Timothy L Hall, Jr. v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 20, 2024
Docket22A-CR-03007
StatusPublished

This text of Timothy L Hall, Jr. v. State of Indiana (Timothy L Hall, Jr. v. State of Indiana) 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
Timothy L Hall, Jr. v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

FILED Mar 20 2024, 8:47 am

CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court

IN THE

Court of Appeals of Indiana Timothy L. Hall, Jr., Appellant-Defendant

v.

State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

March 20, 2024 Court of Appeals Case No. 22A-CR-3007 Appeal from the Allen Superior Court The Honorable David M. Zent, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 02D06-2006-MR-000019

Opinion by Judge Felix Judges Pyle and Kenworthy concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-3007 | March 20, 2024 Page 1 of 18 Felix, Judge.

Statement of the Case1 [1] On June 13, 2020, Timothy L. Hall, Jr. was attending a birthday party with his

toddler son at the home of Hall’s sister and her fiancé, Manuel Mendez, in Fort

Wayne. Mendez and Hall argued, and Hall shot Mendez 18 times, killing him,

before Hall fled in his car with his son. A jury found Hall guilty of murder,

criminal recklessness, resisting law enforcement, and neglect of a dependent.

Hall now appeals his convictions and sentence, raising three issues for review:

1. Whether the trial court erred when it refused to allow him to “fully” impeach a witness; 2. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to rebut Hall’s self- defense claim; and 3. Whether his sentence is inappropriate considering the nature of his offenses and his character.

We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] On June 13, 2020, Hall and his two-year-old child arrived at a birthday party

hosted at 2136 Gilmore Drive in Fort Wayne, the home his sister, Kayla Cyrus

(“Sister”), shared with her fiancé, Manuel Mendez, and their children. Hall

1 We heard oral argument in this case on February 9, 2024, at Frankton Junior/Senior High School in Frankton. We thank the students, administration, faculty, and staff of the school for their hospitality and assistance. We would also like to thank counsel for the high quality of their oral presentations.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-3007 | March 20, 2024 Page 2 of 18 noticed that his sister had a black eye. When Hall asked her about it, she said

nothing had happened, but Hall believed Mendez had caused the black eye.

[3] Hall consumed alcohol during the party. Sister testified Hall was being “loud,

obnoxious, joking around,” “fell down a few times,” and was “very

intoxicated.” Tr. Vol. II at 65. Others at the party observed him “falling

backwards onto the ground” because he couldn’t stand up, id. at 120, and

“rolling around on the ground,” id. at 89.

[4] Mendez arrived home from work around midnight, while people were still

gathered at the home. Sometime thereafter, while Mendez was in the house,

Hall attempted to leave, taking his child with him. Hall’s vehicle was parked

on the street in front of Sister’s home. When Sister saw Hall attempting to

leave in his car, she tried to get Hall to stay because she was concerned over his

level of intoxication. Hall became upset because he wanted to leave. Sister

then suggested Hall just leave his child. Hall “began like getting really mad and

yelling” and “not making sense.” Tr. Vol. II at 66. Hall put his child in the car

seat in the back of the car, but Sister removed the child when Hall walked to the

driver side of the vehicle. Sister testified that Hall then came around from the

driver side with a gun, pointing it at her, and demanded she return his son to

him. Sister returned the child to Hall and walked away, going inside her home.

[5] Mendez came out of the house and asked Hall to talk. Hall and Mendez spoke

in the front yard, where it was dark. A witness testified that Hall became

“angry” while he and Mendez spoke. Tr. Vol. II at 92. The witness further

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-3007 | March 20, 2024 Page 3 of 18 testified that Hall “must have said something to [Mendez] because [Mendez]

was pulling up his pants like they were gonna fight.” Id. Hall testified that he

had confronted Mendez about Sister’s black eye and heard Mendez say

something like “kill you.” Tr. Vol. III at 78. Hall further testified that he saw

Mendez grab something, and then Mendez swung at him, after which Hall felt

a “sting” on his finger. Id. at 79. Hall said he tried to back away, but Mendez

swung at him a second time, after which Hall felt a sting on his finger again.

Hall believed Mendez had a knife. He testified that he was afraid of Mendez, it

was dark enough he could barely see Mendez, Mendez was a gang member,

and Mendez had told Hall he stored guns at someone else’s house and had

previously shot someone.

[6] Hall said he felt like Mendez was going to kill him, so Hall grabbed the gun he

had behind his waist, pulled the slide back to load a round in the chamber, and

fired at Mendez. Hall said Mendez was still coming toward him, so he

“panicked” and “kept shooting.” Tr. Vol. III at 80. However, witnesses who

were present at the time testified that Hall fired once at Mendez and missed;

fired a second time, causing Mendez to fall; and then walked around Mendez

and emptied the clip into Mendez’s body. Another witness testified that Hall

said, “I shot him.” Tr. Vol. II at 205. Hall then got in his car with his son and

left the scene. More than one witness called 911. Hall shot at Mendez eighteen

times, and Mendez died from the multiple gunshot wounds he received.

[7] After leaving Sister’s house, Hall drove through Fort Wayne, making several

turns. He saw headlights in his rearview mirror and believed he was being

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-3007 | March 20, 2024 Page 4 of 18 chased. A law enforcement officer located Hall and began pursuit. Former

Detective Everett White2 observed Hall increase his speed, drive on the wrong

side of the road, drive through yards, strike a parked car in a driveway, drive

through a red light, and strike vehicles at Larry’s Auto Sales when Hall was

unable to negotiate a turn. When Hall ultimately stopped, his car was no

longer drivable. Hall’s two-year-old child was in the car throughout the pursuit.

[8] Meanwhile, back at Sister and Mendez’s home, law enforcement officers

“searched [the yard] extremely carefully on multiple occasions” but “[t]here

were no weapons of any kind recovered from the area of the yard” around

Mendez’s body. Tr. Vol. III at 56. In other words, the knife Hall claimed that

Mendez used against him was not recovered. Additionally, Hall did not have

any “marks, bruises, cuts, or welts” on his hands. Tr. Vol. II at 205. There was

nothing that corroborated Hall’s claim that he felt “stings” on his fingers.

[9] The State charged Hall with murder;3 pointing a firearm as a Level 6 felony;4

criminal recklessness as a Level 6 felony;5 resisting law enforcement as a Level

2 Sometime before trial, Detective White changed his name to Diesel Black. Detective White left his job at the Fort Wayne Police Department before the trial. 3 Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1. 4 Id. § 35-47-4-3. 5 Id. § 35-42-2-2.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-CR-3007 | March 20, 2024 Page 5 of 18 6 felony;6 and neglect of a dependent as a Level 6 felony. 7 The State also filed

an information seeking an enhanced sentence for use of a firearm.8

[10] At trial, Sister testified that she had gone back inside her home after her attempt

to keep Hall from leaving, and then she heard Hall yelling “look at my sister[’]s

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