Edward L. Taylor v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2019 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Dec 05 2019, 7:05 am
court except for the purpose of establishing
CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Andrew R. Falk Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Hendricks County Public Defender’s Attorney General of Indiana
Office
Samuel J. Dayton
Danville, Indiana Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Edward L. Taylor, December 5, 2019
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
19A-CR-793
v. Appeal from the Hendricks
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Stephenie LeMay-
Appellee-Plaintiff. Luken, Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
32D05-1603-F5-31
Mathias, Judge.
[1] Following a jury trial in Hendricks Superior Court, Edward L. Taylor
(“Taylor”) was convicted of Level 5 felony battery against a public safety
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officer, Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement, and Class A misdemeanor
operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Taylor appeals and argues that the trial
court erred by not questioning the remaining jurors to determine whether they
were influenced by out-of-court contact an excused juror had with a witness.
[2] We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[3] The facts of this case were set forth in an earlier opinion of this court as follows:
On March 18, 2016, at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon,
Hendricks County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Parrott approached a
vehicle stopped along the road in which Taylor, the driver,
appeared to be asleep or passed out. The vehicle was running and
in gear and Deputy Parrott was unable to rouse the driver by
knocking on the window. Deputy Parrott entered the unlocked
car, put it in park, and was then able to wake Taylor, who
exhibited signs of intoxication. Taylor had a suspended license
and an active warrant out of Brown County, Indiana. Sergeant
Jennifer Brahaum of the Avon Police Department arrived on the
scene and also observed signs of intoxication in Taylor. Taylor
failed two field sobriety tests and consented to a chemical test.
Sergeant Brahaum transported Taylor to a local hospital for a
blood draw.
Once at the hospital, however, Taylor refused the blood draw so
Sergeant Brahaum contacted the prosecutor’s office to obtain a
search warrant. She submitted an affidavit of probable cause and
a search warrant was signed by the court at approximately 5:15
p.m. As it was approaching three hours since Deputy Parrott first
observed Taylor, [footnote: See Indiana Code section 9-30-6-2(c)
(requiring a chemical test to be administered within three hours
after a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a
person committed an offense under Indiana Code chapters 9-30-5
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or 9-30-15)], the prosecutor’s office sent a photograph of the
signed search warrant to Sergeant Brahaum’s cellphone via
email. Sergeant Brahaum advised Taylor she had a search
warrant to proceed with the blood draw and Taylor asked to see
it. When Sergeant Brahaum showed Taylor the email on her
phone, he protested that he needed to see a paper copy of the
search warrant. Sergeant Brahaum told Taylor a hard copy of the
search warrant would be provided to him or his attorney later.
Taylor then refused to cooperate with the blood draw and a
scuffle ensued, during which Sergeant Brahaum’s thumb was
sprained and she received several scratches to her arms. Taylor
finally complied and the blood draw was completed at
approximately 5:20 p.m.
Taylor v. State, 69 N.E.3d 502, 504–05 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017).
[4] As a result of this incident, the State charged Taylor on March 21, 2016 with
Level 5 felony battery on a public safety officer, Level 6 felony resisting law
enforcement, Class A misdemeanor driving while suspended, and Class A
misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Prior to trial, Taylor filed a
motion to suppress the blood draw evidence, arguing the electronic copy of the
search warrant in Sgt. Brahaum’s possession was insufficient. Taylor, 69 N.E.3d
at 505. The trial court denied the motion to suppress but certified the order for
interlocutory appeal. We accepted jurisdiction over the appeal and held that
“[a] photograph or PDF of a search warrant transmitted via email is as valid
and effective as a paper copy,” and that the fact that “Brahaum had only an
electronic copy of the search warrant at the time of the blood draw did not
violate Taylor’s rights because the search warrant was otherwise valid.” Id. at
507.
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[5] A two-day jury trial was held on July 24–25, 2017. During voir dire, the trial
court asked the venire if any of them knew Sgt. Brahaum. Juror 3082 responded
that she worked in the Avon public school system and had seen Sgt. Brahaum
“around town” and had a “passing conversation” with her. Tr. Vol. 2, p. 50.
The trial court then asked Juror 3082, “[i]s there anything about knowing or
seeing her and seeing her function in that capacity that would make you feel
like you could not be fair and [im]partial to both sides?” Id. Juror 3082 replied,
“Other than I know she’s a good officer.” Id. at 51. The trial court then stated
that counsel for both parties could ask Juror 3082 further questions on this
matter.
