Tait v. State

205 N.E.2d 317, 246 Ind. 577, 1965 Ind. LEXIS 396
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 25, 1965
Docket0-720
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 205 N.E.2d 317 (Tait 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
Tait v. State, 205 N.E.2d 317, 246 Ind. 577, 1965 Ind. LEXIS 396 (Ind. 1965).

Opinions

Myers, J.

Petitioner, Ernest Tait, was convicted of breaking and entering a building of Coca Cola Bottling Company, Inc., in Crawfordsville, Indiana, with intent to commit a felony after a jury trial in the' Montgomery Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Indiana. On April 20, 1961, his motion for new trial was overruled and he was sentenced from one to ten years in the Indiana State Prison. His cause was appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court which confirmed his conviction on March 13, 1963. Tait v. State (1963), 244 Ind. 35,188 N. E. 2d 537.

Throughout these proceedings, petitioner was represented by counsel of his choice, who prepared and tried his- case in the trial court and presented his appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.

On May 29, 1964, petitioner, acting for himself, filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Montgomery Circuit Court, and also filed a motion with ,the Supreme Court of Indiana for leave to file a .petition for writ of certiorari .under Supreme Court Rule 2-40A wherein he asked the Supreme Court to [579]*579appoint the Public Defender of Indiana to represent him in all proceedings in this court relative to the petition for writ of certiorari filed herein on the ground that he was now a pauper.

The State of Indiana, as respondent, was given thirty days within which to file a response to this petition. On June 24, 1964, the Attorney General entered a special appearance and requested an extension of time for filing a response, stating as a reason therefor that the State was unable to respond until the court determined the petitioner should proceed pro se or with the assistance of the State’s Public Defender. Petitioner filed his opposition to the extension of time which had been granted by this court. This was overruled, and, by order of this court dated July 9, 1964, the Public Defender of Indiana was ordered to take further proceedings in behalf of petitioner or show cause why he should not represent him.

On August 14, 1964, the Public Defender filed his response in which he set forth the petition for writ of certiorari filed herein to review an order of the Montgomery Circuit Court denying petitioner a belated motion for new trial on April 1, 1964, certain correspondence between the Public Defender and the petitioner, together with reasons why the Public Defender found no merit in the proceedings and refused to represent petitioner.

So far as the record is concerned, the Attorney General’s office has filed nothing further in these proceedings.

On January 22, 1965, petitioner filed what is designated as a “Petition to Advance and Rule Under Authority Supra [sic] Ct., Rule 2-26 & 1-3.” It is addressed to the members of the Supreme Court and generally asks for an order of discharge from custody of the State Prison by reason of the Attorney [580]*580General’s failure to file any kind of answer to the petition filed. He further alleges that he has never received a copy of the Public Defender’s response to the court and so is unable to answer by reply brief. Consequently, he says that he has been deprived of his constitutional rights, due process of law under Art. 1, §12, of the Constitution of Indiana, and the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The Supreme Court Rules under which petitioner is proceeding were promulgated in 1963. Rule 2-40 abolishes actions for writs of coram nobis in criminal cases and declares the remedy shall be obtained solely by motion for new trial to be filed within the regular time limits. Permission may be granted to file belated motions for new trial where the moving party first obtains knowledge of an alleged ground after the time within which a motion for new trial may be filed. Facts must be alleged and sworn to specifically setting forth why such ground was not discovered before by the exercise of due diligence. The Attorney General and Prosecuting Attorney shall be given notice of the filing of the petition and thirty days’ time within which to answer same. If the belated motion for new trial is filed in forma pauperis, the Public Defender for Indiana must represent the petitioner subject to the provisions of Rule 2-40A.

According to Rule 2-40A, all rulings on petitions to file belated appeals, petitions to file belated motions for new trial and rulings on belated motions for new trial may be reviewed only on petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court of Indiana. This petition shall specify the grounds therefor, and a copy shall be served on the Attorney General, who shall file a response thereto under oath. The Public Defender has the duty of representing indigent persons who are inmates of penal institutions in the [581]*581State after their time for regular or timely appeal has expired if requested to do so. If he should refuse to do so, a citation may be issued against him • to show cause why he does not represent petitioner, and he must file a response thereto which becomes a part of the record. It is then up to the court to determine if an order should issue requiring the Public Defender to represent petitioner. Other provisions of the rule pertain to the filing of briefs and giving this court authority to grant the writ if there are meritorious grounds for a review of the trial court’s action, permitting it to make such orders as may be appropriate.

In his petition for writ of certiorari, petitioner alleges that he filed a belated motion for new trial pursuant to the above rules in the Montgomery Circuit Court on January 10, 1964. Therein he stated that there was newly-discovered evidence not known or available at the time of trial, which if known and available would have materially changed the verdict of the jury. Attached to the petition as an exhibit was an affidavit signed by a person designated as Leo Grant Kissinger, an inmate of the Indiana State Prison, who stated therein that he would be willing to testify on behalf of petitioner in court and that: “It is my wish that Tait, Ernest, be absolved of any complicity of a crime of which I and another are alone responsible for, without his knowledge.” This is the substance of the affidavit.

The petition alleged that there was error in that petitioner was charged in two counts with (1) Burglary of Safe and (2) Second Degree Burglary, but was found guilty of entering to commit a felony; that the sentence imposed was for a term of one to ten years, while the penalty for second degree burglary is a sentence of two to five years; that the offense [582]*582of entering to commit a felony is not a lesser included offense as embraced in the charge of second degree burglary. The petition further alleged that there were differences in the evidence as presented in the trial court which would prove he did not commit the offense charged against him.

The petition was denied by the trial court on April 1, 1964, and the petition for writ of certiorari followed as filed in this court. The matters presented therein are substantially to the effect that petitioner has been denied due process of law with particular emphasis on the instruction which was given by the court to the effect that entering to commit a felony was a lesser offense embraced by Count 2 of the affidavit charging burglary in the second degree.

In the proceedings of this case before the trial court, petitioner tried to obtain a continuance two days before trial in order to get the testimony of one John Martin Young, who, it was alleged, would testify that petitioner did not participate in the burglary.

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Related

Callahan v. State
214 N.E.2d 648 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1966)
Tait v. State
205 N.E.2d 317 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
205 N.E.2d 317, 246 Ind. 577, 1965 Ind. LEXIS 396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tait-v-state-ind-1965.