Marcus D. Hanyard v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) , 121 N.E.3d 153 ( 2019 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Jan 31 2019, 6:18 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Ana M. Quirk Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Muncie, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Caroline G. Templeton
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Marcus D. Hanyard, January 31, 2019
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
18A-CR-1237
v. Appeal from the Delaware Circuit
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Thomas A.
Appellee-Plaintiff. Cannon, Jr., Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
18C05-1703-MR-4
Mathias, Judge.
[1] Marcus Hanyard (“Hanyard”) was convicted in Delaware Circuit Court of
murder, Level 1 felony conspiracy to commit burglary, and Level 4 felony
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unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. He was ordered to
serve an aggregate sixty-one-year term in the Department of Correction. On
appeal, Hanyard argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to
prove that he committed the charged offenses.
[2] We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[3] On February 9, 2017, between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., Hunter Hess (“Hess”),
Isaiah Davis (“Davis”), and Zack Farmer (“Farmer”), were smoking marijuana
at Davis’s home in Muncie, Indiana. The three men were in Davis’s bedroom,
which was situated at the front of the house, when Hess heard a gunshot
coming from the doorway of the bedroom. Hess looked up and saw a black
man with a handgun in the doorway of the bedroom, but he could not see the
man’s face clearly. Davis also saw the man in the doorway but did not get a
good look at the man’s face.
[4] Davis grabbed his gun, which was laying on a table nearby, and shot at the man
in the doorway. The man with the gun fled Davis’s home. Hess and Davis then
discovered that Farmer had been shot in the head, chest and legs. Davis told
Hess not to call the police because there were drugs in the house. As Davis
began to hide the money and drugs in the house, Hess carried Farmer out to his
vehicle so that he could take him to the hospital. A neighbor who heard the
gunshots called 911, and law enforcement officers arrived before Hess could
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leave to go to the hospital. Shortly thereafter, Farmer was pronounced dead at
the scene.
[5] Davis was a known drug dealer in the Muncie area. Davis and Matt Fisher
(“Fisher”) purchased drugs from each other. On some date prior to February 9,
2017, Fisher, Hanyard, and three other individuals discussed robbing Davis.
Fisher stated that he would find out whether Davis had drugs in his possession
on the date of the planned robbery. Tr. Vol. III, p. 66. Fisher also agreed to give
Hanyard information about where the drugs would be located inside Davis’s
home and how many people were in the home. Id. at 69. Fisher knew that
Davis kept his drugs and money in one of the front rooms of the house and that
Davis had a safe.
[6] Davis and Fisher exchanged text messages on February 8, 2017 at
approximately 9:40 p.m. because Davis wanted to buy pain killers from Fisher.
Fisher confirmed that Davis had a significant amount of marijuana and Xanax.
Fisher then told Hanyard that Davis had drugs at his house. Hanyard
responded by saying, “we should hit the lick,” meaning that they should rob
Davis. Id. at 76.
[7] The next day, Fisher learned that Farmer had been killed at Davis’s home.
Approximately one week later, Hanyard told Fisher that he had been involved
in a shootout at Davis’s home. Id. at 79. Hanyard’s leg was grazed by a bullet
during the shooting causing a wound that was seen by several individuals,
including law enforcement officials, within days of the murder. Hanyard told a
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friend that he was wounded in a robbery that went wrong. Ex. Vol., State’s Ex.
284. And Hanyard’s cell phone records established that he was near Davis’s
home within minutes of the shooting on February 9, 2017.
[8] Hanyard was arrested on February 19, 2017, at a friend’s home in Indianapolis.
The arresting officers noted the wound on his leg, and he was transported to
Ball Memorial Hospital. The emergency room doctor concluded that the
wound was a graze wound from a gunshot. The officers who searched the home
in Indianapolis found a handgun between the mattress and box springs of the
bed Hanyard used while he was staying in the home.
[9] The State charged Hanyard with murder, Level 1 felony conspiracy to commit
burglary, Level 2 felony attempted robbery, and Level 4 felony unlawful
possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. A jury trial commenced on
February 27, 2018. Hanyard was found guilty of murder, Level 1 felony
burglary, and Level 2 felony attempted armed robbery. In a bifurcated
proceeding, Hanyard was also found guilty of Level 4 felony possession of a
firearm by a serious violent felon. Prior to sentencing, the trial court merged the
robbery count with the murder count. Hanyard was then ordered to serve an
aggregate sixty-one-year term executed in the Department of Correction.
Hanyard now appeals.
