Thompson v. State

492 N.E.2d 264, 65 A.L.R. 4th 805, 1986 Ind. LEXIS 1125
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 25, 1986
Docket882S303
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 492 N.E.2d 264 (Thompson 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
Thompson v. State, 492 N.E.2d 264, 65 A.L.R. 4th 805, 1986 Ind. LEXIS 1125 (Ind. 1986).

Opinions

DICKSON, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Jay R. Thompson was found guilty by a jury in the Harrison Cireuit Court of two counts of intentional killing while committing the crimes of burglary and robbery. The State requested the imposition of the death penalty but the jury declined to recommend it be imposed. The trial judge, however, found two aggravating circumstances present: intentionally killing during the commission of burglary and robbery and conviction of another murder. Accordingly, he ordered the imposition of the death penalty. The fifteen issues presented by the defendant for our review in this direct appeal are as follows:

1. denial of Defendant's motion to sequester the jury during trial;
2. imposition of the death sentence after the jury had declined to recommend it;
3. unconstitutionality of the Indiana death penalty scheme;
4. the trial court's failure to properly find aggravating factors supporting the death sentence;
5. failure of the trial court to enter judgment prior to sentencing;
6. denial of Defendant's motion to strike the jury venire panel;
7. voir dire of the jury during trial by the trial judge;
8. admission into evidence of photographs and slides of the crime scene;
9. overruling of Defendant's objections to the State's amendment of its witness list;
10. improper examination of a witness regarding Defendant's employment record; .
11. improper cross examination of Defendant regarding prior inconsistent statements;
12. denial of Defendant's motion for a psychiatric examination of a State's witness;
13. denial of tendered verdict forms on lesser included offenses;
14. error of the court in ruling on Defendant's objections and motions; ard
[267]*26715. newly discovered evidence.

The testimony and evidence at trial showed that Richard Dillon and Defendant Jay R. Thompson planned to burglarize the home of William and Mary Hilborn in Pe-tersburg, Pike County, Indiana, about three days prior to March 8, 1982. On Sunday, March 8, 1982, Dillon and Thompson drove to Petersburg, observed the area of the Hilborn home and passed the church the Hilborns attended. Apparently presuming that the Hilborns were still in church, they parked Thompson's green Pinto automobile some blocks from the Hil-born residence and proceeded there on foot. When they arrived, they found the Hil-borns at home so they obtained entry by pretending to be looking for one Eddie Beadles. After being admitted to use the phone, they accosted the Hilborns to obtain money that was known to be kept by Hil borns in their home. Dillon possessed a "buck" knife and Thompson a folding pocket knife. During the confrontation and scuffle Dillon stabbed each of the Hilborns with his "buck" knife, injuring them. After stabbing Mr. Hilborn, both Dillon and Thompson forced Mary Hilborn, by holding a knife under her chin, to obtain money for them. Dillon then cut the telephone line and stabbed Mrs. Hilborn: After she fell to the floor, Dillon cut her throat with the "buck" knife. As they were leaving the house, Thompson stopped near the kitchen door and told Dillion they could not leave until they were sure the Hilborns were dead. Thompson then stabbed both Hil-borns to ensure they were dead. According to Dr. Pless, the pathologist, the fatal wound to William Hilborna's chest and heart was not made by the "buck" knife but by a knife similar to or the same as the folding knife carried by Thompson. The knife's angle of entry into the chest indicated that the assailant was kneeling on the right side of William Hilborn and the size of the wound and time inflicted indicated defendant Thompson inflicted the wound to the chest and heart of William Hilborn with the folding knife. Dr. Pless further testified the wound in Mrs. Hilborn's back indicated she was lying on her side at the time of the infliction of the back wound which pierced her aorta. The size of the wound in the back indicated the use of a knife smaller than the "buck" knife. The blood on her dress around the back of her shoulders, the back of her neck and on the carpet immediately adjacent to her back and shoulders, indicated she bled from the neck onto the carpet while lying face up. The position of her body indicated she was rolled to her left prior to being stabbed in her back. Dillon at first denied any complicity in these crimes but later testified for the State and implicated Thompson in the two murders. Dillon's testimony was corroborated by police investigation which revealed human blood on Defendant Thompson's jeans and human blood similar to the vie-tim's on one of Defendant's gloves. Thompson was a seventeen (17) year-old juvenile when he committed these crimes, but the juvenile court waived jurisdiction and he was tried as an adult,. The jury found Defendant guilty of the murders but did not recommend the death penalty. The trial judge, however, found statutory aggravating circumstances to exist and imposed the death penalty on Defendant Thompson.

I

Appellant Thompson claims the trial court committed reversible error by denying his Motion to Sequester the jury, citing Lowery v. State (1982), Ind., 434 N.E.2d 868, reh. denied, (Givan, C.J., and Pivarnik, J., dissenting). The record shows that on January 28, 1982, both Appellant and the State accepted the jurors and alternates selected to try Appellant's case and the jurors and alternates were sworn by the trial judge. The trial judge then admonished the jury preparatory to releasing it for the evening. At this point Appellant made an oral motion to have the jury sequestered for the trial The trial judge denied the motion. The jury was then allowed to separate each night following a detailed admonition by the trial judge not to discuss the case with anyone nor to read or listen to any news accounts of the trial [268]*268About midway through the trial, the State requested the court to voir dire the jury to determine whether any of them had been exposed to a certain TV program that discussed the death penalty. The trial judge did voir dire the members of the jury who demonstrated they had not to that point been exposed to extrancous sources of information concerning the trial and their judgment had not been affected in that manner. From that point on, however, the trial judge did sequester the jury until a verdict was reached. On March 5, 1982, the jury recommended against the death penalty. At sentencing on March 18, the trial court imposed a sentence of death.

It is true in Lowery, supra, a majority of this Court held that when a motion to sequester is timely made in a capital case, sequestration is mandatory and failure to order sequestration is reversible error. Further, Appellant is not required to demonstrate prejudice by the failure to sequester the jury. In Lowery, supra, the motion for sequestration of the jury was made prior to trial and was clearly timely. Here, the motion was made not as timely. It was made after the jury had been chosen and sworn and was about to be released for the day.

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Bluebook (online)
492 N.E.2d 264, 65 A.L.R. 4th 805, 1986 Ind. LEXIS 1125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-state-ind-1986.