Jeremy Thompson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2015 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Jul 31 2015, 9:01 am
Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as
precedent or cited before any court except for the
purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata,
collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Matthew J. McGovern Gregory F. Zoeller
Anderson, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Eric P. Babbs
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Jeremy Thompson, July 31, 2015
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
22A04-1411-CR-534
v. Appeal from the Floyd Circuit Court
The Honorable J. Terrence Cody,
State of Indiana, Judge
Cause No. 22C01-1311-FA-2175
Appellee-Plaintiff
Baker, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 1 of 9
[1] Jeremy Thompson appeals his conviction for Dealing in a Schedule I
Controlled Substance,1 a class A felony. He argues that the trial court erred
when it rejected his tendered jury instructions on 1) the proper procedures of a
controlled buy, and 2) his defense to the felony enhancement. Finding no error,
we affirm.
Facts
[2] On August 27, 2013, a confidential informant (CI)—acting on the instructions
of New Albany Police Officers Ronald Gaines and Jason Hatfield—texted
Thompson to set up a meeting. Through a series of veiled text messages that
signaled a narcotics transaction, the CI and Thompson negotiated a price of
fifty dollars and agreed to meet. Thompson, who often spent time at the home
of Kristen Moran, texted the CI that he was at “Kristin’s,” at the Cross Creek
Apartments on Green Valley Road in Floyd County. Ex. 1.
[3] Before the CI went to meet Thompson, Officer Gaines and Officer Hatfield
searched her, as well as her vehicle, to ensure that she was not already in
possession of narcotics. The CI was traveling to the meeting with her mother,
whom the officers also searched. The CI was then equipped with an
audio/video recording device, and she and her mother drove to the Cross Creek
Apartments.
1
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-2.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 2 of 9
[4] When they arrived at the apartments, the CI went inside to meet Thompson in
the apartment they had designated through their text messages. She went inside
the apartment, where she paid Thompson fifty dollars in exchange for a baggie.
The video/audio device captured the exchange, and showed Thompson
handing a baggie to the CI and telling her, “it’s fire,” although it did not show
the CI handing Thompson the money. Tr p. 311. The video showed that
approximately one minute and seven seconds passed between the time that the
CI entered the apartment and when she returned with the baggie.
[5] After she left the apartment, the CI gave the baggie she had obtained from
Thompson to the officers. A forensic analysis of the baggie’s contents revealed
that it contained heroin, Nicotinamide, and Papaverine; the latter two
substances are not controlled. The contents of the baggie weighed .33 grams.
[6] On November 13, 2013, the State charged Thompson with dealing in a
schedule I controlled substance, a class A felony, and with being an habitual
offender. A jury trial was held on August 25-28, 2013. In discussing final
instructions, Thompson requested that the trial court give an instruction to the
jury defining a controlled buy. The trial court rejected the instruction, stating
that it found that “there is fertile ground for both parties to argue whether or not
there were adequate controls to the buy, and the jury can [] draw their own
conclusions from the evidence and from the arguments of counsel.” Tr. p. 733.
Thompson also requested that the jury be given an instruction regarding a
defense against the enhancement of his crime to a class A felony. The trial
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 3 of 9
court also rejected this instruction because it found that there was no evidence
presented to support the defense.
[7] On August 28, 2013, the jury found Thompson guilty as charged. Thompson
waived his right to a jury trial on the sentencing enhancement, and, on
September 24, 2013, the trial court found that Thompson was an habitual
offender. On October 17, 2014, the trial court sentenced Thompson to twenty
years for dealing in a schedule I substance and enhanced this sentence by three
years for the habitual offender finding, resulting in an aggregate sentence of
twenty-three years. Thompson now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
[8] Thompson argues that the trial court erred when it rejected his proffered jury
instructions. Instructing the jury lies within the discretion of the trial court and
we will reverse only when the instructions amount to an abuse of discretion.
Murray v. State, 798 N.E.2d 895, 900 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003). The trial court
abuses its discretion if it gives instructions that, taken as a whole, misstate the
law or otherwise mislead the jury. Id.[9] “The purpose of jury instructions is to inform the jury of the law applicable to
the facts without misleading the jury and to enable it to comprehend the case
clearly and arrive at a just, fair, and correct verdict.” Id. at 899. In reviewing a
trial court’s decision to give a tendered jury instruction, we consider (1) whether
the instruction correctly states the law, (2) whether it is supported by the
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 4 of 9
evidence in the record, and (3) whether it is not covered in substance by other
instructions. Id. at 899–900.
I. Controlled Buy Instruction
[10] Thompson first argues that the trial court erred when it failed to give the
following proffered instruction regarding the adequacy of controls in a
controlled buy:
A controlled buy consists of:
1. Searching the person who is to act as the buyer,
2. Removing all personal effects,
3. Giving him/her money with which to make the purchase,
4. Then sending him/her into the residence in question.
Upon his her return he/she is again searched for contraband.
Except for what actually transpires within the residence, the entire
transaction takes place under the direct observation of the police.
They ascertain that the buyer goes directly to the residence and returns
directly, and they closely watch all entrances to the residence
throughout the transaction.
Whether a controlled buy was conducted properly goes to the
credibility and weight of the evidence.
Mills v. State, 379 N.E.2d 1023 (Ind. 1978).
Appellant’s App. p. 97. Thompson argues that the trial court’s failure to thus
instruct the jury “deprived him [of] an instruction for his only defense to the
charged offense.” Appellant’s Br. p. 5.
