Stewart v. State

945 N.E.2d 1277, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 673, 2011 WL 1465563
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 18, 2011
Docket49A04-1001-CR-48
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 945 N.E.2d 1277 (Stewart 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
Stewart v. State, 945 N.E.2d 1277, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 673, 2011 WL 1465563 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

KIRSCH, Judge.

James Stewart (“Stewart”) was convicted after a jury trial of seven counts of felony murder,1 six counts of criminal confinement,2 each as a Class B felony, one count of robbery3 as a Class C felony, carrying a handgun without a license4 as a Class A misdemeanor, and one count of burglary5 as a Class B felony and was adjudicated- an habitual offender.6 The trial court sentenced Stewart to 425 years executed. He appeals, raising the following restated issues:

I. Whether Stewart’s convictions for felony murder and robbery violated double jeopardy principles;
II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted certain evidence and excluded other evidence under the rules of hearsay;
III. Whether Stewart’s 425-year sentence violated equal protection considerations and was fundamentally unfair because it was the functional equivalent of life without parole and he did not receive the procedural safeguards and protections of the life without parole (“LWOP”) statute;
IV. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted certain crime scene and autopsy photographs of the victims; and
V. Whether sufficient evidence was presented to support Stewart’s convictions.

We vacate in part and affirm in part.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On June 1, 2006, Emma Valdez (“Emma”) and Alberto Covarrubvias, Sr. (“Alberto”) lived at 560 North Hamilton Avenue (“560 North Hamilton”) in Indianapolis, Indiana with them two young sons, eleven-year-old A.C. and eight-year-old D.C. Emma’s adult son, Magno Albarran [1281]*1281(“Magno”), lived in an upstairs apartment in the house. Emma’s adult daughter, Flora Albarran (“Flora”), did not live in the house and was moving to a new residence on June 1, so her five-year-old son, L.A., was staying with Emma.

Stewart and Desmond Turner (“Turner”) knew each other. In 2006, Turner, a black male, was approximately thirty years old, five feet nine inches tall, and weighed 145 pounds. Stewart, also a black male, was approximately thirty years old, five feet eleven inches tall, weighed 185 pounds, and was of a more muscular build than Turner. Stewart grew up in the Roosevelt/Tallman neighborhood and was living on Tallman Avenue in 2006. It takes five minutes or less to drive from the Roosevelt/Tallman neighborhood to the 500 block of North Hamilton.

Turner grew up on the 500 block of North Hamilton. He was friends with Aaron Swartz (“Swartz”), who also grew up on the 500 block of North Hamilton and still lived there in June 2006. In May 2006, Turner began coming back to the Hamilton Avenue neighborhood and visiting Swartz. In that time, several of the teenagers and kids in the neighborhood had met Turner and knew who he was. When Turner came to the neighborhood, he often drove a burgundy or red pickup truck that he borrowed from his girlfriend.

On the afternoon of June 1, 2006, several of the neighborhood kids were playing football in the street on North Hamilton when Turner drove up in the burgundy truck. Turner spoke to Brandon Griffith (“Griffith”), one of the teenagers, and left after approximately five minutes. Later that evening, around 8:30 p.m., Turner returned, still driving the burgundy truck, and stopped at Swartz’s house briefly to use the restroom. Turner and Griffith went to a nearby Speedway gas station to get a soda. When Turner dropped Griffith back off, Turner said he was “going to get my buddy, Lucky,” and “my choppers”7 and “I’ll be back.” Tr. at 3305. Turner also told Griffith that he was going to “hit a lick on the Mexicans down the street.”8 Id. at 3306. Turner got back into the burgundy truck and left alone. Griffith told the other neighborhood kids that “something was going to happen.” Id. at 3047, 3105, 3131, 3259.

At approximately 9:45 p.m., Turner returned to Swartz’s house with another black male, still driving the burgundy truck, and parked a short distance from the house. Turner walked up to the porch, had a brief conversation with Griffith and Swartz, and again went inside the house to use the restroom. While Turner was inside the house, the black male got out of the truck and walked towards the house. He was not wearing a shirt, was muscular and “stocky,” and was a little bigger than Turner. Id. at 2774. This man asked the people on the porch to tell Turner to “hurry up.” Id. at 3266. Turner returned to the truck, and the two men drove away with Turner in the driver’s seat and the other man in the passenger seat. Griffith again went to tell the other neighborhood kids that something was going to happen. Based on the conversation he had with Turner, Swartz called his girlfriend into the house because he thought something was “getting ready to go on.” Id. at 2777-78.

A few minutes later, several of the kids, who were on a porch across the street, saw Turner’s truck in the alley behind 560 North Hamilton. They then saw two black men walk up the side of 560 North [1282]*1282Hamilton and onto the front porch. Turner was identified by several of the kids as being one of the men. The other man, who was a little bit taller, bigger, and more muscular than Turner and not wearing a shirt, was identified as being the same man who had been in Turner’s truck in front of Swartz’s house. That man had something red around his face, and Turner had a dark-colored mask around his face. Turner was carrying a long gun that looked like an AK-47, and the other man had a small handgun. The two men knocked on the door, and when it was opened, they forced their way into the house. The man with the red mask was seen through an upstairs window in the house and appeared to be putting items into a bag and tossing things around. A woman was seen through another window, and it appeared that she was on her knees with her hands behind her head and that there was a gun held to her head.

Magno arrived home, parked in the garage, and brought in the garbage cans. At around the same time, Flora arrived at the house; she left her car, still running with a female friend inside, double-parked in front of the house and went up to the door. After she knocked on the door, Flora was grabbed and pulled inside as she screamed, “No, not my child” and “my baby.” Id. at 3062, 3211. Magno came around the corner and onto the porch carrying a bag of food; he set the food down, made a motion as if grabbing something at his side, and entered the house.9

Almost immediately, there was a single gunshot, followed by a large number of rapid gunshots that sounded louder and faster than the first. The two masked intruders ran out of the house and around to the alley. The man wearing the red mask was carrying either a trash bag or pillow case in his hands. A car started, and tires squealed. The neighbors then called 911.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Kermon received the dispatch of shots fired and was the first officer to arrive at the scene. He found a hysterical, crying Hispanic woman in the street pointing at 560 North Hamilton and saying, “they’re shot.” Id. at 2538. The front door of the house was open.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
945 N.E.2d 1277, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 673, 2011 WL 1465563, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-state-indctapp-2011.