Stevonta D. Hill v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 11, 2018
Docket79A02-1709-CR-2196
StatusPublished

This text of Stevonta D. Hill v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Stevonta D. Hill v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) 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
Stevonta D. Hill v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Apr 11 2018, 8:37 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Timothy P. Broden Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Lafayette, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Caroline G. Templeton Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Stevonta D. Hill, April 11, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 79A02-1709-CR-2196 v. Appeal from the Tippecanoe Circuit Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Thomas H. Busch, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 79C01-1609-F3-35

Bailey, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1709-CR-2196 | April 11, 2018 Page 1 of 17 Case Summary [1] Stevonta Hill (“Hill”) appeals his convictions for Count I, Conspiracy to

Commit Robbery as a Level 3 felony;1 Count XVIII, Use of a Firearm in

Commission of an Offense;2 and his sentence enhancement.

[2] We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Issues [3] Hill raises the following two issues on appeal:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to give Hill’s proffered jury instruction on conspiracy.

II. Whether the trial court erred when it enhanced Hill’s sentence pursuant to the firearms enhancement statute.

Facts and Procedural History [4] In 2014, Charles Hunter III (“Hunter”) conceived of a plan to rob the Industrial

Federal Credit Union (“the bank”) located on Meijer Drive in Lafayette, and

Hill, Michael Mitchell (“Mitchell”), and Ronnie Creed (“Creed”) subsequently

agreed to rob the bank with Hunter. On August 4, 2014, Hunter borrowed a

1 Ind. Code §§ 35-41-5-2(a) (2014) and 35-42-5-1 (2014). 2 I.C. § 35-50-2-11.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1709-CR-2196 | April 11, 2018 Page 2 of 17 Hyundai automobile from Hill’s sister, Tahtyana Bagsby (“Bagsby”). At

approximately 9:20 a.m. that same day, Hill, Hunter, Mitchell, and Creed

entered the bank wearing dark clothing, masks, and gloves, and they demanded

money from the bank employees. One of the men hit teller Maria Olivio

(“Olivio”) on the back of her head with a handgun, causing her to “black out a

little bit” and suffer a concussion. Tr. Vol. II at 85. Both Hill and Creed

possessed firearms during the robbery. The bank employees gave the four men

approximately $35,350 in cash and a dye pack with tear gas and red dye that

looked like $1,000 in $20 bills.

[5] As the four men drove away from the bank, the dye pack exploded in the car

and someone threw one of the bags of stolen money out of the vehicle. Hunter

attempted to clean the red dye off the inside of the Hyundai but was not

completely successful. He then returned the vehicle to Bagsby.

[6] The Lafayette Police Department (“LPD”) obtained still photographs from a

surveillance video of the robbery and distributed them to LPD personnel. One

of the LPD officers recognized Hunter in one of the still photos, and he was

aware of Hunter’s associates, including Hill. On August 14, 2014, patrol officer

Alvin Cudworth (“Officer Cudworth”) of the LPD was on duty and received a

request to conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle suspected of having false plates and

of being involved in the bank robbery. Officer Cudworth stopped the vehicle,

which was Bagsby’s Hyundai. Hill was the driver. After discovering that the

plates on the Hyundai were for a different vehicle, the LPD impounded the

vehicle and obtained a search warrant. During the search of the vehicle, the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1709-CR-2196 | April 11, 2018 Page 3 of 17 LPD took samples of pink-stained carpet from the vehicle and sent the samples

to the Indiana State Police laboratory. Testing of the carpet samples revealed

that the chemical on the stained carpet matched the chemical in the dye pack

from the August 4 bank robbery.

[7] On August 9, 2016, Hill testified before a grand jury under a grant of use

immunity. Hill denied involvement in the bank robbery and testified that he

had not seen either Mitchell or Hunter on the morning of August 4, 2014. Hill

further testified that he did not recognize any of the individuals depicted in the

bank security video and denied knowledge of how the dye stains got into his

sister’s Hyundai. On September 17, 2016, the grand jury returned an

indictment charging Hill with nineteen counts: conspiracy to commit robbery,

as a Level 3 felony; robbery, as a Level 3 felony;3 criminal confinement, as a

Level 3 felony;4 criminal confinement, as a Level 5 felony;5 robbery, as a Level

5 felony;6 theft, as a Level 6 felony;7 criminal confinement, as a Level 6 felony;8

two counts of intimidation, as Level 6 felonies;9 carrying a handgun without a

3 I.C. § 35-42-5-1(a). 4 I.C. § 35-42-3-3(a) and (b)(2). 5 I.C. § 35-42-3-3(a) and (b)(1). 6 I.C. § 35-42-5-1(a)(1). 7 I.C. § 35-43-4-2(a)(1). 8 I.C. § 35-42-3-3(a). 9 I.C. § 35-45-2-1(a) and (b)(1).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1709-CR-2196 | April 11, 2018 Page 4 of 17 license, as a Class A misdemeanor;10 obstruction of justice, as a Level 6 felony;11

battery by means of a deadly weapon, as a Level 5 felony; 12 battery resulting in

moderate bodily injury, as a Level 6 felony;13 criminal recklessness while armed

with a deadly weapon, as a Level 6 felony;14 pointing a firearm, as a Level 6

felony;15 perjury, a Level 6 felony;16 pointing a firearm, as a Class A

misdemeanor;17 intimidation, as a Class A misdemeanor;18 and use of a firearm

during the commission of an offense. Prior to trial, the court dismissed the

misdemeanor intimidation charge.

[8] Hill’s trial proceeded in two phases. The first phase was tried to a jury from

July 31, 2017 to August 2, 2017 and consisted of all charges except the firearm

sentencing enhancement and the perjury charge. In the second phase, the latter

charges were tried to the bench following Hill’s jury waiver as to those two

charges. At the close of evidence, the court dismissed Count XIV, pointing a

firearm as a Level 6 felony, per the State’s request.

10 I.C. § 35-47-2-1(a)(e). 11 I.C. § 35-44.1-2-2(a)(3). 12 I.C. § 35-42-2-1(b) and (f)(2). 13 I.C. § 35-42-2-1(b) and (d)(1). 14 I.C. § 35-42-2-2(a) and (b)(1)(A). 15 I.C. § 35-47-4-3(b). 16 I.C. § 35-44.1-2-1(a)(1). 17 I.C. § 35-47-4-3(b). 18 I.C. § 35-45-2-1(a).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1709-CR-2196 | April 11, 2018 Page 5 of 17 [9] At trial, Hill requested that the court include one of the following two

instructions on conspiracy:

(1) Conspiracies cannot be established by a mere suspicion. Evidence of mere relationship or association between the parties do not show a conspiracy. Johnson v. State, 1933, 208 Ind. 89, 95, 194 N.E. 619; Kelley v. State, 1936, 210 Ind. 380, 385, 3 N.E.2d 65; Weer v. State, 1941, 219 Ind. 217, 232, 36 N.E.2d 787, 37 N.E.2d 537; Shonfeld v. State, 1942, 219 Ind. 654, 666, 667, 40 N.E.2d 700; Eacock v.

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