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Williams v. State2/7/2003
an to move, so Officer Bethel quickly put the car in park. When Officer Bethel returned to Townsend, he was breathing again. The ambulance arrived shortly and took care of Townsend. Officer Bethel then went to the woman's house and saw Williams lying on the floor bleeding. Another ambulance arrived and took care of Williams.
Indianapolis Police Lieutenant Mark Rice ("Lieutenant Rice") arrived at Wishard Hospital at 11:52 p.m., in response to a call regarding two people who had been shot at Beville and Coyner. Lieutenant Rice first checked on Townsend, who was the most critically injured. Townsend was being treated by the emergency room personnel. He had an oxygen mask over his mouth and had chest tubes inserted in his chest. Lieutenant Rice asked Townsend what had happened, and Townsend told him that two young men had tried to rob him. Tr. p. 114. Townsend stated that one of the men had been in the front seat, and one had been in the back seat. Id. He told Lieutenant Rice that he knew that the man in the front seat had shot him, and he was possibly shot by the man in the back seat. Id. The two men had also asked Townsend how much money he had. Tr. p. 115. Townsend stated that he had a gun under his right leg and had fired before the man in the front seat had. Id. Townsend told Lieutenant Rice that he had picked up the two men at 1105 Jefferson. Id.
Lucille Townsend ("Lucille"), Townsend's wife, also arrived at the hospital. Lucille was notified that Townsend was at the hospital at approximately 11:45 p.m. and reached the hospital about thirty minutes after receiving the notification. When Lucille saw her husband, he was on a gurney in the emergency room and was in a lot of pain. There was blood on the floor and the bed, and Townsend had tubes and IVs sticking out of his body. Townsend told Lucille that he had picked up two young men at 10th and Jefferson. Tr. p. 127. He stated that when the men entered the car they had their guns drawn, and they tried to rob him. Id. Townsend said that he had pulled out his own gun, but it had jammed when he fired it. Id.
On January 19, 2000, Townsend underwent major surgery, and his gallbladder was removed. For part of his hospitalization Townsend had a trach tube inserted to assist him with breathing. On March 4, 2000, Townsend was in pain and was disoriented. He had an elevated fever and high white blood cell count. On March 5, 2000, Townsend, while sitting in a chair, went into cardiac arrest when his trach tube became blocked by mucous. He did not recover from the lack of oxygen to his brain, and he was taken off of life support on March 8.
On March 31, 2000, Williams was charged with murder, a felony, attempted robbery, as a Class A felony, carrying a handgun without a license, as a Class A misdemeanor, and dangerous possession of a handgun, as a Class A misdemeanor. A jury trial was held on October 22-24, 2001, and the jury found Williams guilty of murder, attempted robbery, and carrying a handgun without a license. The trial court merged the attempted robbery and carrying a handgun without a license convictions into the murder conviction and sentenced Williams to sixty-five years in the Department of Correction. Williams now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.
I. Admission of Statements
The admission of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and the decision whether to admit evidence will not be reversed absent a showing of manifest abuse of discretion by the trial court resulting in the denial of a fair trial. Prewitt v. State, 761 N.E.2d 862, 869 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002). A decision would be an abuse of discretion if it is clearly against the logic and effect of
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