Seide v. State

784 N.E.2d 974, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 301, 2003 WL 550110
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 26, 2003
Docket82A04-0204-CR-00175
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 784 N.E.2d 974 (Seide 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
Seide v. State, 784 N.E.2d 974, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 301, 2003 WL 550110 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

Appellant-defendant Sledge Seide appeals his convictions for three counts of Robbery While Armed with a Deadly Weapon 1 and three counts of Criminal Confinement While Armed with a Deadly Weapon, 2 all class B felonies. Seide contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing argument and that such misconduct requires a new trial. In the alternative, Seide argues that his convictions for criminal confinement were improperly elevated to class B felonies based on evidence of the same gun used to enhance the robbery convictions to class B felonies. Concluding that the prosecutor committed no misconduct and that the convictions were properly elevated, we affirm. We remand, however, for the trial court to enter an abstract of judgment 3 for the criminal-confinement convictions as class B felonies.

FACTS

Around 6:00 p.m. on July 26, 2000, Benel Jacques and two friends went to Seide's body shop in Evansville. Jacques testified that he wanted Seide to give him a quote on the cost to paint Jacques's Ford Escort. Seide and three other men were at the body shop when Jaeques and his friends arrived. After talking briefly, Seide and his companions each pulled out a handgun and ordered Jacques and his two friends to put up their hands.

The three were taken into an office and bound with duct tape and plastic cable ties. The cable ties were placed around their wrists and ankles and covered with duct tape. Duct tape was also used to cover the men's mouths and eyes. Jacques thought he was going to die.

Seide and his companions demanded money from Jacques and his two friends. Jacques handed over his gold necklace, bracelet, ring, watch, and $250 in cash. A watch, wallet, credit cards, and a passport were taken from Jacques's friends. Seide later took the duct tape off the men's mouths, and the three begged not to be killed. Around 10:30 pm., after holding the men for over four hours, Seide and his companions released the three men. When they drove off, Seide and his com *977 panions followed for a distance and then turned away.

Jacques drove home to his apartment to insure that his wife was safe, and then he and his two friends drove to a gas station near the body shop. From there, Jacques called the police. Evansville Police Department Officer Douglas Kemmerer arrived at the gas station, where he found the three men agitated and nervous. He noticed gray sticky residue on their faces and hair. Early the next morning, the police searched the body shop. They found several bundles of used duct tape and cut cable ties. Hair was stuck to some pieces of the duct tape.

An information charged Seide with three counts of robbery while armed with a deadly weapon and three counts of criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon, all as class B felonies. After a trial, a jury found Seide guilty as charged. The use of a deadly weapon was used to enhanee both the robbery and eriminal-confinement convictions to class B felonies. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court entered judgment of conviction against Seide for three counts of robbery as class B felonies and for three counts of eriminal confinement as class D felonies. The trial court sentenced Seide "for a period of ten years, those ten years are to be executed at the Indiana Department of Correetion[ ]. The Counts are to run concurrent with each other." Appellant's App. p. 134. The CCS, however, reflects the entry of judgment of conviction for all six offenses as class B felonies. Seide now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Prosecutorial Misconduct

Seide contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing argument by referring to Seide's character and credibility. Because Seide chose not to object to any portion of the prosecutor's closing argument, he acknowledges that he must prove the prosecutor's statements amounted to fundamental error. We agree that "[olnce waived, an issue will warrant reversal only if it amounts to fundamental error." Carter v. State, 738 N.E.2d 665, 677 (Ind.2000). " 'Fundamental error is a substantial blatant violation of basic principles rendering the trial unfair to the defendant and, thereby, depriving the defendant of fundamental due process. The error must be so prejudicial to the rights of a defendant as to make a fair trial impossible."" Id. (quoting Charlton v. State, 702 N.E.2d 1045, 1051 (Ind.1998)). For prosecutorial misconduct to amount to fundamental error, the prosecutor's conduct must have " 'subjected the defendant to grave peril and had a probable persuasive effect on the jury's decision.'" Charlton, 702 N.E.2d at 1051 (quoting Carter v. State, 686 N.E.2d 1254, 1262 (Ind.1997)).

Obviously, before prosecutorial misconduct can be found to have resulted in fundamental error, we must first determine whether misconduct has occurred. In judging the propriety of a prosecutor's remarks, we consider statements in the context of the argument as a whole. Hollowell v. State, 707 N.E.2d 1014, 1024 (Ind.Ct.App.1999). It is proper for a prosecutor to argue both law and fact during final argument and propound conclusions based on his analysis of the evidence. Id.

Seide maintains that the prosecutor improperly compared Seide's and Jacques's character during closing argument. More specifically, Seide argues that the prosecutor inappropriately urged the jury to consider Seide's inability to maintain steady employment, his unfaithfulness to a live-in girlfriend, and his parasitical dependence on a girlfriend who works two jobs to support him and herself. The prosecutor also noted that Seide was a *978 friend of a man convicted of a cocaine offense.

Having read the prosecutor's statements in context, we detect no impropriety. First, the prosecutor did make favorable mention of Jaeques's character, namely that Jacques was hardworking and supported his wife-not a live-in girlfriend. Tr. p. 848. However, his mention of Jacques's character was in response to defense counsel's insinuation during opening argument that Jacques was involved in a drug deal when he was robbed. The prosecutor argued: "[Defense counsel] gets up here and the first thing he says this case was all about drugs." Tr. p. 348. The prosecutor later noted that Jacques had nothing to hide and was cooperative with the police. Tr. p. 344.

As for Seide's character, it is undisputed that the prosecutor summarized only what Seide's own witnesses said about him during Seide's case-in-chief. Moreover, the prosecutor, while referring to Seide's character and credibility, also used those facts to construct a theory about Seide's motive for robbing Jacques and his friends. Somehow, despite his chronic unemployment, Seide had money and drove a nice car. The body shop Seide opened with his ex-convict friend apparently never produced a "finished job" for the few months it was open for business.

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Bluebook (online)
784 N.E.2d 974, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 301, 2003 WL 550110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seide-v-state-indctapp-2003.