State v. Mercer

500 N.E.2d 1278, 1986 Ind. App. LEXIS 3320
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 11, 1986
Docket82A04-8603-CR-88
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 500 N.E.2d 1278 (State v. Mercer) 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
State v. Mercer, 500 N.E.2d 1278, 1986 Ind. App. LEXIS 3320 (Ind. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

MILLER, Judge.

This case comes to us from the Vander-burg Circuit Court. The State of Indiana appeals the dismissal on double jeopardy grounds of the first count of a two count information. Because we find the defendant's conviction on Count II constituted a conviction of a lesser included offense of the offense charged in Count I, we affirm the trial court's dismissal of Count I.

FACTS

We are unable to set out the facts which gave rise to the charges against Mercer in any detail, since neither party presented us with a detailed statement of these facts. Apparently Mercer was employed by a liquor store. For some reason, he pulled a gun on a patron named John Keown. An argument ensued, and Mercer shot Keown in the face. The bullet glanced off Keown's teeth and lodged in his tongue.

The State brought a two count information against Mercer. Count I alleged, in relevant part:

"Randy A. Mercer ... did knowingly touch John Keown in a rude, insolent and angry manner, by shooting at and against the face of said John Keown with a certain handgun loaded with gunpowder and metal bullets, causing one (1) of said metal bullets to strike the said John Keown in the cheek, and did commit the crime of battery as aforesaid while armed with a certain deadly weapon, to-wit: a .88 caliber revolver, all in violation of I.C. 85-42-2-1." Record, p. 8.

Count H alleged, in relevant part:

"Randy A. Mercer ... did knowingly perform an act which created a substantial risk of bodily injury to John Keown, to-wit: pointing and discharging a .88 caliber handgun at the face of the said John Keown, which act was committed while the said Randy A. Mercer was armed with a certain deadly weapon, to-wit: a .38 caliber revolver...." Record, p. 9.

The jury convicted Mercer of criminal recklessness under Count II of the information, but was unable to reach a verdict on the battery allegation Mercer did not object to the jury's verdict before the court released the jury.

The court sentenced Mercer to two years in a work release halfway house program, placed him on probation for an additional two years, prohibited him from possessing a gun for four years, and ordered him to pay restitution. At the sentencing hearing, the State informed Mercer that it intended to seek a new trial on Count I of the information. Mercer made an oral motion to dismiss Count I; he later filed a written motion. The motion alleged a trial on Count I would violate the federal and Indiana constitutional provisions barring prosecution which place a defendant twice in jeopardy for the same acts.

*1280 The trial court dismissed Count I, finding that, on the facts of this case, criminal recklessness is a lesser included offense of battery; consequently, Mercer's conviction under Count II barred prosecution under Count I.

DECISION

The State claims the trial court erred for three reasons when it dismissed Count I. First, the State claims Mercer waived his right to raise double jeopardy because he did not object to the jury verdict before the jury was discharged. The State also argues that double jeopardy will not bar a second trial where the first trial resulted in a hung jury. Finally, the State argues that criminal recklessness is not a lesser included offense of battery, and a conviction for criminal recklessness does not bar a conviction for battery.

Issue I

We first consider the State's contention that Mercer waived his right to assert double jeopardy by failing to object to the verdict. In support of this contention, the State cites Manns v. State (1984), Ind.App., 459 N.E.2d 435. In Manns, the jury returned a defective guilty verdict. Though it was obvious that the verdict was defective, the defendant did not object to the discharge of the jury. He deprived the jury of the opportunity to correct its verdict by failing to object, and he then based his double jeopardy defense to the second trial on the defective first trial. Obviously, neither the state nor federal constitutional double jeopardy provisions were designed to allow a defendant, through his own failure to give the State notice of alleged error, to defeat the State's interest in the fair administration of justice.

In this case, the State was subjected to no potential prejudice because of Mercer's failure to object. The State had the same right as Mercer to object to the discharge of the jury. The State could have acted to preserve its right to prosecute Mercer on Count I by objecting to the discharge of the jury; in Manns there was nothing the State could have done to prevent prejudice. Since Mercer's failure to object did not prejudice the State, we will not find this failure to object was a waiver of his privilege against double jeopardy.

Issue II

The State states there is a general rule that a "hung jury operates to discharge the operation of double jeopardy and a new trial is not barred in such a situation." - Young v. State (1985), Ind., 482 N.E.2d 246, 249. This is indisputably true where the jury is unable to reach a verdict on any of the crimes alleged, or the jury convicts or acquits the defendant of one criminal offense but is unable to reach a verdict in an unrelated offense.

While the State correctly states the rule we apply when judging a claim of double jeopardy based on a hung jury, that rule is irrelevant in this case. Mercer bases his double jeopardy claim not on the jury's failure to reach a verdict on the battery count, but on his conviction on the criminal recklessness count. The State's invocation of the Young rule is misguided, and the rule is of no application in this case.

Issue III

The State finally argues that criminal recklessness is not a lesser included offense of battery, and that Mercer's conviction under Count II does not bar a retrial on Count I. Double jeopardy can act to bar two trials for separate offenses arising out of the same incident, but only where each offense does not require proof of at least one fact not required by the other. Brown v. Ohio (1977), 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187; Linder v. State (1985), Ind., 485 N.E.2d 73.

The State bases its argument on the wording of the battery and criminal recklessness statutes. IND.CODE 85-42-2-1 provides:

"A person who knowingly or intentionally touches another person in a rude, insolent, or angry manner commits battery, a *1281 class B misdemeanor. However, the offense is:
# # * # # #
(3) A class C felony if it results in serious bodily injury to any other person or if committed by means of a deadly weapon."

1.C. 35-42-2-2(a) sets forth the elements of criminal recklessness charged here: 1

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Bluebook (online)
500 N.E.2d 1278, 1986 Ind. App. LEXIS 3320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mercer-indctapp-1986.