Thurston v. State

472 N.E.2d 198, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 725
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 4, 1985
Docket1282S496
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 472 N.E.2d 198 (Thurston 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
Thurston v. State, 472 N.E.2d 198, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 725 (Ind. 1985).

Opinion

DeBRULER, Justice.

Defendant-appellant, Leslie Mark Thur-ston, was charged by information with two counts of child molesting, Ind.Code § 85-42-4-8(a) (Burns 1979 Repl.), and one count of incest, Ind.Code § 835-46-1-3 (Burns 1979 Repl.) on October 18, 1981. Following a trial to the judge without a jury on July 13 and 14, 1982, defendant was found guilty on one count of child molesting and not guilty on the other two counts. He was sentenced to serve fourteen years in prison on his conviction.

In this direct appeal, defendant raises several issues:

(1) Whether the trial judge erred by permitting the State to introduce evidence of the time and place of the offense contrary to that stated in defendant's notice of alibi because the State's response to that notice was not timely filed.
(2) Whether the trial judge committed error in ruling that the State's response to defendant's notice of alibi was adequate.
(3) Whether the trial judge erroneously ruled that the victim's pre-trial statement to police was admissible.
(4) Whether the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction because the State failed to show that the offense charged occurred within the time period set out in the State's response to defendant's notice of alibi.
(5) Whether the trial judge made an adequate statement of aggravating cireum-stances to justify the imposition of an enhanced sentence.

On September 25, 1981, TM., age ten, was brought to the police station by her father and gave a statement which was tape recorded and later transeribed. In her statement, TM. described in detail acts of sexual fondling that she, the defendant's six-year-old stepdaughter and a six-year-old neighbor girl had engaged in with the defendant. She stated that these acts always occurred on Thursdays from approximately 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. while defendant's wife was at night school and that they took place in defendant's apartment which was above the apartment in which she lived. She stated that this had happened about twenty to twenty-five times and that she had known defendant for seven or eight months. She also described an act of fellatio she had engaged in with the defendant and further claimed that defendant had taken nude photographs of her and of his stepdaughter. These pictures and others of the defendant and T.M. and the defendant and his stepdaughter engaged in acts of fellatio were seized from defendant's automobile pursuant to the execution of a search warrant. Defendant was convicted of molesting T.M.

1.

The information charging defendant with molesting TM. stated that this offense occurred "on or about the 10th day of September, 1981." On June 1, 1982, defendant filed a "Notice of Alibi Defense" pursuant to Ind.Code § 35-5-1-1 (Burns 1979 Repl.) [Acts 1985, ch. 228, §§ 1-8; 1974, P.L. 1438, §§ 36, 37 (repealed 1982); for new law see Ind.Code § 85-86-4-1 (Burns Supp.1984)] which provided in pertinent part:

*200 "Whenever a defendant in a criminal case ... shall propose to offer in his defense evidence of alibi, the defendant shall, not less than ten [10] days before the trial of such cause, file and serve upon the prosecuting attorney in such cause a notice in writing of his intention to offer such defense. The notice shall include specific information in regard to the exact place at which the defendant claims to have been at the time stated in the indictment or information as the time of such offense."

Defendant's notice stated that at the time of the offense as charged he was at 900 Belvedere Court, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana. This was his place of work.

He further requested that the prosecutor file a specific statement denoting the exact date, time and location of the offense charged under Ind.Code § 35-5-1-2 (Burns 1979 Repl.) [Acts 1985, ch. 228, §§ 1-8; 1974, P.L. 148, §§ 86, 37 (repealed 1982); for new law see Ind.Code § 35-836-4-2 (Burns Supp.1984)] which stated in part:

"In the defendant's notice, required under this chapter, the defendant may also expressly require the prosecuting attorney to file and to serve upon the defendant or upon his counsel a specific statement in regard to the exact date which the prosecutor proposes to present at trial as the date when, and the exact place which the prosecution proposes to present at the trial as the place where the defendant was alleged to have committed or to have participated in this offense. If the defendant's notice requires such statement by the prosecuting attorney ..., the prosecuting attorney shall file and serve such statement upon the defendant or upon his counsel not later than eight [8] days before the trial."

On June 4, 1982, the State filed its "Response to Defendant's Notice of Alibi" reciting that the State expected to prove at trial that the offenses occurred between April 1, 1981, and October 1, 1981, at 1805 % North Wabash Street, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, the defendant's residence. On June 9, 1982, the defendant filed a "Motion to Strike" claiming that the State's response to his notice of alibi did not state the exact date on which the offense charged occurred and praying that the court "require the State of Indiana to file an amended response to the alibi notice" stating that exact date of the offense. The trial court took defendant's motion under consideration and on July 1, 1982, granted it, ordering the State to file a more specific answer, while also ruling that the State did not have to be exact in its answer. On July 12, 1982, the day before defendant's trial began, the State filed a second "State's Response to Defendant's Notice of Alibi" which stated that the State expected to prove that the offense charged occurred between August 1, 1981, and October 1, 1981, at the North Wabash Street address.

At trial when the State's first witness, Officer Donald Mills, attempted to testify about the execution of the search warrant at 1805 % North Wabash, defense counsel objected and moved to strike the State's second response, in part on the basis that the State's response had not been timely filed and that therefore any evidence as to date and place different from that specified in the defendant's notice should be exelud-ed. In so asserting, he cited Ind.Code § 35-5-1-8 (Burns 1979 Repl.) [Acts 1985, ch. 228, §§ 1-8; 1974; PL. 148, §§ 36, 37 (repealed 1982); for new law see Ind.Code § 35-86-4-8 (Burns Supp.1984) ] which provided in part:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Richard B.E. Spoon v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Buzzard v. State
712 N.E.2d 547 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)
King v. State
560 N.E.2d 491 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1990)
Boyd v. State
546 N.E.2d 825 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1989)
Lanham v. State
540 N.E.2d 612 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1989)
Bixler v. State
537 N.E.2d 21 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1989)
Wesby v. State
535 N.E.2d 133 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1989)
McNeely v. State
529 N.E.2d 1317 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1988)
Andrews v. State
529 N.E.2d 360 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1988)
Larry v. State
517 N.E.2d 377 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1988)
Durham v. State
510 N.E.2d 202 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1987)
Guenther v. State
501 N.E.2d 1071 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1986)
Guenther v. State
495 N.E.2d 788 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1986)
Hobson v. State
495 N.E.2d 741 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1986)
Jackson v. State
485 N.E.2d 144 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1985)
Rust v. State
477 N.E.2d 262 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1985)
Clifford v. State
474 N.E.2d 963 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
472 N.E.2d 198, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thurston-v-state-ind-1985.