Lead Opinion
Donald W. Myers, III, has a history of mental illness, and has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Unprovoked, Myers fired a shotgun several times at multiple vehicles, including a police cruiser. Myers was ultimately convicted on four counts of attempted murder. The jury found Myers guilty but mentally ill. Myers claims that no reasonable jury could have reached this conclusion and that he should have been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Myers also asserts that any reference during trial to his request for an attorney and refusal to speak to the police after the incident violated his constitutional right to due process.
We hold that there was no due process violation. Additionally, we seek to emphasize the great adherence our judicial system affords to the right of a trial by jury
Facts and Procedural History
In 2000, Donald W. Myers, III, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Starting in young adulthood, Myers was treated at hospitals in Indiana and Alabama for his mental health issues and was prescribed various anti-psychotic medications. In 2004, Myers was living with his mother at the Silver Lake Trailer Court off of U.S. 20. Towards the end of April of 2004, Myers’ mother, Judy Win-inger, noticed that Myers was no longer taking his anti-psychotic medications, and she contacted Northeastern Center, a counseling center where Myers had previously been treated. The hospital prepared a bed for Myers to be admitted upon Win-inger’s request on April 28, 2004. However, Myers refused to go.
On the evening of April 29, 2004, David Brown was driving in the Silver Lake Trailer Court with his wife, Vicki Brown, and young grandson in the car. Brown heard a loud boom, and when he looked into the rearview mirror, there was a man running towards the vehicle pointing a long gun in the direction of their vehicle. Then, another gunshot was fired in the direction of Brown’s vehicle. Brown drove the vehicle out of Silver Lake onto U.S. 20, and saw the man who fired the weapon running alongside the road. Brown called 911 and gave a description of the man. The man firing the weapon was later identified as Myers.
Shortly thereafter, Desmond Augenstein was driving westbound on U.S. 20 when he saw Myers walking down the middle of the road heading eastbound. Augenstein saw a vehicle coming the opposite direction and turned around to check on Myers’ well-being. Augenstein then saw that Myers was holding a gun, and he quickly turned the vehicle back around. Myers raised the gun and shot twice in Augenstein’s direction. Augenstein was driving with the windows down and heard bullets flying by the window. He also called 911 to notify police.
Several police officers were dispatched to the area to investigate. Indiana State Police Trooper Lionel Smith located Myers standing partially submerged in a ditch along U.S. 20 on the opposite side of the road from where Trooper Smith was driving. As Trooper Smith got closer, he saw Myers approach the white fog line of the road and begin tracking his vehicle with a gun. Once Myers was parallel to the police cruiser, he fired the gun directly at the driver’s side window. Trooper Smith turned his vehicle around, and once he stopped his police cruiser behind Myers, he got out of the vehicle and ordered Myers to stop. However, Myers ignored this order and kept walking at a normal pace. During this time, Steuben County Deputy Sheriff Phillip Knott joined Trooper Smith, and the two together continued to follow behind Myers, ordering him to stop.
Indiana State Police Trooper Kerry Ghent was approaching the area from the
The officers immediately established a perimeter around Myers’ location to prevent him from exiting out the opposite side. The police vehicles were repositioned to shine spotlights in the direction where Myers was hiding to get better visibility. As other law enforcement officials arrived, a visual was kept on Myers while a negotiator attempted to convince him to surrender. Gas was eventually fired into Myers’ location in an attempt to force him out into an open space, but Myers remained in the brush. An armored vehicle was finally utilized to approach Myers, and two members of the tactical team apprehended him. Myers was immediately taken to the hospital due to gunshot wounds to his left shoulder and groin area.
At the hospital, a police officer was stationed outside Myers’ hospital room. Myers did not want to talk to police, and made some statements to his mother indicating that he wanted an attorney. Specifically, Myers told his mother that he wanted to sue the police for shooting at him.
The next day, Myers was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and criminal recklessness. Shortly thereafter, defense counsel filed a notice of defense of mental disease or defect. After psychological evaluations were conducted, Myers was determined to lack the capacity to understand the nature of his criminal charges or to assist in his defense. Myers was placed in the custody of the Division of Mental Health & Addiction Services and was assigned to be institutionalized at the Logansport State Hospital to receive further treatment and evaluation.
