Washington v. State

685 N.E.2d 724, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 1355
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided September 22, 1997·No. No. 45A03-9609-CR-319·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

OPINION

HOFFMAN, Judge.

Appellant-defendant Randall Washington appeals his conviction for voluntary manslaughter, a Class A felony. The facts most favorable to the judgment are recited below.

Lawrence Bradford and Jacqueline Dozier began dating in 1992. In the fall of 1993, however, the relationship ended and Dozier began a friendship with Washington. When Bradford discovered Dozier and Washington’s relationship and suspected that the two had become more than friends, Bradford began threatening Washington. On several occasions, Bradford and Washington were seen arguing over Dozier.

On the evening of February 2, 1994, Lawrence Bradford and Kyran Sims arrived at the Blue Max, a nightclub located in East Chicago. The two came in Bradford’s black pickup truck to pick up Dozier. Sims remained in the truck while Bradford entered the club. Five minutes later, Bradford exited the club with Dozier and Bradford’s friend, Paul Lewis. Bradford and Dozier then entered Bradford’s truck.

At the same time, Washington exited the club with his two friends, Baron Moss and Nathaniel Simmons. The group walked across the parking lot of the club to Moss’ car. As they walked, Lewis called to Washington and asked him to come to Bradford’s truck. Not wanting any trouble, Washington and his friends ignored Lewis and quickly walked to Moss’ car. Bradford then drove his truck across the parking lot to Moss’ car, leaped out of the truck, and confronted Washington about his relationship with Dozier. Simmons stepped between the two and attempted to quell the escalating situation. At that time, Bradford pulled out a gun and fired one shot. Simmons fell to the ground and rolled under Moss’ car. Thinking that Simmons had been shot, Washington reached into the passenger side of Moss’ car and grabbed a gun that was lying on the front seat. Washington then turned to run away from Bradford. As he ran, Washington repeatedly fired the gun at Bradford. Bradford died from two gunshot wounds to the chest.

[727] Washington was charged by information with murder, a felony. A jury trial was held. At the close of the State’s case, Washington moved for judgment on the evidence. The motion was denied. At the conclusion of the trial, Washington was found guilty of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter. Washington now appeals the judgment.

On appeal, Washington raises the following issues:

(1) whether the trial court erred in giving a voluntary manslaughter instruction; and
(2) whether the trial court erred in denying Washington’s motion for judgment on the evidence.

Washington first argues that the trial court erred in sua sponte and over his objection giving an instruction on voluntary manslaughter. Our supreme court has held that the trial court should apply a three-step test to determine whether the trial court should have given an instruction on a lesser-included offense. Wright v. State, 658 N.E.2d 563, 566-67 (Ind.1995). First, the court should determine whether the claimed lesser offense is inherently included, in the language of the statute. If the offense is inherently included, then the court should proceed to step three below. Id. Second, if the court determines that the alleged lesser-included offense is not inherently included in the crime charged under step one, then it must determine whether the claimed offense is factually included in the crime charged by the charging document. Id. Third, if the court determines that the lesser charge is either inherently or factually included, then it must determine whether there is evidence before the jury that the lesser-included offense was committed. Id. This part of the test hinges on whether a serious evidentiary dispute exists with respect to the element which distinguishes the greater and lesser offenses. Lynch v. State, 571 N.E.2d 537, 539 (Ind.1991).

Applying the first step to the case at bar, it is clear that voluntary manslaughter is an inherently lesser-included offense of murder. Voluntary manslaughter is simply murder mitigated by evidence of sudden heat. Griffin v. State, 644 N.E.2d 561, 562 (Ind.1994). Therefore, having determined that voluntary manslaughter is inherently included, the third step of the Wright analysis required the trial court to determine whether there was evidence before the jury that the lesser-included offense was committed.

Killing in the sudden heat of passion is the feature that distinguishes voluntary manslaughter from murder. Sudden heat is demonstrated by evidence of anger, rage, sudden resentment, or terror that is sufficient to obscure the reason of an ordinary man. Griffin, 644 N.E.2d at 562. To support the giving of a voluntary manslaughter instruction, there must be sufficient provocation to induce such passion to render the defendant incapable of cool reflection. Id. The standard for determining whether a voluntary manslaughter instruction is proper is not a high one: the instruction is justified if there is “any appreciable evidence of sudden heat.” Id.

In the present ease, the evidence was sufficient to warrant giving a voluntary manslaughter instruction. The evidence presented at trial showed that as Washington and his friends left the nightclub and approached their car, Paul Lewis, a friend of Bradford’s, called to Washington and asked him to come to Bradford’s truck. Washington testified that he did not want any trouble, and he and his friends hurried to their car. When Washington refused to approach Bradford’s truck, Bradford drove his truck across the parking lot to the car Washington and his friends were attempting to enter, leaped out of the truck, quickly walked over to Washington, and initiated a confrontation. The testimony during the trial established that as Bradford approached Washington, he stated, “I’m going to kill this mother fucker,” “I want to talk to you mother fucker,” and “I’m going to handle my business.” Bradford then pulled out a gun and fired one shot. Washington then reached into the car, removed a gun, and began to run from Bradford. As he ran, Washington fired the gun repeatedly at Bradford.

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Washington v. State, 685 N.E.2d 724, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 1355 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997).

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