[11] In Howard v. State, 761 N.E.2d 449, 454 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002), this Court
examined a similar instruction proffered by a defendant, which read:
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 5 of 9
A controlled buy consists of searching a person who is to act as the
buyer, removing all personal effects, giving him the money with which
to make the purchase, and sending him into the building or structure in
question. Upon his return he is again searched for contraband. Except
for what actually transpires within the building or structure, the entire
transaction takes place under the direct supervision of the police. They
ascertain that the buyer goes directly into the building and returns
directly, and they closely watch all entrances to the building or
structure throughout the transaction.
In Howard, we determined that the trial court’s decision to reject this instruction
was not an abuse of discretion. Id. The language used in the instruction was
taken from Flaherty v. State, 443 N.E.2d 340, 341 (Ind. Ct. App. 1982), which
was a case addressing the sufficiency of a probable cause affidavit. In finding
that the trial court did not err in rejecting the instruction, we explained: “[n]ot
only is Flaherty factually inapposite, the trial court in the instant case correctly
explained that Howard could argue to the jury whether the confidential
informants were adequately searched for contraband before participating in the
controlled buy.” Howard, 761 N.E.2d at 454.
[12] In the instant case, Thompson also proffered a jury instruction that was crafted
from a case considering the sufficiency of a probably cause affidavit. See Mills,
177 N.E.2d at 1026. Here, as with the instruction in Howard, the case
Thompson has used to craft his instruction is factually inapposite. Moreover—
just as the trial court in Howard noted that Howard had the opportunity to argue
before the jury—the trial court here noted that “there is fertile ground for both
parties to argue whether or not there were adequate controls to the buy, and the
jury can [] draw their own conclusions from the evidence and from the
arguments of counsel.” Tr. p. 733. We find that Thompson has not shown that
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 6 of 9
his proffered instruction was necessary and the trial court did not err in refusing
to include it.
II. Defense Instruction
[13] Thompson also argues that the trial court erred when it rejected his instruction
regarding his defense to the enhancement of his crime to a class A felony. At
the time Thompson committed his offense, dealing in a schedule II substance
was generally a class B felony. Ind. Code § 35-48-4-2.2 However, the offense
became a class A felony if “the person delivered or financed the delivery of the
substance . . . in, on, or within one thousand (1,000) feet of . . . a family
housing complex.” Id. Also at the time of his offense, it was a statutory
defense to the charge that a defendant had committed his offense within 1,000
feet of a family housing complex that 1) “a person was briefly in, on, or within
one thousand (1,000) feet” of a family housing complex, and 2) “no person
under eighteen (18) years of age at least three (3) years junior to the person was
in, on, or within one thousand (1,000) feet of the . . . family housing complex . .
. at the time of the offense.” Ind. Code § 35-48-4-16(b).3
[14] Thompson wished to include the following instruction regarding the above
defense to the jury:
2
The statute has been amended, with an effective date of July 1, 2014. We use the statute that was in effect
at the time Thompson committed his offense.
3
The statute has been amended, with an effective date of July 1, 2014. We use the statute that was in effect
at the time Thompson committed his offense.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 7 of 9
It is a defense to the charge brought by the State of Indiana that on or
about August 27, 2013, Jeremy T. Thompson knowingly delivered
heroin . . . within one thousand (1,000) feet of a family housing
complex, to wit: Cross Greek Apartments if:
(1) Jeremy T. Thompson’s time within one thousand (1,000) feet of a
family housing complex was brief, and
(2) No person under eighteen (18) years of age was in, on, or within
one thousand (1,000) feet of a family housing complex.
I.C. 35-48-4-16(b)(1) and (2)
The term “briefly” means a period of time no longer than reasonably
necessary for Jeremy T. Thompson’s intrusion into the proscribed
zone principally for conduct unrelated to unlawful drug activies [sic],
provided that Jeremy T. Thompson’s activities related to the charged
offense were not visible.
So, for example, the State must rebut this defense by proving beyond a
reasonable doubt that Jeremy T. Thompson’s presence in the family
housing complex was principally to engage in criminal drug activity
during the time he was there and the time was not brief, and that such
activity was visible to children.
Once the defendant raises this defense, the Prosecutor must rebut this
defense by proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant
Jeremy T. Thompson was within 1,000 feet of a family housing
complex more than “briefly” or that persons under the age of eighteen
were within 1,000 feet of the family housing complex.
Appellant’s App. p. 95.
[15] Thompson was entitled to an instruction regarding this defense only if he
presented evidence to support both prongs of this defense—that his stay was
brief and that children were absent. See Jackson v. State, 890 N.E.2d 11 (Ind. Ct.
App. 2008) (finding that the defendant was not entitled to an instruction on the
Indiana Code section 35-48-4-16(b) “briefly” defense when the defendant had
failed to present any evidence as to whether there were any children present).
Here, Thompson did not present any evidence regarding whether children were
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 8 of 9
present. Thompson argues that there is no footage of children in the video
recorded by the CI during the meeting, but we agree with the State’s assertion
that that is entirely inconclusive. Furthermore, Thomas presented no evidence
that he was in the apartment complex only briefly. The recorded video may
show that the drug transaction took little more than a minute, but there is a
reasonable inference that Thompson was at the apartments both before and
after the transaction took place. Indeed, before the meeting, he texted the CI
that he was “at Kristin’s,” and Kristen Moran lived at the apartment complex.
Ex. 1. Therefore, we find that there was no evidence to support this defense,
and the trial court did not err in refusing the tendered instruction.
[16] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Bailey, J., and Mathias, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 22A04-1411-CR-534| July 31, 2015 Page 9 of 9