Standard of Review
[10] Hanyard argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that
he committed murder, Level 1 felony conspiracy to commit burglary, and Level
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4 felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. When we
review a challenge to the sufficiency of evidence, “we do not reweigh the
evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses, and we respect a fact-finder’s
exclusive province to weigh conflicting evidence.” Phipps v. State, 90 N.E.3d
1190, 1195 (Ind. 2018) (quotation marks omitted). We consider only the
probative evidence and the reasonable inferences that support the verdict. Id.We will affirm if the probative evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from
the evidence could have allowed a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.Discussion and Decision
[11] The State lacked direct evidence that Hanyard committed the challenged
offenses. Neither Davis nor Hess got a good look at the face of the man who
shot Farmer. But “[a] conviction may be based on circumstantial evidence
alone so long as there are reasonable inferences enabling the factfinder to find
the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Lawrence v. State, 959 N.E.2d
385, 388 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012) (citation omitted), trans. denied.
[12] The State presented evidence that on multiple occasions prior to February 9,
2017, Hanyard, Fisher, and three other individuals discussed robbing Davis.
Fisher knew that Hanyard carried a semi-automatic, .40 caliber pistol. Fisher
told Hanyard where Davis would likely keep his “stash” and described the
layout of Davis’s house. Tr. Vol. III., pp. 69–70. On the date of the planned
robbery, Fisher told Hanyard that he would find out whether Davis had drugs
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in his possession. Hanyard frequently pressured Fisher for information about
whether Davis had money and drugs at his home. Id. at 70.
[13] Approximately one week before Farmer was murdered, Fisher gave Hanyard
Davis’s address. Hanyard’s cell phone contained screenshots of a map locating
Davis’s address. The screenshots were downloaded three days before the
murder. Throughout the evening of February 8, 2017, Fisher communicated
with Davis for the purpose of discovering whether Davis had drugs in his
house. When Fisher contacted Hanyard to tell him that Davis had drugs in his
possession, Hanyard responded, “we should hit the lick,” i.e. commit a robbery.
Id. at 76.
[14] On February 9, 2017, shortly before 4:00 a.m. a black man holding a gun
appeared in the doorway of Davis’s bedroom at Davis’s home. After hearing a
gunshot, Davis grabbed his handgun and shot at the man in the doorway.
Farmer, who had been sitting in a chair near the door, was shot multiple times
and died as a result of his gunshot wounds. At 4:04 a.m. on February 9, 2017,
Hanyard called his girlfriend, and during the call he was located a few blocks
west of Davis’s home. Tr. Vol. II. pp. 206–07; Ex. Vol., State’s Ex. 271.
[15] The day of the murder, Hanyard’s friend saw a graze wound on Hanyard’s leg.
Based on their conversation, Hanyard’s friend concluded that Hanyard was
involved in a robbery. Approximately one week after the robbery, Hanyard told
Fisher that he had been involved in a “shootout” at Davis’s home. Tr. Vol. III,
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p. 79. Hanyard specifically stated that someone in Davis’s house pointed a gun
at him so he returned fire. Id. at 80.
[16] On February 19, 2017, Hanyard was arrested. On that date he had bandages
wrapped around his lower leg. The emergency room physician determined that
the wound was a graze from a gunshot. The police searched the home where
Hanyard was found and discovered a box of Smith and Wesson federal
premium .40 caliber ammunition. Shell casings recovered from Davis’s home
were .40 caliber with “Federal Forty Smith and Wesson” scored on the bottom.
Tr. Vol. II, pp. 17, 20, 22.
[17] This evidence is sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hanyard
conspired with Fisher and three other individuals to burglarize Davis’s home,
and in the course of the burglary, Farmer was shot multiple times, which
resulted in his death.
[18] The State also presented sufficient evidence to prove that Hanyard possessed a
firearm between the dates of February 9, 2017 to February 19, 2017 as charged
in the charging information. Fisher’s, Davis’s, and Hess’s testimonies
established that Hanyard possessed a handgun when he participated in the
burglary at Davis’s home on February 9, 2017. In addition, on February 19,
2017, Hanyard was arrested at a home in Indianapolis. Police officers found a
.40 caliber Glock 27 handgun between the mattress and box spring of the bed
that Hanyard had been using. Officers also found two boxes of ammunition on
a shelf near the bed.
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Conclusion
[19] The State presented sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that
Hanyard committed murder, Level 1 felony conspiracy to commit burglary, and
Level 4 felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
Hanyard’s argument to the contrary is merely a request to reweigh the evidence
and the credibility of the witnesses, which our court will not do. See Phipps, 90
N.E.3d at 1195.
[20] Affirmed.
Bailey, J., and Bradford, J., concur.
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