Waye v. State

263 N.E.2d 165, 255 Ind. 136, 1970 Ind. LEXIS 462
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 26, 1970
Docket268S35
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 263 N.E.2d 165 (Waye 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
Waye v. State, 263 N.E.2d 165, 255 Ind. 136, 1970 Ind. LEXIS 462 (Ind. 1970).

Opinions

Givan, J.

Appellant was found guilty of the crime of second degree burglary after a trial by jury. Appellant was sentenced to the Indiana State Prison for a term of not less than two nor more than five years.

Although appellant assigns as error the overruling of his motion for a new trial and his belated motion for new trial, the only argument which appellant presents to this Court concerns alleged misconduct of the jury in what appellant claims is an unauthorized view of the premises. The other issues which were raised in appellant’s motions for new trial and in his assignment of errors were neither briefed nor argued before this Court, and are, therefore, [137]*137deemed to have been waived. Krivanek v. State (1969), 252 Ind. 277, 247 N. E. 2d 505, 17 Ind. Dec. 489.

The appellant was accused of burglarizing a business establishment in downtown Lafayette, Indiana, known as Wagon Wheel, Inc., doing business as the Fireside Lounge.

A police officer had testified at the trial that while seated in his patrol car at an intersection some 200 feet from the building in question he observed the appellant emerge from the building.

Affidavits submitted by the foreman of the jury and one other member of the jury read as follows:

“STATE OF INDIANA
COUNTY OF TIPPECANOE
AFFIDAVIT
“Comes now Gilbert S. Banker, being first duly sworn upon his oath and says:
“1. That he sat as a juror in the criminal trial of Robert E. Waye on November 14, 1967, the same being Cause No. S-3165 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
“2. That he was selected as foreman in said jury.
“3. That on the 15th day of November, 1967, at a time after which the cause had been submitted to the jury, a first ballot was taken by said jury with the results being, to the best of his memory, 7 votes of guilty and the balance being not guilty or undecided.
“4. That throughout the entire deliberations of said jury upon the question of second degree burglary, the crucial element upon which the jury disagreed was that of entry of the defendant.
“5. That after the abovementioned first ballot, the jury was taken by the bailiff to the Downtowner Restaurant.
“6. That upon going to and returning from said restaurant, the jury had occasion to and did view the scene of the alleged crime.
“7. That after returning to said jury room, the views observed by the jurors were openly discussed by all jurors present.
“8. That the question of entry depended directly upon the jury’s determination as to whether Officer Moser was [138]*138clearly able to see the defendant entering or exiting from said building.
“9. That said jurors, in their deliberations, discussed the view which they had observed in relation to that which Officer Moser had testified to having seen.
“ ‘EXHIBIT A’
“10. That the jury openly discussed what they had observed in relation to the fact that the scene was dark both at the time which they observed it and at the time referred to in Officer Moser’s testimony.”
“STATE OF INDIANA 1
COUNTY OF TIPPECANOE j
SS:
“AFFIDAVIT
“Comes now Patricia Eylens, being first duly sworn and upon her oath says:
“1. That she sat as a juror in the criminal trial of Robert E. Waye on' November 14, 1967, the same being Cause No. S-3165 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
. “2. That on the 15th day of November, 1967, at a time after which the cause had been submitted to the jury, several ballots were taken by said jury with the results being that the jury was undecided as to its verdict.
“3. That throughout the deliberations of said jury, upon the question of the guilty or innocence of the defendant on the charge of second degree burglary, the element upon which the jury disagreed was that of entry by the defendant.
“4. That after the above-mentioned ballots, the jury was taken by the bailiff to the Downtowner Restaurant for dinner.
“5. That upon going to and returning from said restaurant, the jury had occasion to and did view the scene of the alleged crime.
“6. That after returning to said jury room, the views observed by the jurors were openly discussed in the presences of all jurors.
“7. That the above-mentioned question of entry clearly depended upon the jury’s determination as to whether prosecuting witness Edward Moser was able to see the defendant entering or exiting from said alleged scene in view of the conditions prevailing, to-wit: darkness and distance.
[139]*139“8. That said jurors, in their deliberations, discussed the view which they had observed in relation to that which Edward Moser had testified to having seen, and at that time compared said said views and considered the fact that they had observed the
“ ‘EXHIBIT C’
scene after dark and from the approximate distance at which Mr. Moser testified to having observed the scene.
“9. That affiant believes that these deliberations regarding their view of the scene contributed to some degree to the ultimate verdict of the jurors in regard to the element of entry.”

The State filed the affidavit of the bailiff, which affidavit reads as follows:

“STATE OF INDIANA 1
COUNTY OF TIPPECANOE j
bb:
“AFFIDAVIT
“Richard Vandermay, Sr., being first duly sworn upon his oath, deposes and says:
“1. That he was the baliff for the Superior Court of Tippecanoe County in the criminal trial of Robert E. Waye on November 14, 1967, the same being Cause No. S-3165.
“2. That on the 15th day of November, 1967, the said cause was submitted to the Jury and they commenced their deliberations.
“3. That while the Jury was deliberating said cause, the Jury was taken by the baliff from Tippecanoe County Courthouse east on the north side of Main Street to the Downtowner Restaurant which is located east of the intersection of Fifth Street and Main on the North side of Main Street in the City of Lafayette, Indiana, at approximately 5:55 P.M. C.D.T. for their dinner.
“4. After the completion of the Jury’s dinner, the Jury returned to the Tippecanoe County Courthouse by the same route.
“5. At no time did the Jury or any of its members while in the custody of the baliff going to the restaurant or returning to the Courthouse, walk past the Fireside Lounge which is located north on Fifth Street, the third business [140]

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Related

Grigsby v. State
371 N.E.2d 384 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1978)
Watkins v. State
229 S.E.2d 465 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1976)
Commonwealth v. Price
307 A.2d 374 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)
Waye v. State
263 N.E.2d 165 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1970)

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Bluebook (online)
263 N.E.2d 165, 255 Ind. 136, 1970 Ind. LEXIS 462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waye-v-state-ind-1970.