Taylor v. State

699 N.E.2d 270, 1998 WL 420650
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 30, 1998
Docket49A02-9710-PC-673
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 699 N.E.2d 270 (Taylor 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
Taylor v. State, 699 N.E.2d 270, 1998 WL 420650 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

OPINION

MATTINGLY, Judge.

Demetrius Taylor appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. We consolidate and restate his issues as:

1. Whether improper references at trial to Taylor’s post-arrest silence constituted reversible error; and

2. Whether Taylor was subjected to double jeopardy when he was convicted of both rape and confinement.1

We reverse and remand.

FACTS

On December 18, 1989, the victim left her apartment door slightly open when she went to the front of her apartment building to meet a neighbor who was to take the victim’s daughter to school. When the victim returned to her bedroom, she was confronted by Taylor, who had a knife. Taylor ordered the victim to disrobe and lie on the bed, where he forced her to have intercourse. Afterwards, Taylor asked the victim if she had any money and also inquired about the contents of some packages under a Christmas tree. Taylor left after he warned the victim not to call the police.

A jury found Taylor guilty of Rape, a class A felony,2 Confinement, a class B felony3 and Burglary, a class B felony.4

Additional facts will be provided as needed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

An action for post-conviction relief is a special quasi-civil remedy where a party can raise an error which, for various reasons, was not available or known at the time of the original trial or appeal. Ind. Post-Conviction Rule 1(1); Long v. State, 679 N.E.2d 981, 983 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). A petitioner seeking post-conviction relief has the burden of establishing grounds for relief by a preponderance of the evidence. P-C.R. 1(5); Long, 679 N.E.2d at 983. The standard of review for a post-conviction hearing is similar to that of other trials where the trial judge hears the evidence and we review the trial court’s ruling. The judge who presides over the post-conviction hearing has exclusive authority to weigh the evidence and determine the credibility of the witnesses. Id. So, we will not set aside the trial court’s ruling on a post-conviction petition unless the evidence is without conflict and leads solely to a result [273]*273different from that reached by the trial court. Id.

DEFENDANT’S POST-ARREST SILENCE

Taylor asserts the prosecution improperly used his post-arrest, post-Miranda silence for impeachment purposes, in violation of the Due Process Clause’s prohibition against fundamental unfairness as interpreted in Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976). The Miranda warnings give a criminal defendant implicit assurances that silence will carry no penalty; so, in some circumstances, it is fundamentally unfaii- and a deprivation of due process to allow the arrested person’s silence to be used to impeach an explanation subsequently offered at trial. Id. at 618, 96 S.Ct. 2240; Bevis v. State, 614 N.E.2d 599, 602 (Ind.Ct. App.1993). Because the nature of a Doyle error is so egregious and so inherently prejudicial, reversal is the norm rather than the exception. White v. State, 647 N.E.2d 684, 688 (Ind.Ct.App.1995). A Doyle violation is fundamental error, and a party does not, by failing to object at trial, waive his or her right to subsequently raise the issue. Id.

Taylor testified at trial that he had known the victim prior to the date of the offense, that the two had engaged in a sexual encounter about a month before the incident, that the victim had invited Taylor to her apartment on the date of the offense, and that the two engaged in consensual intercourse. He denied raping the victim. On cross examination, the State questioned Taylor about why he had not raised this consent defense earlier:

Q. So meanwhile, there’s been six months since then, ...
A. Yes.
Q. ... isn’t that correct? And, all this time you knew that you were accused of rape, ...
A. Yes.
Q. ... of raping [the victim]?
A. That’s what I was accused of.
Q. And Lt. Daggy asked to interview you,
A. Uh Hum.
!|: *
Q. Okay, and you didn’t choose to tell him any of this, did you?
A. No.
Q. But you sat here, yesterday and today, and you heard [the victim’s] evidence,....
A. Yes.

R. 449-50. At that point Taylor’s counsel objected. The State withdrew its question after the court sustained the objection.

Shortly thereafter, the State asked Taylor “So it’s now that you choose to offer a story that would explain your being in [the victim’s] apartment, right?” Taylor’s counsel again objected, and his objection was overruled. Taylor responded that he told his mother the same story the day after he was arrested, and his mother so testified. R. 454. Later, the State called Lieutenant Daggy, an investigating officer, back to the stand and the following exchange occurred:

Q. Did you do all the investigation you felt necessary?
A. Yes.
Q. Is there anything more you could have done, uh, if you thought there was a defense of consent?
A. Well, if anybody would tell me that there was a defense of consent, you know, I would ask questions, uh, you know, “Where did you meet the person, how long have you known them, if it was consensual, how many times have you had consensual sex, where were you at when you had the consensual sex,” and then you try to corroborate those kinds of statements with an investigation.
Q. Who would you ask those questions of?
A. Uh, Demetrius Taylor.
Q. Before asking him questions, what are you required to do?
A. Advise him of his rights.
Q. Did you advise Mr. Taylor of his rights?
[274]*274A. Yes, I did.

R. at 512-13.

The State’s questions were impermissible under the Doyle standard, as they were used to impeach Taylor’s exculpatory testimony by making direct reference to his post-arrest silence. However, under some circumstances, a Doyle violation may be harmless error. To determine whether the error is harmless, we assess the record as a whole to measure the probable impact of the improper evidence on the jury. If we can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not influence the jury verdict, the error is harmless. Henson v. State, 514 N.E.2d 1064, 1067 (Ind.1987).

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Related

Taylor v. State
717 N.E.2d 90 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1999)
Collier v. State
715 N.E.2d 940 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)
In the Matter of Horine.
699 N.E.2d 270 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1998)
Angle v. State
698 N.E.2d 356 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1998)

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699 N.E.2d 270, 1998 WL 420650, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-state-indctapp-1998.