Preview:

FOR PUBLICATION

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT:

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

DANIEL M. GROVE Indianapolis, Indiana

GREGORY F. ZOELLER Attorney General of Indiana RICHARD C. WEBSTER Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

FILED
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
CHARLES TAYLOR, Appellant-Petitioner, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee-Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Jul 09 2010, 9:23 am

CLERK

No. 71A04-1001-PC-6

APPEAL FROM THE ST. JOSEPH SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable R. W. Chamblee, Jr., Judge Cause Nos. 71D08-0803-PC-13 & 71D08-0409-FB-144

July 9, 2010 OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION VAIDIK, Judge

Case Summary After Charles Taylor initiated a direct appeal of his three convictions for Class B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, he filed a Davis/Hatton petition, which this Court granted. Taylor then filed a petition for postconviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied. Taylor now appeals the denial of post-conviction relief and reinstates his direct appeal. Concluding that Taylors trial counsel did not provide ineffective assistance by failing to object to the admission of the weapons and that Taylors convictions do not violate Indianas prohibition against double jeopardy, we affirm. Facts and Procedural History Virginia Bloss was hanging curtains in her window when she saw three boys exit the house at 1615 South Arnold Street in South Bend, which was on the opposite side of the vacant lot next to her house. One of the boys fired a gun. The boys then ran back into the house. Bloss dialed 911. Several police officers from the South Bend Police Department were dispatched to the area "in reference to a shot being fired by some juveniles." Tr. p. 7. As Officer Jeff Ransberger approached the house at 1615 South Arnold Street, he noted the silhouette of a person in an upstairs room "[p]eering out the window, looking out to see what was going on, [and] mov[ing] back and forth from one side of the window to the other." Id. at 8. The officers established a perimeter around the house and called for anyone inside the house to come out. Three boys exited the house. The officers patted down the boys and found no weapons. Officer Ransberger asked if anyone remained in the house. The boys 2

said no. One of the boys said, "[I]t wasnt us with the gun, it wasnt us with the gun." Id. at 26. While some of the officers "stayed . . . outside with the juveniles and secured them separately in their patrol vehicles," id. at 18, other officers entered the house to look for armed or injured parties. In a bedroom on the first floor, Officer David Johnson found a shotgun, in plain view, leaned up against the doorjamb of the closet, and a large gun case next to it. He placed both the shotgun and the gun case on the bed. Officer Johnson opened the gun case and found an AK-47 inside. He then had Officer Stephen Berger monitor the weapons while he continued assisting in the warrantless search of the house. Finding no armed or injured parties, the officers left the house. The officers contacted Lieutenant Scott Hanley and the boys parents. Before Lieutenant Hanley arrived, Taylor and another individual arrived. Taylor said he lived at the house and one of the boys was his stepson. The officers briefly told Taylor what was going on. Taylor wanted to go into the house, so Officer Johnson accompanied him inside. Officer Johnson later testified that because he had received information from Officer Ransberger that the handgun fired by the juveniles was gray or silver, he asked Taylor if he owned such a gun: While inside the house, I asked Mr. Taylor if he owned a gray or silver revolver. No response back to me. I then asked him, I said, do you own a gray or silver handgun? Again, no response. So then I asked him, I said, do you have any idea how these kids would have gotten their hands on a handgun? And Mr. Taylor said to me, something to the effect, my boys know better than to fuck with my guns because one of em got arrested or got in trouble for robbing the ice cream man with my gun last year. Id. at 285-86. Lieutenant Hanley arrived and explained to Taylor that the officers had found a shotgun in the bedroom. Taylor admitted that the bedroom was his. To prove 3

that he lived there, Taylor went into the house with Lieutenant Hanley and retrieved mail addressed to him at that house. Although Taylor was initially going to sign a permit to search the house, he then told the officers that they would have to get a search warrant. After further conversation, Taylor told Lieutenant Hanley that he had a conviction for attempted robbery. At that point, Taylor was arrested. The police obtained and executed a search warrant for the house. In the same bedroom that the shotgun and AK-47 were found, officers found a black .45 caliber handgun, a chrome gray 9 millimeter handgun, as well as ammunition for both handguns. They also retrieved mail showing Taylor as a resident of 1615 South Arnold Street. The State charged Taylor with four counts of Class B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Ind. Code

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