ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Steven E. Ripstra Jeffrey A. Modisett
Lytton & Ripstra Attorney General of Indiana
Jasper, Indiana
Priscilla J. Fossum
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
RAY OGLE, )
Defendant-Appellant, )
)
v. )
19S00-9610-CR-00640
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
Plaintiff-Appellee. )
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APPEAL FROM DUBOIS CIRCUIT COURT
The Honorable Hugo C. Songer, Judge
Cause No. 19C01-9508-CF-00188
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guilty but was unable to recommend whether the defendant should receive life
imprisonment without parole. The trial court then sentenced the defendant to 115 years
in prison by enhancing the murder sentence by 10 years, from 55 years to 65 years,
enhancing the robbery conviction by 20 years, from 30 to 50 years, and ordering that they
be served consecutively.
The claims presented relate to six issues: (1) probable cause for arrest; (2)
advisement of rights during questioning; (3) sufficiency of evidence; (4) admissibility of
witness credibility evidence; (5) availability of sentence to life imprisonment without
parole; and (6) propriety and reasonableness of sentence.
determination of probable cause is not one of mathematical precision, but rather is
grounded on notions of common-sense. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 235-36, 103 S.Ct.
2317, 2330-31, 76 L.Ed.2d 527, 546 (1983). The quantum of evidence necessary for
probable cause is determined on a case-by-case basis. Peterson v. State, 674 N.E.2d 528,
536 (Ind. 1996), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 858, 139 L.E.2d 757 (1998).
Officer Richard Chambers testified at the hearing on the motion to suppress.
According to his testimony, shortly after police discovered the victim's body at a Jasper
upholstery factory, a local bartender reported that the defendant had been in the
establishment that night with another man, that the defendant had various cuts and
scrapes on his face and hands, and that the defendant stated that he had been in a fight.
Officer Chambers knew that the victim had filed a criminal complaint a few days earlier
against the defendant for theft, although that case was still under investigation and had
not yet been resolved. The police, including Officer Chambers, went to the defendant's
residence, found no one present, but subsequently learned that Gary Chamberlain was the
man who was with the defendant at the bar. The police went to Chamberlain's last
known address. Upon arriving at the apartment, Chamberlain gave the police consent to
enter and the police discovered the defendant standing in a closet, holding what appeared
to be either a knife or pair of scissors. They ordered him to drop what he was holding
and then arrested him.
The prior history between the two men, the presence of cuts and scrapes on the
defendant's hands and face in close temporal and spatial proximity to the death of the
victim, the defendant's admission of being in a fight, and his hiding from police with a
weapon, combined together, constituted probable cause which would support a
warrantless arrest.
constitutional rights. Although it might be the better practice to reiterate such warnings
after an interruption of questioning, see Grimes v. State, 454 N.E.2d 388, 391 (Ind.
1983), a readvisement is only necessary when the interruption deprived the suspect of an
opportunity to make an informed and intelligent assessment of his interests. Heavrin v.
State, 675 N.E.2d 1075, 1081-82 (Ind. 1996); Shane v. State, 615 N.E.2d 425, 427 (Ind.
1993). If the interruption is part of a continual effort to investigate the suspect, then the
suspect's interests remain fairly clear. Shane, 615 N.E.2d at 427.
The undisputed evidence shows that the interruption in the interrogation was part
of a continual effort by the police to gather information, id., and, thus, the trial court
properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress his statements made during the
second interview.
credibility, we conclude that no reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. Case v. State, 458 N.E.2d 223, 226 (Ind. 1984); Loyd v.
State, 272 Ind. 404, 407, 398 N.E.2d 1260, 1264 (1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 881, 101
S.Ct. 231, 66 L.Ed.2d 105. To establish that a murder occurred, the State charged
alternatively that the defendant knowingly or intentionally killed the victim and that the
defendant killed the victim in the commission of a robbery. Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1
(1993). For robbery, the State charged that the defendant knowingly or intentionally took
the property of the victim by the use of force which resulted in serious bodily injury to
the victim. Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1 (1993).
The facts favorable to the judgment reveal that, at around 4:00 p.m. on the day of
the crime, the defendant talked with a woman about going to the movies but stated that he
had only a few dollars, not enough to pay for a movie. At 7:00 p.m. that evening, the
defendant, wearing a multi-colored shirt, got into the victim's cab, a tan Chevrolet
Cavalier with a sign on the top. At around 7:25, a tan car of the same type as the cab
with a sign on top was seen driving into a salvage yard from the direction of an
upholstery plant. Around a half an hour later, the defendant was seen running along the
railroad tracks from the salvage yard toward Jasper with chains hanging out of his pocket.
The defendant went to the boarding house where he was staying, showered, changed
clothes, and packed his belongings into two bags, which he then left outside the boarding
house in the alley.
The defendant went to a gas station convenience store, bought cigarettes, a
newspaper, and a large soda. He waited around a little while and then purchased white
adhesive tape which he used to bandage his fingers. The cashier also noticed a cut on his
face. The defendant told the cashier that he had been in one hell of a fight. Record at
1890.
