Sabrina L. Dunn v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 10, 2024
Docket24S-CR-00123
StatusPublished

This text of Sabrina L. Dunn v. State of Indiana (Sabrina L. Dunn v. State of Indiana) 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
Sabrina L. Dunn v. State of Indiana, (Ind. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE

Indiana Supreme Court Supreme Court Case No. 24S-CR-123 FILED Sabrina L. Dunn, Apr 10 2024, 1:38 pm

Appellant (Defendant below) CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court

–v–

State of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below)

Argued: February 15, 2024 | Decided: April 10, 2024

Appeal from the Orange Circuit Court No. 59C01-2010-MR-720 The Honorable Steven L. Owen, Judge

On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals No. 22A-CR-2416

Opinion by Justice Goff Chief Justice Rush and Justices Massa, Slaughter, and Molter concur. Goff, Justice.

The trial court in this murder case instructed the jury that the State bore the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Sabrina Dunn did not act in self-defense “and/or” in defense of her dwelling. The same “and/or” construction appeared elsewhere in the instructions and the State echoed it in closing argument. We conclude that, on the facts of this case, the risk of jury confusion about the burden of proof rose to the level of fundamental error. Accordingly, we vacate the conviction and remand the case to the trial court.

Facts and Procedural History Sabrina Dunn married William “Bill” Dunn in 2005. In 2018, Bill began using methamphetamine and became erratic and abusive. Sabrina moved into a separate guesthouse on the couple’s land in Paoli, Indiana, just forty or fifty yards from the main house, where Bill stayed. 1 Bill would bang on Sabrina’s windows, tamper with the locks, break in, mess with her car, and threaten that she would “end up in a body bag” or find herself breathing “through a straw.” Tr. Vol. V, p. 64. Bill beat Sabrina. He made her have sex with him to see their daughter (of whom he had custody) and sent her an intimate video of herself. In 2019, Sabrina obtained a protective order after Bill said he would kill her if she took their daughter. The order deemed Bill a “credible threat” to Sabrina or another member of her household and required him to “stay away” from her home. Ex. Vol. I, p. 141.

For about a year and a half leading up to Bill’s death in October 2020, he and Sabrina collectively made over one hundred calls to 911. Sabrina repeatedly reported that Bill was violating the protective order. In June 2019, Bill was arrested and charged with invasion of privacy. 2 He then told Sabrina he would go to jail if she didn’t have the protective order

1 The Dunns’ first names are used for clarity where necessary. 2 See Ind. Code § 35-46-1-15.1(a)(1) (2018).

Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 24S-CR-123 | April 10, 2024 Page 2 of 14 dismissed. Sabrina complied, but soon obtained another protective order (the record does not tell us on what basis). Bill’s criminal case was eventually resolved by pre-trial diversion.

For a time, Sabrina lived in a trailer in French Lick, but she was ordered out because of repeated visits by police when Bill showed up to harass her. She also lived in an apartment for a while until its owner rented it out to someone else. With nowhere else to go, she moved back to the guesthouse on the property she shared with Bill. Sabrina and Bill divorced in August 2019, but the two of them continued living in the neighboring houses.

Bill’s problematic behavior escalated in May 2020. The 911 calls and police visits became even more frequent. Subject to hallucinations, Bill would report that people were attacking Sabrina and plotting to kill him, and that a hostage was being held in somebody’s garage. Given Bill’s paranoia and mental instability, police took him to the hospital on several occasions. They twice took guns from him and retained them under court orders deeming Bill to be “dangerous.” 3 Ex. Vol. II, pp. 72, 81. And while they would log Bill’s unlawful contacts with Sabrina, they never arrested him again.

In September 2020, Sabrina remarked on Facebook that, if Bill tried to run her off, he should “[b]ring it on” and would need to “survive a shot gun.” Id. at 45. By October 2020, Sabrina, out of fear of Bill, had secured her house like “Fort Knox” with deadbolts on the inside of the door and the windows screwed shut. Tr. Vol. IV, p. 5. She wanted to move out to get away from Bill. Just two weeks before Bill’s death, Sabrina finally obtained, as a result of the divorce, a deed to the guesthouse, which Bill had kept from her until after she filed to hold him in contempt of court. Sabrina recorded the deed in the hope of securing title and selling the house so she could move.

3 See I.C. § 35-47-14-6(c) (2020).

Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 24S-CR-123 | April 10, 2024 Page 3 of 14 During the night of October 20–21, Bill was agitated at seeing Sabrina having sex with her boyfriend, David Wilson. Early in the morning, Sabrina was sleeping on her porch when Bill woke her up and said he wanted to get back together. They went for a drive but, according to Sabrina, Bill became agitated and threatened to kill her and Wilson. Sabrina and Bill came back home. Wilson left for work, not believing Sabrina to be in any danger as she hurried him out of the house. Sabrina then texted Wilson, criticizing him for not calling 911, although at trial Wilson denied Sabrina had asked him to do so. Sabrina asked Wilson where his gun was and fetched it.

Meanwhile, Bill set about searching the property for some lost car keys, which he suspected Sabrina had taken. Video footage from his home- security system shows him cursing and muttering threats about kicking Sabrina’s door down and cutting Sabrina and Wilson in half. He apparently believed they had stolen his keys in a plot to provoke him and thus land him in jail. Eventually, he knocked on Sabrina’s door and asked for his keys, but Sabrina did not open the door. He later knocked again, and he and Sabrina talked for a while. Sabrina said she didn’t “want to be tortured [any] more” by the way he would alternately “push” and “pull” her. Ex. 71, Video 062647-1, 06:27:48–06:28:05. The conversation ended after Sabrina told Bill he wasn’t supposed to be there and begged him to “leave [her] alone and let [her] go.” Id. at 06:29:15–06:29:40.

An hour later, Bill returned to Sabrina’s door for the last time. After knocking, he opened the door and entered the unlit house using a flashlight. Seconds after Bill went in, the videotape recorded the sounds of Sabrina racking the gun and firing seven shots. Bill wailed and Sabrina fired three more times. Bill was hit in one arm and in his torso, both front and back, fatally wounding him. Sabrina testified that Bill had picked up a “great big knife” she kept in the house and that she feared he was going to kill her. Tr. Vol. V, p. 90. She called 911 and admitted shooting Bill. Police and EMS responded but Bill was pronounced dead at the scene. Police recovered from Bill’s person two knives, a lockpicking kit, and suspected methamphetamine. They found a third knife under his body. His autopsy showed moderate methamphetamine toxicity.

Indiana Supreme Court | Case No. 24S-CR-123 | April 10, 2024 Page 4 of 14 The State charged Sabrina with murder. 4 At trial, defense counsel argued that Sabrina justifiably used deadly force in defense of her dwelling. The State argued, conversely, that Sabrina had lain in wait for Bill and killed him according to a plan, rather than out of reasonable necessity.

After the close of evidence, the trial court decided of its own accord to instruct the jury on self-defense as well as defense of dwelling. Sabrina’s counsel objected to any instruction on self-defense, arguing that the evidence had not placed it at issue. The trial court overruled the objection and, following closing arguments, gave Final Instruction 7.

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