[6] The prosecuting attorney asked the venire if any of them had any prior
experiences with law enforcement, and Juror 3082 stated, like the other jurors,
that she had a positive view of law enforcement. She also indicated that she
previously had multiple interactions with law enforcement, stating, “I’ve been a
victim of crime. I have a friend who’s a law enforcement officer. I’ve been in a
car accident, um, a couple times.” Id. at 55. Neither party moved to strike Juror
3082, and she was seated as a juror.
[7] After the jury was selected and sworn in, the trial court read the preliminary
instructions to the jury, which included the following:
You may discuss the evidence with your fellow jurors, including
alternate jurors, during the trial but only in the jury room and
only when all of you are present. Even though you are permitted
to have these discussions, you must not make a decision about
the outcome of this case until your deliberations begin. During
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the trial you shall not discuss the case with anyone other than
your fellow jurors.
***
Finally, our law requires that you not read or listen to any news
accounts of the case, and that you not attempt to research any
fact, law, or person related to the case. Your decision must be based
solely on the testimony and other evidence presented in this courtroom. It
would not be fair for you to base your decision on some
reporter’s view or opinion, or upon information that you acquire
outside the courtroom from a source that cannot be challenged or cross-
examined by the parties.
Id. at 97–98 (emphases added). The parties then made opening statements, after
which the court recessed for lunch.
[8] When the trial resumed, the court informed the parties that Juror 3082 had
informed the bailiff that she “may have seen [Sgt.] Brahaum with a bandage on
her arm while walking through the school.” Id. at 110–11. The trial court asked
the parties, “So, do you want me to release her or do you want me to keep her?
My preference is to keep her. I, I just feel like she’s trying to get out of jury
service which I don’t appreciate.” Id. at 111.
[9] The trial court then brought Juror 3082 into the courtroom and the following
exchange took place between the court, Juror 3082, and Sgt. Brahaum:
THE COURT: Thanks. We’ll inquire just to see what’s going
on. Good afternoon, ma’am. I hope you had a good lunch. Um, I
just want to clarify, my bailiff indicated and you had previously
during voir dire had indicated you work for the Avon school
system and that you recognize the name of Officer Brahaum and
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you’d probably seen her walking through the school system.
What Tabitha texted me at lunch was that you believe that you
may have seen Officer Brahaum with a bandage on her arm
maybe around this time period?
JUROR 3082: Yes.
THE COURT: Do you have a, I mean obviously, it took a while
going through the process for it to kind of ring a bell with you; so
do you believe that having seen whatever you saw, even if it’s
connected to this exact event, do you feel like you can still be fair
and impartial to both sides?
JUROR 3082: That’s a tough question to answer.
THE COURT: Well, it’s not a question you get every day, is it?
JUROR 3082: It’s not. Yeah.
THE COURT: But the bottom line is I, I know Officer Brahaum
from my recollection, has not been the school resource officer.
Do you know, have you?
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: I am not a school resource officer
per se; however I do do security at the schools.
THE COURT: Okay, so is it all the schools or just the high
school?
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: All of them, I could be in.
THE COURT: Okay, my kids don’t go to Avon, so, um, if
you’re preforming security, are you there wandering the halls or
are you there at the door? Tell me what you do.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: A little bit of everything.
THE COURT: Okay.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: I mean, we don’t go into the
classrooms or teach or anything, that’s up to Sergeant Lewis.
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THE COURT: Okay.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: So, he does all that; but we’re
walking the halls.
THE COURT: Okay.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: We’re in the lunchroom during-
THE COURT: Okay, so it’s fair to say any teacher—
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Any teacher could have seen me.
THE COURT: —in the school system would have seen you in
uniform performing those duties?
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay, do you communicate with the teachers?
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Oh, talk, some of them I’ve gotten
to know a little bit.
THE COURT: Okay.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: I, I don’t her, really.
THE COURT: Okay.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: So.
THE COURT: Okay, well obviously, if you did, we would
know. Because she would, then she would have recognized your
name.
SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Right.
