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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Ind. Decisions - More on: Supreme Court reinstates trial court's murder conviction

Updating yesterday's ILB report on the Supreme Court's decison in Ronnie Drane v. State, here is some press coverage.

The Gary Post-Tribune has a story headed "High court reinstates 85-year sentence," reported by Ruth Ann Krause. Some quotes:

Ronnie Dontell Drane is a convicted killer and rapist once again.

The Indiana Supreme Court reinstated Drane's convictions in the 2002 rape and murder of Tamarra "Precious" Taylor, which had been reversed by the Indiana Court of Appeals last year because of insufficiency of evidence.

The court's opinion reinstates the 85-year sentence Drane re-ceived in February 2005 from Lake Superior Court Judge pro tem Thomas Webber Sr., who presided at Drane's bench trial.

Taylor, 25, of Hammond, was found partially clothed at M.C. Bennett Park at 25th Avenue and Grant Street in Gary on May 27, 2002.

"To make a long story short, we think the Court of Appeals reweighed the evidence," Chief Justice Randall Shepard wrote. "It is the fact-finder's role, not that of the appellate courts, to assess witness credibility and weigh the evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to support a conviction."

Drane, who remains in custody at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, has two more murder cases pending.

From an AP story in the Indianapolis Star:
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated murder and rape convictions against a Gary man, overturning a state appeals court ruling that prosecutors did not present enough evidence to support the convictions.

The high court unanimously ruled that the conviction of Ronnie Drane should be reinstated, saying: "There is more than sufficient evidence to support both the murder and rape convictions."

Two years ago, Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Webber found Drane guilty of killing 25-year-old Tamarra Taylor of Hammond and sentenced him to 85 years in prison. Drane was accused of raping and strangling Taylor in a Gary park in May 2002.

Drane, 33, testified he had consensual sex with Taylor and that she left his house unharmed.
The Supreme Court said the appeals court improperly "reweighed the evidence" last year when it reversed the convictions.

In the ILB entry yesterday I mentioned that the Court of Appeals ruling was not readily available because it had been designated NFP and at the time, NFPs, although available in paper form from the Clerk's Office, were not posted online.

This morning in my email I found a scanned (and then OCRed) copy of the June 29, 2006 Court of Appeals opinion in Drane v. State. Thanks to Bloomington attorney Michael Ausbrook, editor of the excellent Indiana blog INCourts (dedicated to commentary on criminal appellate opinions).

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 30, 2007 07:38 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions