Ray v. State

333 N.E.2d 317, 165 Ind. App. 601, 1975 Ind. App. LEXIS 1292
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 4, 1975
Docket1-774A112
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 333 N.E.2d 317 (Ray 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
Ray v. State, 333 N.E.2d 317, 165 Ind. App. 601, 1975 Ind. App. LEXIS 1292 (Ind. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Lybrook, J.

Appellant Charles Jackson Ray appeals the denial of his Petition for Post-Conviction Relief. Ray was *603 convicted of manslaughter for the death of his wife after a jury trial, and received a sentence of not less than two (2) nor more than twenty-one (21) years. He appealed that conviction, and it was affirmed by this court in Ray v. State (1973), 155 Ind. App. 136, 291 N.E.2d 562.

Ray’s present appeal raises three issues:

(1) - Whether the defendant was denied a fair trial because the bailiff testified on behalf of the state.
(2) Whether certain omissions from the transcript denied the defendant adequate access to records upon which to base an appeal.
(3) Whether the defendant was represented by competent counsel.

After his unsuccessful appeal Ray filed a pro se petition for Post-Conviction Relief. At the hearing the gist of Ray’s testimony was that the transcript of the original trial was incomplete, that the bailiff in charge of the jury, the former sheriff, had testified at the trial for the State and that the attorney who defended him had not adequately represented him. Arthur Dillard, the trial prosecutor, and Farrell Fields, the bailiff, also testified at the PCR hearing, at the conclusion of which the court made findings of fact and conclusions of law denying defendant the relief sought.

I.

Ray’s first argument concerns the fact that the bailiff testified for the State at the original trial. He maintains that allowing a State’s witness to act as bailiff brings him in close contact with the jury in án official capacity and therefore denies a fair trial. In support of his contention Ray relies upon Turner v. State of Louisiana (1965), 379 U.S. 466, 85 S. Ct. 546, 13 L. Ed. 2d 424 and Wasy v. State (1956), 236 Ind. 215, 138 N.E.2d 1.

In Turner the United States Supreme Court reversed the defendant’s murder conviction because two hey witnesses, both deputy sheriffs, had custody of the jury which was sequestered throughout the trial. The deputies had been instrumental in *604 the arrest of the defendant, the recovery of certain physical evidence and one of them had played a part in inducing the defendant’s confession. The facts in the case at bar are readily distinguishable from Turner. In the record before us there is nothing to indicate that Fields was a key witness for the State. Apparently his name was on a list of witnesses furnished the defendant and it further appears that he did, in fact, testify at trial. However, at the PCR hearing Ray’s counsel failed to question Fields about his knowledge and involvement in the case or the nature of his testimony at trial. Fields had testified that he had not discussed the case with the jury.

Defendant also relies on Wasy v. State, supra, wherein the bailiff committed several prejudicial acts, including allowing prospective jurors to read an inflammatory newspaper article about the defendant. Wasy was reversed on other grounds, but concerning the misconduct of the bailiff, our Supreme Court said:

“. . . no formal objections by the appellant were made so far as the record shows to the conduct of the bailiff at the time it occurred, and in itself, standing alone without such objections followed by a failure of the court to take corrective action, would not be grounds for a new trial . . .”

As in Wasy, there was substantial evidence in the case at bar that defense counsel failed to object either to Field’s testimony or to his acting as bailiff at the time of trial. Further, there is absolutely no showing of prejudice to the defendant resulting from either the testimony or actions of the bailiff. While we feel that the practice of permitting a bailiff to appear in the dual roles of witness and bailiff should be abrogated, we agree with the conclusion of the trial judge that defendant herein was not denied a fair trial under the circumstances in this case.

*605 *604 Ray bore the burden of establishing his grounds for relief by a preponderance of the evidence. Ind, Rules of Procedure, *605 Post-Conviction Remedy Rule 1, SECTION 5. An unsuccessful petitioner stands in the position of one appealing from a negative judgment. Hoskins v. State (1973), 261 Ind. 291, 302 N.E.2d 499.

In Berry v. State (1975), 163 Ind. App. 17, 321 N.E.2d 571, our court recently held :

“An allegation of insufficient evidence does not present an appealable issue. Instead, a negative judgment may be attacked only as being contrary to law. Link v. Sun Oil Co. (1974), [160], Ind. App. [310], 312 N.E.2d 126; Engelbrecht v. Property Developers, Inc. (1973), [156] Ind. App. [354], 296 N.E.2d 798.
“When a judgment is attacked as being contrary to law the reviewing court may consider only that evidence which is most favorable to the judgment of the trial court, together with all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. Heminger v. Police Com’n of City of Fort Wayne (1974), [161] Ind. App. [72], 314 N.E.2d 827; Link v. Sun Oil Co., supra."

The conclusion of the trial court was supported by the evidence and was not contrary to law. Therefore, Ray’s attack under the first issue must fail.

II.

Defendant next contends that the transcript of the trial contained so many omissions that it was tantamount to no transcript at all. It is conceded that certain portions of the evidence are missing because of malfunction in the recording equipment made parts of the record inaudible.

Ray relies upon Hardy v. U.S. (1963), 375 U.S. 277, 84 S. Ct. 424, 11 L. Ed. 2d 331 as requiring dismissal of the case against him. Hardy involved a pauper defendant who was furnished a transcript of only that part of the evidence introduced by the government.

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Related

McDonald v. State
775 N.E.2d 1195 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002)
Ray v. State
466 N.E.2d 1389 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1984)
Bell v. State
407 N.E.2d 1206 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1980)
Stubbs v. State
352 N.E.2d 812 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1976)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
333 N.E.2d 317, 165 Ind. App. 601, 1975 Ind. App. LEXIS 1292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ray-v-state-indctapp-1975.