Ziebell v. State

788 N.E.2d 902, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 878, 2003 WL 21212781
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 27, 2003
Docket82A01-0206-CR-229
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 788 N.E.2d 902 (Ziebell v. State) 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
Ziebell v. State, 788 N.E.2d 902, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 878, 2003 WL 21212781 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

OPINION

SHARPNACK, Judge.

Rumero W. Ziebell appeals his convie-tions for murder,1 conspiracy to commit murder as a class A felony,2 confinement as a class B felony,3 battery as a class C felony,4 and his status as an habitual of-fender.5 Ziebell raises eight issues, which we consolidate and restate as:

[906]*906I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting photographs of the crime scene and injuries to the victim;
II. - Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of Ziebell's prior drug dealing;
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Ziebell's motion for a mistrial regarding evidence of his prior drug dealing; TIL.
IV. Whether the habitual offender statute, Ind.Code § 85-50-2-8, is unconstitutional because it punishes Ziebell for his status and because it violates the prohibition against double jeopardy;
v. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by requiring Ziebell's presence during the habitual offender phase of the trial;
VI. - Whether the trial court abused its discretion by permitting Ziebell's prior counsel to testify regarding Ziebell's identity during the habitual offender phase of the trial; and
Whether the trial court committed fundamental error by commenting upon Ziebell's failure to testify. VIL

We affirm.

The relevant facts follow. On March 19, 2001, the State charged Ziebell with three counts of dealing in methamphetamine and one count of dealing in marijuana. Ziebell thought that a "snitch" named Mackey was involved in the charges. Transeript at 116. In fact, Mackey was not the confidential informant. However, in late May of 2001, Ziebell told Al Gross and Dean Everett that he wanted to kill Mackey and offered Gross or Everett $1500 to do so. Everett agreed to kill Mackey.

On May 27, 2001, Everett and Ronald Mackey were driving in Mackey's van. The evidence at trial demonstrated that Ziebell, Everett, and Gross actually intended to kill Dallas Mackey, Ronald's brother, and mistook Ronald for Dallas. Ziebell and Gross followed the van. After stopping, Mackey was removed from the van and severely beaten. Mackey was then put back into the van, and Everett drove him to Kentucky. Everett then shot Mackey in the head with Ziebell's shotgun. Ziebell and Gross drove Everett back to Indiana. Ziebell admitted that he participated in Mackey's murder.

The State charged Ziebell with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, a class A felony, confinement, a class B felony, battery, a class C felony, and being an habitual offender. During the jury trial, the trial court admitted photographs of the crime seene and Mackey's injuries over Ziebell's objections. The trial court also admitted evidence of Ziebell's prior drug dealing over his objections and refused to grant a mistrial based upon the admission of the prior drug dealing evidence. However, the trial court admonished the jury to consider the evidence of Ziebell's drug dealing only as to motive. The jury found Ziebell guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, confinement, and battery.

During the habitual offender phase of the trial, Ziebell argued that the habitual offender statute was unconstitutional because it punishes a defendant for his status and because it violates the prohibition against double jeopardy. The trial court overruled Ziebell's objections. Additionally, at the start of the habitual offender proceedings, Ziebell informed his counsel that he did not wish to be present during the proceedings. The trial court denied his request because his presence was necessary for identification purposes. The State then called Ziebell's former counsel as a witness to testify as to Ziebell's identity. Ziebell objected based upon the attor[907]*907ney-client privilege. However, the trial court overruled his objection. Furthermore, while discussing Ziebell's objections to his former attorney testifying during the habitual offender trial, the trial court stated "since the client is not testifying. Are you objecting to this witness['s] testimony on the grounds of your client's Fifth Amendment rights?" Transeript at 850. Ziebell's counsel responded that the trial court was correct, and the trial court overruled his objection. The jury found Zie-bell guilty of being an habitual offender.

The trial court sentenced Ziebell to: (1) ninety-five years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the murder convietion enhanced by Ziebell's status as an habitual offender; (2) fifty years for the conspiracy to commit murder conviction to run concurrent with the sentence for the murder conviction; (8) twenty years for the confinement conviction to run consecutive to the sentence for the murder convietion; and (4) eight years for the battery conviction to run consecutive to the sentence for the confinement conviction. Thus, Ziebell received an aggregate sentence of 123 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

L.

The first issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting photographs of the crime seene and injuries to the victim. Because the admission and exclusion of evidence falls within the sound discretion of the trial court, we review the admission of photographic evidence only for abuse of discretion. Wilson v. State, 765 N.E.2d 1265, 1272 (Ind.2002). An abuse of discretion occurs "where the decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances." Smith v. State, 754 N.E.2d 502, 504 (Ind.2001).

Ziebell argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the following photographs into evidence over his objection: (1) Exhibit 5, a photograph of the inside of the van; (2) Exhibit 6, a photograph of the shotgun lying inside of the van; (8) Exhibit 7, a photograph of Mackey's body inside the van, (4) Exhibit 9, a photograph of Mackey's left hand and head; (5) Exhibit 10, a photograph of Mackey's jacket; (6) Exhibit 11, a photograph of damage to Mackey's jacket; (7) Exhibit 12, a photograph of damage to Mackey's shirt; (8) Exhibit 14, a photograph of injuries to Mackey's head; (9) Exhibit 15, a photograph of injuries to Mackey's head and neck; (10) Exhibit 16, a photograph of an injury to Mackey's arm; (11) Exhibit 17, a photograph of injuries to Mackey's back; (12) Exhibit 18, a photograph of injuries to Mackey's right hand; and (13) Exhibit 19, a photograph of injuries to Mackey's head. Ziebell argues that the probative value of the photographs is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Ziebell does not argue that the photographs show the body in an altered condition. See, eg., Corbett v. State, 764 N.E.2d 622, 627 (Ind.2002) ("Autopsy photographs are generally inadmissible if they show the body in an altered condition.").

Our supreme court recently noted the following with respect to the admission of such photographs:

Relevant evidence, including photographs, may be excluded only if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

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Ziebell v. State
788 N.E.2d 902 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
788 N.E.2d 902, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 878, 2003 WL 21212781, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ziebell-v-state-indctapp-2003.