In July 2009, the Logansport State Hospital indicated that Myers had regained competency enough to stand trial. However, after two designated medical experts conducted another competency evaluation of Myers, he was again found to be incompetent to stand trial. It was not until April 16, 2018, that Myers’ jury trial finally commenced. Counts I, V, and VI, which included charges for Class D felony criminal recklessness and two counts of Class A felony attempted murder, were dismissed.
The jury returned verdicts of guilty but mentally ill on the remaining four counts of Class A felony attempted murder. Myers was sentenced to thirty (30) years on each count to be served consecutively, for an aggregate sentence of one hundred and twenty (120) years. Myers appealed his convictions and sentence, arguing, that: 1) the trial court committed fundamental error in admitting evidence of and allowing the State to argue that Myers’ post-arrest silence and request for an attorney were evidence of sanity; 2) there was insufficient evidence to prove Myers was guilty but mentally ill, and he had proven by a preponderance of the evidence that he was not guilty by reason of insanity; and 3) the trial court abused its discretion in ordering consecutive sentences, and his sentence
The Court of Appeals held that the jury clearly erred in rejecting Myers’ insanity defense by determining that the evidence was without conflict that Myers was insane at the time of his offense. Myers v. State, No. 76A03-1305-CR-173, Slip Op. at *13-14, 20,
This Court granted the State’s petition to transfer and thereby vacated the Court of Appeals opinion. Myers v. State,
Issues Raised & Standard of Review
When reviewing a jury’s verdict, which rejected the defense of insanity, this Court “will not reweigh evidence, reassess witness credibility, or disturb reasonable inferences made by the trier of fact.” Galloway v. State,
Myers also claimed that his constitutional right to due process was violated when testimony and the prosecution’s closing remarks referenced his post-arrest silence and request for an attorney. Federal constitutional errors are reviewed de novo. Alford v. State,
Finally, if Myers’ convictions are affirmed, Myers has asked this court to review the appropriateness of his sentence. “Appellate review of the merits of a sentence may be sought on the grounds outlined in Appellate Rule 7(B).” Cardwell v. State,
I. Insanity Defense
To be convicted of a criminal offense, the State must prove each element
In the case before us, Myers asserted an insanity defense, and the jury found him guilty but mentally ill. See Galloway,
It is for the trier of fact to determine whether the defendant appreciated the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense. Thompson,
At trial, the experts who conducted psychological evaluations of Myers unanimously agreed that Myers’ mental illness made him incapable of understanding the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense. Wininger, Myers’ mother, did not see Myers on the day of the offense, but she testified that the day before the shooting took place he was not in his right mind. Thus, only the experts gave an opinion on Myers’ mental state at the time of the offense. The Court of Appeals took the position that the evidence was without conflict and lead only to the conclusion that Myers was insane when the crime was committed. Myers, No. 76A03-1305-CR173, Slip Op. at *13-14, 20. However, Indiana precedent has clearly established that unanimous expert testimony alone is not determinative where there is conflicting lay opinion testimony or demeanor evidence also presented at trial. See Cate v. State,
This Court has addressed several cases where insanity defenses were unsuccessful, even in light of non-conflicting expert testimony that the defendants were insane at the time of the offense. Galloway,
The defense argued that the current case is exactly like Galloway, which should compel this Court to reach the same conclusion. However, Galloway is distinguishable. In Galloway, the defendant had a significant history of mental illness, and starting in 2001 the frequency and severity of the . defendant’s psychotic episodes began increasing.
