FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
GEOFFREY A. RIVERS JEFFREY A. MODISETT
Muncie, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
PRESTON W. BLACK
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
EDDIE GRIFFIN, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 18A02-9609-CR-602
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
II. Whether the trial court erred by admitting a transcript of Griffin's co-
conspirator's testimony from the first trial.
III. Whether the trial court erred by excluding evidence that Griffin's co-
conspirator made statements, during the same time period as the
conspiracy to rob Turner, that he desired to kill somebody.
IV. Whether the trial court erred by excluding psychological evidence
regarding Griffin's ability to form the requisite intent to commit the
crimes.
We affirm.
money so that they could all leave town together. The four men agreed that they would set
up a drug deal with the victim, David Turner, and rob him of a large quantity of marijuana.
On June 15, 1993, Hartman paged Turner and arranged to meet him at a Muncie hotel
for the purpose of purchasing ten pounds of marijuana. Hartman met Turner and brought
him and the ten pounds of marijuana to a residence where Griffin, Craig, and Ransom were
waiting. The four men attacked Turner and robbed him of the marijuana. Turner died in the
incident.
All four men were charged with felony murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit
robbery. Craig and Ransom pled guilty to robbery. Hartman and Griffin went to trial.
Hartman was convicted as charged.
Griffin was acquitted of felony murder, and a mistrial
was declared
on the robbery and conspiracy charges
because the jury was unable to reach a
verdict. Griffin was retried on those charges and convicted. Griffin appeals from those
convictions.
The recent case of Games v. State, 684 N.E.2d 466 (Ind. 1997), reh'g granted, opinion
modified on other grounds, 1997 WL 795861, changed the law on double jeopardy in
Indiana. The supreme court held that the determination of whether the defendant's conduct
constitutes more than one offense is to be made by examining only the statutory elements
comprising the offenses without regard to the manner in which the offenses were charged,
the jury was instructed, or the nature of the underlying proof necessary to prove the elements,
as in pre-Games cases. Id. at 477.See footnote
3
The double jeopardy determination is made according
to the Blockburger test:
"[W]here the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct
statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two
offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of an additional
fact which the other does not."
Blockburger, 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S. Ct. at 182.
Here, as in Games, the question is whether murder and Class A robbery constitute the
same offense for double jeopardy purposes. In Games, our supreme court held that
convictions for both Class A robbery and murder did not violate double jeopardy principles
because:
"[E]ach statute requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not:
Murder requires a knowing or intentional killing; Class A Robbery requires
that property be taken, resulting in some type of bodily injury to a person other
than the defendant."
Games, 684 N.E.2d at 477.See footnote
4
Under this analysis, Griffin's retrial for robbery following his
acquittal for felony murder does not offend double jeopardy principles.
Similarly, murder and conspiracy to commit robbery are not the same offense for
double jeopardy purposes. Under IC 35-41-5-2, a conspiracy exists upon proof that a person,
with the intent to commit a felony, agrees with another to commit that felony and that an
overt act was taken in furtherance of that agreement. Thus, conspiracy requires proof of an
agreement, an element not required by the murder statute.
As noted above, murder requires
proof of a killing, an element
not required by the conspiracy statute. Thus, murder and
conspiracy to commit robbery each contain an element that the other does not and are not the
same offense for double jeopardy purposes.
Griffin also claims, for the first time on appeal, that the State was collaterally estopped
from retrying the robbery and conspiracy charges. Griffin's motion to dismiss and related
trial objections were based only on double jeopardy grounds. No collateral estoppel claim
was submitted to the trial court. Absent the trial court's ruling on the issue, we will not
consider it on appeal. See Dixon, 509 U.S. at 712, 113 S. Ct. at 2864 n.17 (while noting
possible implications of collateral estoppel issue, Supreme Court did not decide issue
because neither lower court ruled on it).
(1) Former Testimony. Testimony given as a witness at another
hearing of the same or a different proceeding, or in a deposition taken in
compliance with law in the course of the same or another proceeding, if the
party against whom the testimony is now offered, or, in a civil action or
proceeding, a predecessor in interest, had an opportunity and similar motive
to develop the testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination."
