Preview:

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Gregory Paul Kauffman South Bend, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Steve Carter Attorney General of Indiana George P. Sherman Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

______________________________________________________________________________

In the

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 20S00-0509-CR-412 FRANKIE SALYERS, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee (Plaintiff below). _________________________________ Appeal from the Elkhart Circuit Court, No. 20C01-9812-CF-82 The Honorable Terry C. Shewmaker, Judge _________________________________ On Direct Appeal _________________________________ March 13, 2007 Boehm, Justice, Frankie Allen Salyers pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the charge of murder for the killing of Goshen City Police Officer Thomas Goodwin. The trial court sentenced Salyers to life without parole. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History Goshen City Police Officer Thomas Goodwin was among the police officers who responded to a call reporting shots fired at a mobile home park on the morning of December 11, 1998. As the officers were securing the scene, a shot rang out, and Goodwin fell to the ground. Goodwin was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. Frankie Allen Salyers lived in the area where the shootings occurred and was identified as a suspect. Salyers was taken into custody and advised of his rights. He subsequently gave a voluntary statement in which he admitted that he possessed an SKS rifle; that he fired the rifle on December 11, 1998 at a police officer; that he was intending to kill the officer; and that he knew he hit the officer because he saw the officer fall. Three days after Officer Goodwin was shot, the State charged Salyers with murder. The State requested a sentence of death or life imprisonment without parole. A competency hearing was held, and the trial court found that Salyers was not competent to stand trial. Over the next few months, the Logansport State Hospital filed three reports with the trial court, each indicating that Salyers remained not competent to stand trial. Over four years later, the Logansport State Hospital filed two reports with the trial court stating that Salyers was competent to stand trial. Salyers stipulated that he was competent to stand trial, and after a hearing the trial court so found. On January 14, 2005, Salyers pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the charge of murder. The terms of the plea agreement provided that the State would withdraw its request for the death penalty, dismiss any other pending charges arising from this incident, and refrain from filing any additional charges. The plea was an "open" one, leaving the parties free to argue the length of Salyers's sentence. The trial court sentenced Salyers to life imprisonment without parole. Salyers appealed, arguing that the trial court's sentencing order was inadequate. We directed the trial court to enter a new sentencing order, and the trial court filed a revised sentencing order that explained in more detail the reasons for the sentence imposed. Salyers then filed a supplemental brief to this Court, challenging his sentence. Because the trial court imposed a sentence of life without parole, this Court has jurisdiction of this direct appeal under Indiana Appellate Rule 4(A)(7).

2

Salyers's initial appeal challenged the trial court's findings and weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. In his supplemental brief after resentencing, he invokes our power to review and revise sentences. It is unclear whether Salyers maintains his contentions as to weighing by the trial court. Because of this uncertainty, we address both claims: (1) whether the trial court erred in its weighing of the aggravator against the mitigators in this case and (2) whether the sentence was inappropriate in light of Salyers's character and the nature of the offense. Weighing of Mitigators and Aggravator The trial court found that the victim of the murder was a law enforcement officer acting in the course of duty. This rendered Salyers eligible for life without parole under the death penalty statute. 1 Ind. Code

Download Frankie Salyers v. State of Indiana.pdf

Indiana Law