends that the trial court abused its discretion during jury

selection. Specifically, he argues that he was denied his right to an impartial

jury in violation of Article 1, Section 13 of the Indiana Constitution because the

trial court denied his challenge for cause as to prospective juror Whitaker and

then subsequently denied his motion to dismiss the entire jury panel. 3 We will

address each assertion in turn.

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