Spires v. State

670 N.E.2d 1313, 1996 Ind. App. LEXIS 1233, 1996 WL 515494
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 12, 1996
Docket47A04-9512-CR-489
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 670 N.E.2d 1313 (Spires 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
Spires v. State, 670 N.E.2d 1313, 1996 Ind. App. LEXIS 1233, 1996 WL 515494 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

DARDEN, Judge.

STATEMENT OF CASE

Connie Spires appeals his convictions by a jury for dealing in a schedule II controlled substance, a class B felony, and dealing in marijuana greater than thirty (30) grams, a class D felony.

We affirm.

ISSUES

1. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by admitting evidence of Spires’ prior uncharged criminal conduct.
2. Whether the trial court erred in refusing Spires’ requested limiting instruction.

FACTS

On May 21, 1992, Greg Mesarosh took Jeffrey Buskirk, an undercover officer of the Martinsville Police Department, and Lisa Woolbright, a confidential informant, to Spires’ home. Once inside, Buskirk told Spires that he was interested in purchasing some “pot or powder.” Spires told Buskirk that he only had an ounce of pot left and he would sell a quarter ounce for $50.00. Bus-kirk gave Spires $100.00 in exchange for two quarter ounce bags of marijuana. Spires then took out a small bag of powder, sprinkled out a small amount onto a mirror, cut it into several lines with a razor blade, and offered Mesarosh a line. Mesarosh snorted a line using the $100.00 bill Buskirk gave Spires for the marijuana as a straw. Spires also offered a line to Buskirk and Wool-bright, but they refused. Buskirk asked Spires if he could get some of the powder. Spires told Buskirk that it would take an hour and would cost $250.00 for an “eight ball”. Buskirk then left Spires’ home with Woolbright and Mesarosh. Approximately one hour later, Buskirk returned to Spires’ home. Spires sold Buskirk two small bags of methamphetamine for $250.00. On June 5, 1992, Buskirk again went to Spires’ home. Spires sold him two ounces of marijuana.

The State charged Spires with dealing in a schedule II controlled substance and dealing *1315 in marijuana greater than thirty grams. The information alleged that on May 21, 1992, Spires dealt methamphetamine and on June 5, 1992, he dealt two ounces of marijuana. Prior to trial, Spires filed a request for disclosure of evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts under Indiana Rule of Evidence 404(b). The State responded that it intended to introduce testimony that Spires had sold marijuana to Buskirk on May 21, 1992, the same day Spires had sold methamphetamine to him. At trial, Spires objected to the State’s notice of intention to use this uncharged criminal act. After hearing arguments from both parties, the trial court admitted the evidence of the May 21 marijuana sale. Spires renewed his objection upon the State’s presentation of the evidence. The trial court overruled his objection and also refused his tendered limiting instruction. (R. 803, 309). The jury found Spires guilty as charged.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I

Spires first argues the trial court committed reversible error by admitting evidence of Spires’ prior uncharged criminal conduct.

A trial court’s decision regarding the admission of evidence will be accorded a great deal of deference on appeal. Tynes v. State, 650 N.E.2d 685, 687 (Ind.1995). The decision whether to admit evidence will not be reversed absent a showing of manifest abuse of the trial court’s discretion resulting in denial of a fair trial. Minnick v. State, 544 N.E.2d 471, 477 (Ind.1989), reh’g denied.

Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith, it may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.

Evid.R. 404(b).

The State contends that the evidence of the uncharged marijuana sale was admissible under the “common scheme or plan” exception to the general rule. In the past, our supreme court permitted the admission of evidence of prior crimes under the ‘common scheme or plan’ rule of our common law of evidence. Lay v. State, 659 N.E.2d 1005, 1009 (Ind.1995), reh’g denied. The ‘common scheme or plan’ exception required that the uncharged crime be tangibly connected to the one for which the defendant was on trial. Id. However, our promulgation of Evid.R. 404(b) is not a mere continuation of that common law caselaw. 1 Id. at 1015 (Shepard, C.J., dissent, “announcing] the applicable rule of law” on this matter). Instead of the old ‘common scheme or plan’ rule, our law now admits evidence of ‘plan’ alone. Id. It is a narrower exception than our old rule, which tended to degenerate into an all-purpose excuse for admitting pretty much any old prior misconduct. Id.

We find the evidence of the prior uncharged marijuana sale was admissible under this narrower exception. When he sold marijuana to Buskirk on May 21, Spires also showed Buskirk that he had the powder, and offered Mesarosh and Buskirk a line. (R.314). Buskirk then asked Spires if he could get some of the powder. Spires told Buskirk that he could obtain some in about an hour. (R. 318). When Buskirk returned to Spires’ home about one hour later, Spires sold Buskirk methamphetamine. (R. 321). The uncharged marijuana sale and the methamphetamine sale were tangibly connected in that they involved the same parties, took place at the same location, and were closely related in time. We do not think the one-hour-old marijuana sale would be too “old” to be admissible under this narrower exception.

*1316 The paradigm of inadmissible evidence under Evid.R. 404(b) is a crime committed on another day in another place, evidence whose only apparent purpose is to prove the defendant is a person who commits crimes. Swanson v. State, 666 N.E.2d 397, 398 (Ind.1996), reh’g denied. By contrast, the evidence at issue in this case was not of that nature. Therefore, the trial court did not err in admitting the evidence under Evid.R. 404(b).

Spires also contends the trial court failed to balance the probative value of the evidence against the prejudicial effect it would have against Spires pursuant to Ind.Evidence Rule 403. He argues the prior uncharged crime is similar to those charged; thus, the mere cumulative effect of another crime might unfairly sway a jury toward a guilty verdict.

Evidence, even if otherwise admissible, is inadmissible if the danger of unfair prejudice to the defendant substantially outweighs the probative value of the evidence. Levi v. State, 627 N.E.2d 1345, 1348 (Ind.Ct.App.1994), trans. denied.

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Bluebook (online)
670 N.E.2d 1313, 1996 Ind. App. LEXIS 1233, 1996 WL 515494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spires-v-state-indctapp-1996.