Later the defendant went to Gary Chamberlain's apartment and asked Chamberlain
if he could stay there. Chamberlain noticed that the defendant seemed nervous and
jittery, Record at 1863, and that the defendant had cuts on his face and hands. When
Chamberlain asked what happened, the defendant responded that he had been in a fight.
The two men left to buy alcohol and the defendant paid with a twenty dollar bill. The
men also picked up the defendant's two bags behind the boarding house. Upon returning
to the apartment, the defendant told Chamberlain that he had cut the throats of two
people.See footnote
3
After 1:30 a.m., the woman to whom the defendant had talked regarding
attending a movie appeared at Chamberlain's apartment. The defendant told her that he
had been in a fight and that the police were probably looking for him.
At around 10:00 p.m. the victim's body was discovered in the parking lot of the
upholstery plant. His throat had been slit and his chest was crushed. The victim's wallet,
which had been connected to his belt with a chain, was missing. Upon investigation, the
police decided to question the defendant and found him at Chamberlain's apartment,
hiding in the closet. He had $58.87 in his possession and a bloody multi-colored shirt
was found in one of his bags. Police questioned the defendant, who stated that the cuts
and scrapes on his hands and face resulted from a fight with his girlfriend's step-father,
Dennis Dailey. Three witnesses, including Dailey, told police that, although Dailey had
seen and talked to the defendant that day, there was no physical contact between the two
men. The victim's cab was later found in the salvage yard.
The defendant admitted that he had been in the victim's cab that day, but stated
that he had only been in the rear seat. However, a blood stain inside the car on the
driver's side front door was consistent with the defendant's blood and inconsistent with
the victim's blood. The defendant's fingerprints were on the outside of the driver's side
front door. Further, there was evidence of a struggle with the assailant because the victim
had several long, red hairs in his hand and testimony established that the defendant had
long, red hair at the time, whereas the victim had short, red hair.
Although the evidence that the defendant committed murder and robbery is
circumstantial, a defendant may be convicted on wholly circumstantial evidence. Green
v. State, 587 N.E.2d 1314, 1315 (Ind. 1992). Here the evidence showed that the
defendant was the last person known to have been in the victim's cab, that he was seen in
the vicinity of the crime shortly thereafter, and that he had over $50.00 later in the
evening when he had earlier stated he did not have enough to go to a movie. There was
evidence that the victim had engaged in a struggle with his assailant, who had long, red
hair, as did the defendant. The victim's wallet, which was attached by a chain, was
missing and the defendant was seen after leaving the vicinity of the crime with chains
hanging out of his pockets. The defendant admitted having been in the victim's cab, and
the defendant's fingerprints were found on or in the front of the cab, as were blood stains
consistent with the defendant's blood type and inconsistent with the victim's blood type.
The defendant was seen wearing a multi-colored shirt when he entered the victim's cab,
and later a multi-colored shirt with blood on it was found in one of the defendant's bags.
Additionally, the defendant told his friend that he had cut the throats of two people, and
the victim died from a slit throat. The defendant acknowledged that he had been in a
fight and that the police would probably be looking for him.
This evidence was sufficient to enable a reasonable jury to find beyond a
reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally killed the victim during the course of a
robbery and that he stole the victim's money by the use or threat of force.
have resulted in a revocation of Dailey's probation. The defendant does not show how he
was harmed by the redaction of the sentencing and commitment order. Indiana Evidence
Rules provide that, Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes
evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected. Ind. Evidence Rule 103(a).
At trial, the defendant was allowed to cross-examine the community corrections director
for the county and present to the jury the fact that Dailey's probation could be revoked
for fighting. Thus, the jury properly heard other evidence of the bias or prejudice upon
which the defendant now predicates error. The defendant's substantial rights have not
been adversely affected.
Additionally, the defendant claims that character evidence indicating a propensity
for violence may be admissible where the witness's violent character is relevant. Brief
of Appellant at 17. However, a defendant may not state one ground at trial and another
on appeal; any such claim is waived. Bradford v. State, 675 N.E.2d 296, 302-03 (Ind.
1996) (citing Jester v. State, 551 N.E.2d 840, 843 (Ind. 1990)). At trial, the defendant
merely stated that the other convictions went beyond impeachment because they
pertained to the substantive evidence in the case. Record at 2469. Because the
defendant did not propose the evidence on the basis that it was character evidence
indicating a propensity for violence, he has waived this claim.
violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution.
However, the defendant did not receive a sentence of life imprisonment. Because the
defendant has not suffered any injury, we need not address the merits of his claim. Hall
v. State, 493 N.E.2d 433, 434 n.1 (Ind. 1986).
delinquent behavior in Kentucky, which included terroristic threats made against his own
family, a teacher, and caseworkers in the juvenile court system in Kentucky; carrying a
concealed deadly weapon; sexual assault; wanton endangerment; and harassing
communications. Additionally we note that, in the present case, the defendant committed
murder by slitting the victim's throat and crushing his chest in the course of a robbery. In
light of these facts, his sentence does not clearly appear to be unreasonable.
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