In the present case, although Myers also had a history of mental illness, he had seemingly been coping better with his mental illness over the past several years. He had been stable-on his medications and had not been hospitalized for three years. Furthermore, Wininger denied that Myers suffered from delusions. This is distinguishable from the defendant in Galloway, who was progressively getting worse and appeared to be suffering from the same type of delusion involving the devil for at least the prior six years. Furthermore, the defendant in Galloway had previously tried to kñl his grandmother for the same claimed delusion years before he was finally successful in his attempt. Here, Myers had never met the individuals of whom he shot at, and nothing in the record indicates that he had ever attacked any other individuals due to delusions regarding his believed involvement in the military or CIA. Most significantly, Myers did nothing during the incident itself that explicitly demonstrated he was suffering from a delusion at that time, while the defendant in Galloway shouted out that he believed his grandmother was the devil. Therefore, we disagree that Galloway commands the same outcome in this case. Rather, consideration of the specific evidence presented at this trial is necessary to determine whether a conflicting inference of sanity could have been made.
Here, the State presented testimony from victims and multiple eyewitnesses describing how the incident unfolded. Both of the Browns testified to Myers running after their vehicle, pointing a long gun directly at them and firing. Augenstein also testified that Myers pointed a gun directly at his vehicle and fired. Trooper
Multiple law enforcement officers also testified to Myers’ refusal to obey orders instructing him to stop and put his weapon down. When Myers was eventually fired upon by police due to his refusal to put his weapon down, he fled into a brushy wooded area near the road. Myers remained hidden for over two hours while a police negotiator tried to convince him to surrender. Even after gas was fired into the area where Myers' was hiding, he remained. A tactical team finally approached Myers in an armored vehicle.
Additionally, when law enforcement instructed Myers to put his hands up, Myers responded in a rational manner by explaining that he could only raise one arm because he had been shot in the shoulder. Myers was eventually apprehended and taken to the hospital where he was treated for his gunshot injuries. While at the hospital, Myers did not want to talk to police and alluded to his mother that he wanted an attorney in order to sue the police for shooting at him. Upon further investigation, shotgun shells were found in Myers’ vest pocket. The State argued that Myers had consciously picked up the casings after they were fired in order to conceal evidence linking his weapon to the shooting.
Based upon the circumstantial evidence provided above, it would be possible for a reasonable jury to conclude that Myers was able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense. Some of Myers’ behaviors have even been recognized by this Court as demonstrating consciousness of wrongdoing. First, “[ejvidence of flight may be considered as circumstantial evidence of consciousness of guilt.” Brown v. State,
The defense relied upon expert testimony, which was based upon evaluations of Myers that were conducted months after the incident occurred. Dr. Herbert Trier evaluated Myers on one occasion, six years after the incident occurred. Dr. David Lombard conducted two evaluations of Myers, one which was approximately two months after the incident and another approximately six years after the incident. Dr. Lombard explained that because Myers claimed that he never had a gun or fired a weapon that night, he could not say how the defendant’s delusions were affecting his thoughts at the time he shot the gun. Furthermore, Dr. Lombard did not interview any police or eyewitnesses, and Dr. Trier also 'testified that he did not review police reports or any written statements regarding the incident. It was within the province of the jury to give less weight to expert testimony that relied upon evaluations of Myers months and years after the incident than to the testimony of individuals actually present at the time of the offense.
Wininger did provide some lay opinion testimony that Myers was not in his right mind the day before, that he had stopped
Despite the evidence presented by the State, reasonable minds could interpret a conflict in the evidence regarding Myers’ sanity at the time of the offense. • Myers’ actions could be interpreted as calculated and deliberate when he aimed a gun and fired directly at multiple victims. Additionally, Myers’ fleeing from police and attempts to avoid arrest could also indicate a level of consciousness that he had done something punishable. Furthermore, Myers’ only verbal communication with law enforcement prior to his apprehension was seemingly rational and cognizant of what was being requested of him. Myers sensibly explained that he was unable to comply with the police request to raise both arms because he had been shot. Finally, Myers’ demeanor after the incident at the hospital could also lead an individual to believe Myers was cognizant of the wrongfulness of his conduct. Even though Myers made statements that he wanted an attorney so he could sue the police for shooting at him, a jury could still determine that this demonstrated some understanding that shooting at people is wrong.
