Cox v. State

696 N.E. 2d 853 (1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

James and Patricia Leonard were asleep. Patricia woke to look after the family dogs, returned to bed, switched on a bedroom television, and fell asleep. She was awakened by a single 'loud pop sound,' and realized that James had been shot in the eye. James was rushed to the hospital but died three days later. Bullet holes were found in the bedroom window and its screen, and a bullet casing was outside beneath the window. An officer who was called to the scene that night had a clear view of the inside of the bedroom from immediately outside the window. A firearms expert testified that the pattern of discoloration on the screen could have been produced only by a shot fired within six inches of the screen. Police questioned D on the morning of the shooting. D denied any involvement and returned home from a nearby friend's house at about 1:00 a.m. One of D's friends told police that D had said that he had looked into the Leonards' window, fired a shot, and fled. D also told him that 'Leonards probably ain't gonna have a dad after last night.' Police concluded they had probable cause to arrest D. Without obtaining an arrest warrant, two officers went to D's home. D answered the police knock by opening the front door but not the screen. Officers asked him to come with them. D attempted to shut the front door but an officer opened the screen door, blocked the front door, reached inside the house, and pulled D out by the arm. D was placed under arrest. D signed a waiver of rights form and told police that he fired once into the Leonards' bedroom window. He described the gun in detail and said he had thrown it into a nearby gravel pit. Pursuant to a search warrant, police found a gun hidden in D’s bedroom. D was shown a picture of the gun and identified it as the one he said he threw into the gravel pit. A firearms expert testified that the bedroom gun fired the deadly shot. Angela Bowling, a friend of D, testified that she bought bullets for D at his request the night of the shooting. She and a few other friends were with him at the home of Helen Johnson until Cox left between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. Johnson was the mother of D's close friend, Jamie Hammer. D showed the bullets to the group and had a large object tucked into his trousers. P claimed that D killed Leonard as an act of retaliation because Hammer was in prison pending the resolution of charges filed against him by the Leonards for molesting their young daughter. D objected to the testimony of a deputy prosecutor that four days before the murder at a bond reduction hearing for D's close friend Jamie Hammer. The deputy prosecutor testified that: (1) he had informed the court at the hearing that three class B felony charges were to be filed against Hammer, in addition to a single pending charge, for alleged acts of child molestation of Leonard's daughter; (2) Helen Johnson, Hammer's mother, testified at the hearing; and (3) Hammer's bond was not reduced as a result of the hearing. D objected to the testimony because it could be relevant only if D knew what happened at the hearing and P was unable to prove conclusively that D had that knowledge. The trial court admitted the evidence because those in Hammer’s circle were reasonably likely to know about it.' The jury convicted D of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. D appealed.