Admission of former testimony of an unavailable witness is a matter of trial court discretion. Lowery v. State, 478 N.E.2d 1214, 1223 (Ind. 1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1098, 106 S. Ct. 1500, 89 L. Ed. 2d 900 (1986). A witness' refusal to testify renders him unavailable for purposes of using his prior testimony. Kellems v. State, 651 N.E.2d 326, 328 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).
Here, Craig was unavailable by reason of having refused to testify. Griffin had a full
opportunity at the first trial to cross examine Craig and, in fact, thoroughly performed such
cross examination. Griffin's motive in the first trial was similar, if not identical, to his motive
in the second trial: present the best possible defense to the criminal charges against him.
The trial court properly admitted the transcript of Craig's testimony from the first trial.See footnote
5
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
EDDIE GRIFFIN, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 18A02-9609-CR-602
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee. )
SULLIVAN, Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part
I fully concur with respect to Parts II, III and IV. As to Part I, I dissent.
Although the majority highlights the fact that robbery as a Class A felony and murder
do not constitute the same offense for double jeopardy purposes, it does not pose the truly
pertinent question: Are robbery as a Class A felony and felony murder the same offense for
double jeopardy purposes? Our Supreme Court has held that, "when a felony-murder results
from a killing in the commission of a robbery, the robbery is the lesser included offense of
the felony-murder." Eddy v. State (1986) Ind., 496 N.E.2d 24, 29. See also Collier v. State
(1984) Ind., 470 N.E.2d 1340.
As that court pointed out in Kennedy v. State (1996) Ind., 674 N.E.2d 966, 967, "the
conviction for murder while in the commission of a felony could not occur without proof of
the accompanying felony." The majority here opines that murder requires a knowing or
intentional killing while Class A robbery requires that property be taken, resulting in serious
bodily injury or death and that therefore each contains an element not present in the other.
The majority relies upon Games, supra, 684 N.E.2d at 466, for its conclusion that the
retrial here does not offend double jeopardy. In Games, our Supreme Court determined that
one should look only to the statutory elements of the offenses in order to determine whether
a double jeopardy prohibition exists. Id. at 477. The dispositive question under Games is
"whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact that the other does not."
Blockburger v. United States (1932) 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182.
Games has not rendered the lesser included offense doctrine impotent in Indiana. As
the majority concludes, Class A robbery requires: 1) that property is taken, and 2) that either
bodily injury or death results. Felony murder requires :1) the underlying felony or an
attempt, and 2) death. The first element of felony murder requires the proof of the felony --
thus all the requirements of that felony. The second requirement of felony murder is death.
Although felony murder requires proof of an element not inherent in Class A robbery, Class
A robbery does not require the proof of any element that is not required under felony murder.
Stated somewhat differently, in order to convict of Class A robbery, the State must
demonstrate: 1) a taking of property, and 2) serious bodily injury or death. In order to
convict of felony murder here, the State must demonstrate: 1) a taking of property, 2) serious
bodily injury or death, and 3) death. It is of no moment that death may satisfy both the
second and third elements of the felony murder. The State must still prove each element to
prove felony murder including a taking.See footnote
6
However, it becomes apparent to me that the Games test simply does not work here.
Theoretically, felony murder, as per its statutory elements, merely requires that any of the
enumerated felonies be committed or attempted and that a human being is killed. I.C. 35-42-
1-1 (Burns Code Ed. Repl. 1994). Therefore, each of the enumerated felonies is an included
offense of felony murder. In order to determine whether felony murder and the underlying
felony constitute the same crime, one must look to felony murder as charged. Here,
however, even if we look to the offenses as charged, we find that they are the same for
double jeopardy purposes.
Although decided before Games, our Supreme Court addressed an analogous situation
in Buie v. State (1994) Ind., 633 N.E.2d 250. There the court noted that "where the overt act
element of the conspiracy charge is the underlying offense, and where the State has obtained
a conviction for conspiracy based upon the commission of the underlying offense, the State
may not subsequently pursue a prosecution for the underlying offense." Id. at 261. The same
result would follow if the defendant had been acquitted of the conspiracy charge. See
Redman v. State (1997) Ind.App., 679 N.E.2d 927, trans denied. The Supreme Court has not
seen fit to revisit or overrule Buie.
It appears clear that Games has done nothing to disturb prior Supreme Court precedent
that the robbery here is a lesser-included offense of the felony murder charge. For this
reason, I dissent as to Part I.
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