Though there was evidence that could also support the conclusion that Myers was insane at the time of the crime, “[i]t is not necessary that the court find the circumstantial evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. It need only be demonstrated that inferences may reasonably be drawn which support the finding of guilt.” Thompson,
II. Constitutional Due Process Challenge
Myers has asserted that his due process right under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution was violated when the prosecutor’s closing arguments and testimony at trial both dis
Here, the testimony in the record is distorted and confusing regarding the circumstances under which Myers allegedly invoked his right to counsel. Wininger provided the only testimony recounting Myers’ invocation of his rights, and she seemed unsure whether Myers requested an attorney or whether she asked him if he wanted an attorney.
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides in part that an individual shall not be “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” U.S. Const. Amend. V. That protection has since been extended to protect an individual exercising his or her right to remain silent. In Doyle, the United States Supreme Court held that “the use. for impeachment purposes of petitioners’ silence, at the time of arrest and after receiving Miranda warnings, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Doyle v. Ohio,
The limitations upon using a defendant’s post-Miranda silence have also been extended to cases in which an insanity defense is raised. See Wainwright v. Greenfield,
Indiana followed this rationale in Wilson v. State, where a police officer advised an individual of his right to remain silent and to counsel, and then proceeded to conduct a custodial interview.
Lynch v. State also provided “that a post-Miranda request for counsel may not be used to show sanity.”
Each of the aforementioned cases reach their holdings by relying either implicitly or explicitly on two factors: 1) That the defendant had been advised of his constitutional right to remain silent and to an attorney; and 2) That the defendant invoked those rights during a custodial interview. In the current case, neither of these prerequisites for finding a constitutional violation have occurred.
Although Myers would like this Court to speculate that Miranda rights were given at some point between Myers’ arrest and police standing guard outside his hospital room, “[t]he party who alleges error has the duty to provide a proper record on appeal so that an intelligent review of the issues may be made,” and where no evidence is in the record, “appellate review is foreclosed.” Fleenor v. State,
However, even if we were to assume that Myers had at some point been advised of his Miranda rights, the constitutional protections provided in Doyle and Wainwright are still not implicated. Here, the testimony that was elicited at trial was from Myers’ mother, and only she has relayed that Myers did not want to speak to police and requested, or affirmed, that
Even if the officer stationed outside Myers’ hospital room constitutes Myers being in custody, his statements were not elicited by any action of the police. If anything, Myers’ statements appear to have been elicited by his own mother questioning him, during which time no law enforcement personnel were even present. This again reiterates that Myers was not operating under any implicit promise from the State, which is the key consideration in the application of Doyle and Wainwright protections. See Wainwright,
Since there is no indication that Myers was advised of his Miranda rights or that he clearly invoked those rights in response to a custodial interview, we cannot hold that the admission of testimony at trial or the prosecution’s closing statements regarding Myers’ post-arrest silence and request for an attorney violated his constitutional right to due process. Absent a constitutional violation, the evidence of Myers’ preference not to speak to police and confused request for an attorney are relevant to his sanity. “This Court has frequently held that when the defendant’s sanity is in issue, all evidence is admissible which relates to his behavior or environment and has some logical relevance to the issue of his sanity.” Howard v. State,
III. Appropriateness of Sentence
Under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), a reviewing court may revise a sentence upon determining that the sentence is “inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.” This determination “turns on our sense of the culpability of the defendant, the severity of the crime, the damage done to others, and . myriad other factors that
In the present case, Myers was convicted of four counts of Class A felony attempted murder. The possible sentence that can be assigned for a Class A felony ranges from twenty to fifty years, with thirty years being the advisory sentence. See Ind.Code ' § 35-50-2-4. Myers was sentenced to thirty years for each count of attempted murder to be served consecutively, making his aggregate sentence one hundred and twenty years.
After reviewing the aggravating factors pronounced by the trial court, and in consideration of the fact that the advisory sentence was imposed, it is our collective judgment that the sentence imposed by the trial court was not inappropriate.
Furthermore, with a few exceptions, it is within the trial court’s discretion whether to order sentences be served concurrently or consecutively. See Ind.Code § 35-50-l-2(c). “Whether the counts involve one or multiple victims is highly relevant to the decision to impose consecutive sentences....” Cardwell,
Conclusion
There was sufficient evidence for a jury to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant was able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense. The admission of testimony regarding Myers’ convoluted request for counsel and refusal to speak to police did not constitute a due process violation. In addition, Myers’ sentence is not inappropriate given the nature of the offense and his character, nor was it inappropriate for the trial court to order his sentences to be served consecutively. Therefore, we affirm Myers’ convictions of guilty but mentally ill, and affirm his sentence of one hundred and twenty years for four counts of Class A felony attempted murder.