THE COURT: So, obviously you don’t, um, I will be honest, I
think there are many citizens of Hendricks County who, who
may or may not give deference to the testimony of a law
enforcement officer. What you see on TV elsewhere, I, I don’t
see on TV from this county. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t
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happen; but it’s not getting publicized and I think it would be in
this day and age with YouTube and videos, everybody having
phone on their cameras (sic) and whatnot. So, basically, all I’m
asking is can you give a fair shake to the State as well as a fair shake to
Mr. Taylor? Obviously, you don’t know Mr. Taylor. He’s not
performing security at the school system, uh; but can you give a fair trial
to both?
JUROR 3082: In, in my honest opinion, I’ve already kind of formed
one (1). And that’s, I don’t want to be unfair to my fellow jurors also.
THE COURT: Sure. Sure.
JUROR 3082: Um, but I have a social acquaintance with one (1) of
the officers on the Avon force. I know who Officer Lewis is. I have a great
deal of respect for these folks and I, I would be not happy with someone
who caused them difficulty. How’s that?
THE COURT: Okay, [defense counsel], do you have any
questions for this juror?
[Defense counsel]: No, questions, Judge. Thank you.
***
THE COURT: Okay, thank you very much, ma’am. Um, we’re
going to discuss it and then Tabitha will let you know what’s
going on. Don’t tell anybody else what’s going on. I don’t really have a
choice but to let her go which is what her goal was from the beginning.
So, you would probably agree with me, [defense counsel]?
[Defense counsel]: I, I agree.
THE COURT: Okay.
[Defense counsel]: She just stated to the Court that she’s already
formed an opinion, so.
THE COURT: Okay, so if you’ll have them all come back in
and I’ll let them know what’s going on.
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Tr. Vol. 2, pp. 111–14.
[10] The trial court dismissed Juror 3082, and then informed the jury:
Thank you. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you
had a very pleasant lunch. As you’re all filtering in, uh, we have
a little bit of an unusual situation. We have a juror who’s a
teacher in the Avon school system and she was very forthright
before. She indicated during voir dire that she recognized Officer
Brahaum’s name. . . . Um, and so this particular juror, now that
we’ve talked about it a little bit and I’ve read through the charges,
she remembered seeing Officer Brahaum in the hallway having
maybe some short conversations with her and in fairness to her,
she’s not comfortable and she doesn’t believe, um, she would be
an appropriate juror on this case. After having a conversation
with her, with the attorneys present, I agree with her. I think she
would be better suited for a different trial where an officer who
isn’t wandering the school system, wandering meaning doing her
job, through the halls of the Avon school system; she would be
better suited for another case with different witnesses. And so,
ma’am, I’m going to release you. If you need anything for your
work, Tabitha can get that for you. This still counts as jury
service so thank you for appearing. And to my alternate juror,
you are now a regular member of the jury. So, no ifs ands or buts
about it. So, thank you very much. With that, we are ready to
proceed with the State’s case in chief.
Id. at 114–15.
[11] At the close of the State’s evidence, the trial court granted Taylor’s motion for
judgment on the evidence on the driving while suspended charge, and at the
conclusion of trial, the jury found Taylor guilty on the remaining charges. The
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trial court subsequently sentenced Taylor to four years of incarceration. Taylor
now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
[12] Taylor argues that the trial court should have held a hearing in order to ask the
remaining jurors whether they had been exposed to Juror 3082’s prejudice and
admonished the jurors that they should not attach any significance to Juror
3082’s removal from the jury.
[13] The right to trial before an impartial fact-finder is a cornerstone of our justice
system, and Article 1, Section 13 of the Indiana Constitution guarantees
criminal defendants the right to trial by an impartial jury. Caruthers v. State, 926
N.E.2d 1016, 1020 (Ind. 2010). The right to an impartial jury is an essential
element of due process. Id. Therefore, if a juror is biased, he or she must be
dismissed. Id. (citing Joyner v. State, 736 N.E.2d 232 (Ind. 2000)).
[14] Over forty years ago, our supreme court set forth the procedure to be followed
when a juror is exposed to improper and potentially prejudicial pretrial
publicity, writing:
Upon a suggestion of improper and prejudicial publicity, the trial
court should make a determination as to the likelihood of
resulting prejudice, both upon the basis of the content of the
publication and the likelihood of its having come to the attention
of any juror. If the risk of prejudice appears substantial, as
opposed to imaginary or remote only, the court should
interrogate the jury collectively to determine who, if any, has
been exposed. If there has been no exposure, the court should
instruct upon the hazards of such exposure and the necessity for
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avoiding exposure to out-of-court comment concerning the case.
