Kevion Golliday v. State of Indiana (mem.dec.), 71A03-1701-CR-173

On Oct. 11–12, 2014, Kevion Golliday (17) and three acquaintances (Walker, Words, Norman) left a party and later approached a Notre Dame area house where occupants were socializing. Walker and Words were armed; testimony conflicted about whether Golliday was armed.
The three approached the house, asked to come in, then simultaneously drew guns and ordered occupants to empty pockets; a chase ensued, and Gallup (an occupant) fired five shots, wounding Walker; another shot struck Pilcher in the head and foot.
Police arrested multiple juveniles; Rhodes later was convicted for unlawfully carrying a handgun after hiding Walker’s gun. Walker and Words pled guilty to related charges.
Police searched Golliday’s seized cell phone and found photographs of a hand holding a black/silver semiautomatic pistol and of Golliday handling a similar gun taken weeks earlier. Golliday moved to exclude those photos; the trial court denied the motion.
A jury convicted Golliday of (1) attempted robbery resulting in serious bodily injury (Level 2) and (2) attempted robbery while armed with a deadly weapon (Level 3). He was sentenced to consecutive terms totaling 17.5 years.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to convict Golliday of two counts of attempted robbery	State: testimony (victims and co-defendants), co-defendants’ admissions, and phone photos support that Golliday participated and took substantial steps toward the robberies	Golliday: victims/witnesses did not identify him; co-defendants testified he opposed the robbery and did not have a gun; Rhodes could have been the third participant	Court: Affirmed; viewing evidence in favor of verdict, reasonable inferences support Golliday’s participation and guilt
Admission of cellphone photographs showing a gun	State: photos show Golliday had access to a handgun before the crime and help identify him as one of the robbers	Golliday: photos were irrelevant (no link to weapon used), unfairly prejudicial, and barred by Evidence Rules 401/403/404	Court: Photographs were not relevant under Rule 401 and should have been excluded, but their admission was harmless error given abundant independent evidence of guilt

Jenkins v. State, 34 N.E.3d 258 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Kenney v. State, 908 N.E.2d 350 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009) (do not reweigh evidence or assess credibility on sufficiency review)
Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144 (Ind. 2007) (definition of sufficiency standard)
Kilgore v. State, 391 N.E.2d 820 (Ind. 1979) (co-defendant testimony implicating defendant can sustain conviction)
Wilson v. State, 770 N.E.2d 799 (Ind. 2002) (photograph of defendant with weapons taken well before the crime was irrelevant where no link to crime-scene evidence)
Johnson v. State, 831 N.E.2d 163 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005) (abuse-of-discretion standard for evidentiary rulings)