Notes
. Although this Court has previously recognized that “a person experiencing a psychotic delusion may appear normal to passersby,” and this may limit the probative value of demeanor evidence, Galloway,
. Wininger was asked, "there came a point during that time that he wanted a lawyer, isn’t that correct?” and she responded, "Yes.” (Tr. at 470.) Shortly after this question, the Court attempted to clarify Wininger’s testimony about this:
COURT: Did you ask your son if he wanted to have an attorney?
ANSWER: Probably.
COURT: Or did he tell you I want an attorney?
ANSWER: I asked him, I asked him because he didn’t really know what was going on at all. Until here recently he thought it was all charges against ...
COURT: It's your testimony under oath that in a trial that you asked him if he wanted an attorney?
ANSWER: Yes, that would be more like it.
*****
COURT: Did he at any time say "Mom I want a lawyer” without your prompting him?
ANSWER: I’m sure he probably did around, in his way because he didn't want to talk to police. •
(Tr. at 472.)
. Nothing from the above analysis is intended to suggest that it is permissible for law enforcement to indefinitely withhold giving Miranda rights in order to allow the prosecution to use any post-arrest pre-Miranda statements at trial. The analysis in this section outlines multiple case-specific facts supporting the conclusion that no constitutional violation occurred in the use of Myers’ statements.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
In Galloway v. State, this Court evaluated the circumstances under which a defendant is entitled to a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity despite a fact-finder’s verdict to the contrary. See
Galloway is straightforward:
Where there is no conflict among the expert opinions that the defendant was insane at the time of the offense, there must be other evidence of probative value from which a conflicting inference of sanity can be drawn. Such probative evidence is usually in the form of lay opinion testimony that conflicts with the experts or demeanor evidence that, when considered in light of the other evidence, permits a reasonable inference of sanity to be drawn.
Id. at 712 (internal citation omitted). The majority of course acknowledges Galloway, but contends the facts here are distinguishable. For example the majority points out that unlike the defendant in Galloway here the defendant “had seemingly been coping better with his mental illness over the past several years,” op. at 1076, and the defendant here “had never
Here the majority acknowledges, “the experts who conducted psychological evaluations of Myers unanimously agreed that Myers’ mental illness made him incapable of understanding the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense.” Op. at 1075. And except for Myers’ mother who said the day before the shootings Myers was “not in his right mind,” id. (quoting Tr. at 458), there was no other lay or expert testimony that gave an opinion as to Myers’ mental state at the time of the offense. As such there must then exist “other evidence of probative value from which a conflicting inference of sanity can be drawn.” Galloway,
Here, while not saying so in express terms the majority appears to rely on such evidence pointing out for example the testimony of multiple witnesses describing how the incident unfolded. See op. at 1076-78. However Galloway teaches:
Although demeanor evidence often is useful, there are limits to its probative value. First, demeanor evidence is of more limited value when the defendant has a long history of mental illness with psychosis.... The proposition that a jury may infer that a person’s actions before and after a crime are indicative of his actual mental health at the time of the crime is logical when dealing with a defendant who is not prone to delusional or hallucinogenic episodes. However, when a defendant has a serious and well-documented mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, one that causes him to see, hear, and believe realities that do not exist, such logic collapses....
Because I can discern no appreciable difference between the facts in this case and those in Galloway, I agree with my colleagues on the Court of Appeals that “the jury clearly erred in rejecting Myers’s insanity defense.” Myers v. State, No. 76A03-1305-CR-173,
. I also note the observations of my Court of Appeals colleagues: “Myers has been and remains institutionalized in a secure facility within Indiana’s mental health system. Unless new psychotropic medications sufficient to treat his serious mental illness are developed, he will likely remain institutionalized for the rest of his life.” Myers,
