Shack v. State

231 N.E.2d 36, 249 Ind. 67, 1967 Ind. LEXIS 348
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 14, 1967
Docket30,467
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 231 N.E.2d 36 (Shack 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
Shack v. State, 231 N.E.2d 36, 249 Ind. 67, 1967 Ind. LEXIS 348 (Ind. 1967).

Opinions

LEWIS, J.

The appellant was indicted by the Grand Jury of Marion County, Indiana, for the offense of Murder in the First Degree. Shack entered a plea of not guilty and after trial by jury a verdict was renderd finding him guilty of Murder in the First Degree and he was sentenced to suffer death.

After the indictment was returned by the Grand Jury, the the Court appointed an attorney, one James Nedeff, to represent Varderman Shack. After the verdict was rendered and judgment entered, Mr. Nedeff prepared and filed a motion for new trial. The motion for new trial was overruled.

Shack then prayed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Indiana as a pauper and the Trial Court granted the request for appeal as a pauper and appointed Charles G. Castor, an attorney, to represent Shack in his appeal to the Supreme Court. After the appointment of Mr. Castor as appellate attorney for Mr. Shack, and after the transcript of the trial proceedings had been prepared, Mr. Castor filed a petition for permission to file a belated motion for new trial, which petition, omitting the formal parts, reads as follows:

“Comes now the defendant, Varderman Shack, and petitions the court for permission to file a belated motion for new trial pursuant to Rule 2-40 and 2-40 (a) of the Supreme Court of Indiana, and in support thereof, shows the Court as follows :
[69]*691. The defendant was charged herein with the crime of first-degree murder.
2. The defendant was represented at his trial on June 3, 1963 by James Nedeff, Public Defender, and on the 5th day of June, 1963, the defendant was convicted by jury with a recommendation that the defendant suffer death.
3. On July 3, 1964, a motion for new trial was filed for the defendant by the Public Defender, James Nedeff.
4. Thereafter, defendant filed petition to appeal as a pauper, which the Court granted on August 27, 1963, and appointed Charles G. Castor, attorney, of Indianapolis, Indiana, to represent the defendant in his appeal.
5. Defendant’s attorney, Charles G. Castor, had no knowledge of the proceedings in this cause prior to his appointment as attorney for the defendant.
6. Defendant, Varderman Shack, is entitled to a new trial because of the following:
(a) The defendant was not given a fair and impartial trial as guaranteed by the Constitution of the State of Indiana, Art. I, Sec. 13, inasmuch as his counsel was incompetent in his representation of the defendant for and during the trial of the defendant in this cause.
(b) The evidence was insufficient to support the finding of the jury.
(c) The verdict of the jury was contrary to law.
(d) The jury failed to give adequate time to its deliberation in this cause, deliberating only thirty minutes to find the defendant guilty on a capital offense and recommended the death penalty.
7. A copy of the proposed Motion for New Trial, the permission to file which is requested by this petition, is attached hereto, marked Exhibit “1,” and made a part hereof by reference, which specifically sets forth the points alleged as to grounds for new trial.
8. The cause for new trial, namely, incompetency of counsel, was first discovered by the defendant on or about the 7th day of September, 1964, during a conference with his attorney at the Indiana State Penitentiary at Michigan City, Indiana.
9. The cause relied upon for a new trial in this petition is that the defendant was not afforded his Constitutional Rights to competent counsel to assist him at all stages of the proceedings herein before and during the trial of his [70]*70case as hereinbefore alleged, and more specifically as follows:
(a) The defendant was charged with the crime of first-degree murder, a crime which carries a penalty of the suffering of death, the penalty which the defendant received. Being a poor person, the defendant was represented by the Public Defender, James Nedeff, attorney, who had never represented a defendant in a capital case, and whose sole jury experience consisted of one jury trial prior to the trial of the defendant.
(b) That because of the gravity of the offense, the defendant was entitled to the appointment of counsel with experience in trial of jury cases, and also an attorney experienced in trial of murder cases.
(c) That defendant is an unskilled and uneducated person regarding the practice of law, having attended only to the fourth grade of schooling, and can read and write only to a limited extent, and prior to the trial of this cause, had had no experience with attorneys, and was unacquainted with the various skills which attorneys possess.
(d) At the time of the alleged offense, defendant received an injury to his throat, and as a result thereof, was unable to talk until approximately two weeks before his trial. That his court-appointed attorney, James Nedeff, well knew this, but failed to file a motion for .continuance of the trial to enable him to adequately confer with his attorney to prepare for the trial of this cause.
(e) That James Nedeff, his attorney, did not adequately explain to him the penalties which he could receive by virtue of the offense charged, and failed to adequately advise the defendant as to the penalties contained in the charge of first-degree murder as contrasted with the penalties contained in second-degree murder.
(f) That the [sic] the trial of the defendant, the defendant there requested his attorney to ask questions of state’s witnesses which his attorney, James Nedeff, failed to do.
(g) That the defendant furnished his attorney, James Nedeff, with names of witnesses to testify favorably in his behalf, which witnesses his attorney failed to subpoena at his trial.
(h) That the defendant furnished his attorney, James Nedeff, with names of witnesses to testify as to his character, which witnesses his attorney failed to subpoena, [71]*71and the defendant was, for all practical purposes, the only witness in his behalf.
(i) That his attorney, James Nedeff, did not spend sufficient time in preparing for the trial of this cause.
(j) That his attorney, James Nedeff, did not tender any instructions to the Court for reading to the jury.
(k) That there elapsed only a lunch hour from the conclusion of the evidence in this case until argument and instructions, and that attorney, James Nedeff, failed to request additional time to prepare and submit instructions to the Court for reading to the jury.
(l) That the jury in this case deliberated approximately thirty minutes on a capital offense case recommending the death penalty for the defendant, which, in itself, shows a lack of preparation of a defense for the defendant by his attorney, James Nedeff.
10.

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Shack v. State
231 N.E.2d 36 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
231 N.E.2d 36, 249 Ind. 67, 1967 Ind. LEXIS 348, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shack-v-state-ind-1967.