If any of the jurors have been exposed, he must be individually
interrogated by the court outside the presence of the other jurors,
to determine the degree of exposure and the likely effect thereof.
After each juror is so interrogated, he should be individually
admonished. After all exposed jurors have been interrogated and
admonished, the jury should be assembled and collectively
admonished, as in the case of a finding of ‘no exposure.’ If the
imperiled party deems such action insufficient to remove the
peril, he should move for a mistrial.
Lindsey v. State, 260 Ind. 351, 358–59, 295 N.E.2d 819, 824 (1973); accord
Ridenour v. State, 639 N.E.2d 288, 292 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994). Although Lindsey
involved exposure to factually incorrect newspaper articles published during the
trial, “the Lindsey procedure has been applied to a variety of situations where
potentially improper juror influence exists.” Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292(collecting cases).
[15] Subsequent cases have clarified that, if the trial court determines that no risk of
substantial prejudice exists, it need not investigate the matter further. Caruthers,
926 N.E.2d at 1021 (citing Joyner, 736 N.E.2d at 239). Indeed, a trial court “is
required to act only if there has been presented some basis for a reasonable
belief that one or more of the jurors has been exposed to potentially harmful
publicity.” Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292 (citing Jarvis v. State, 441 N.E.2d 1, 7
(Ind. 1982)). Thus, a trial court “is not required to initiate an inquiry as a
‘fishing expedition.’” Id. And the trial court has discretion to take what actions
it deems necessary and appropriate at all stages of this process. Id.Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-793 | December 5, 2019 Page 11 of 16
[16] Here, Taylor claims that the trial court should have held a “Lindsey hearing” to
see if Juror 3082 said anything to the remaining jurors about her bias and
should have admonished the remaining jurors regarding Juror 3082’s removal.
Taylor, however, never requested that the trial court hold such a hearing or so
admonish the jury. “The failure to raise a claim of error [at trial] generally
waives that issue for appeal.” Caruthers, 926 N.E.2d at 1020 (citing Clark v. State,
915 N.E.2d 126, 131 (Ind. 2009)). Taylor has therefore failed to preserve any
claim of error on this issue. See id. “We nevertheless sometimes entertain such
claims under fundamental error, meaning an error that makes a fair trial
impossible or that constitutes a clearly blatant violation of basic and elementary
principles of due process presenting an undeniable and substantial potential for
harm.” Id.[17] We discern no error, much less fundamental error, in the present case. As set
forth above, when the trial court was made aware that Juror 3082 claimed to
have had more contact with Sgt. Brahaum than she originally indicated, and
therefore might be biased against Taylor, the trial court had Juror 3082 brought
back into the courtroom for additional questioning. Juror 3082, a teacher,
confirmed that she had seen Sgt. Brahaum at her school with a bandage on her
arm. The court asked Juror 3082 if she could be impartial, and she responded
that she had already formed an opinion about the case. The trial court indicated
that it had no choice but to dismiss Juror 3082, and defense counsel agreed.
[18] Notably, there was no indication from Juror 3082, or any other source, that
Juror 3082 told the other jurors that she had seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage
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on her arm. Thus, there was no suggestion that the other jurors had been
exposed to this extra-judicial information, and we cannot fault the trial court for
failing to sua sponte question the remaining jurors about Juror 3082’s removal
from the jury. See Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292 (holding that trial court did not
err by failing to question remaining jurors regarding the removal of a juror who
indicated that her family had experienced child molestation because there was
no evidence suggesting that the excused juror had shared her concerns with the
remaining jurors).
[19] If there has been no exposure to extra-judicial matters, the trial court need only
instruct the jury of the hazards of such exposure and the necessity of avoiding
exposure to any out-of-court comments about the case. Lindsey, 260 Ind. at 359,
295 N.E.2d at 824. Although the trial court here did not specifically admonish
the remaining jurors regarding the facts that led to Juror 3082’s removal, it did
inform the jury that she had been removed. It also instructed the jury to avoid
independent research about the case, to avoid any media coverage regarding the
trial, and to base its decision solely on the evidence presented in court. See
Appellant’s App. pp. 59–60. Thus, we are unable to say that the trial court erred
in its handling of Juror 3082’s removal.
[20] We find Taylor’s citation to Threats v. State, 582 N.E.2d 396 (Ind. Ct. App.
1991), trans. denied, to be unavailing. In that case, one of the members of the
venire stated during jury selection that he had known the defendant in years
past. This venireman, however, was not excused and was chosen as the jury
foreman. Then, during the jury’s deliberations, this juror told the other jurors
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that he knew the defendant’s wife. One of the other jurors informed the bailiff
of this, and the bailiff informed the trial court judge. The trial court removed the
foreman and replaced him with an alternate juror. This prompted the defendant
to move for a mistrial, which the trial court denied.
[21] On appeal, the defendant, citing Lindsey, argued that the trial court erred by not
admonishing and questioning the jury regarding the removal of the juror. The
Threats court rejected the State’s argument that the defendant’s claim was too
speculative, concluding that, without questioning the jury, “any musing as to
whether or how removing [the juror] affected the jury necessarily remains
purely conjectural on direct review,” and that “to require a non-speculative
showing in the appellate brief that the jury became biased against Threats
because of [the removed juror]’s conduct would be to impose an unreachable
threshold.” Id. at 400.
[22] Citing this language, Taylor claims that, here, we cannot know whether the jury
was affected by Juror 3082’s bias and removal because the trial court did not
question the jury on this subject. The Threats court, however, emphasized that
the facts before it, where there was no doubt regarding the jury’s exposure to
possible prejudice, “must be distinguished from those which require the
claimant, at the threshold, to prove the jury was exposed to extraneous material
before imposing on the trial court a duty to determine whether the exposure
tainted the jury.” Id.Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-793 | December 5, 2019 Page 14 of 16
[23] The present case is precisely the sort of case where there is a question of
whether the jury was exposed to any prejudicial matter. That is, in Threats, it
was clear that the jury was exposed to potentially prejudicial extra-judicial
information because it was one of the other jurors who reported the foreman’s
relationship with the defendant’s wife. Id. Here, although the jurors were
informed that Juror 3082 had been removed because of her relationship with
Sgt. Brahaum, there is no indication that the other jurors were aware that Juror
3082 had seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage on her arm. Because there was no
suggestion that the jury had been exposed to this extra-judicial matter, there
was no need for the trial court to further question the remaining jurors. See
Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292 (holding that there is no need to employ the
procedure set forth in Lindsey unless there is a basis for believing that the jury
may have been subject to “improper out-of-court stimuli[.]”).1
Conclusion
[24] Because Taylor did not ask the trial court to hold a Lindsey hearing to determine
whether the jury was exposed to any extra-judicial matters, he has waived any
1
Even if the jury had been exposed to the fact that Juror 3082 had seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage on her
arm, we fail to see how this would have prejudiced the jury such that it would amount to a denial of due
process. There was no specific timeframe given for when Juror 3082 saw Sgt. Brahaum, and there are any
number of reasons why Sgt. Brahaum might have had a bandage on her arm aside from her encounter with
Taylor. And even if the bandage was a result of the injuries caused by the struggle with Taylor, the defense
did not deny that Sgt. Brahaum had been injured. Instead, the theory of the defense was that Sgt. Brahaum
unnecessarily escalated the situation because she was afraid that she would not be able to obtain the blood
sample within the statutory three-hour time limit and unreasonably attempted to force Taylor into
compliance. The defense therefore argued that Taylor did not knowingly batter Sgt. Brahaum but merely
acted instinctually in response to the pain of the taser and the pain of the hold Sgt. Brahaum used on him.
Thus, the fact that Sgt. Brahaum may have had a bandage on her arm was immaterial to Taylor’s defense.
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error with regard to the trial court’s actions after dismissing Juror 3082. There is
also no indication that the remaining jurors were aware that Juror 3082 had
seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage on her arm, and the trial court instructed the
jurors to base their verdict solely upon the evidence presented at trial. Taylor
has therefore failed to establish any error, much less fundamental error, on the
part of the trial court for failing to questioning the remaining jurors with regard
to the circumstances that led to Juror 3082’s removal. Accordingly, we affirm
the judgment of the trial court.
[25] Affirmed.
Robb, J., and Pyle, J., concur.
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