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State v. Raines4/17/2002
The defendant, Michael Raines, was indicted for first degree murder. After a jury trial, he was convicted of the lesser-included offense of second degree murder, a Class A felony. He was sentenced as a Range I standard offender to twenty-two (22) years. The defendant filed a timely motion for new trial, which was denied. He subsequently file a timely notice of appeal alleging: (1) there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction for second-degree murder; (2) the trial court erroneously refused the defendant's request to instruct the jury on his Second Amendment right to possess a gun in his home; and (3) the length of his sentence is excessive.
FACTS
On October 9, 1999, the defendant, then nineteen years old, and a friend, Alan Bates, went to the home of Lester Pike, a mutual friend. The victim, Glen Young, forty-one years old, was also at Lester Pike's. After listening to music and drinking beer for a couple of hours, the defendant and Mr. Bates decided to leave, and the victim asked to leave with them. Thereafter, the defendant drove the three of them to County Line bar, where they drank beer for another two to three hours. Around nine o'clock p.m., the defendant, Mr. Bates, and the victim left the bar in the defendant's car. The defendant drove to a motel where his girlfriend was staying, but she was not home when they arrived. The three men then rode around for a while. During the ride, the victim told the defendant and Mr. Bates that he had been in prison for murder and had also been questioned about another murder since his release from prison. In their testimony, the defendant and Mr. Bates characterized the victim's statements as bragging about murdering someone. Both the defendant and Mr. Bates also testified that the victim's comments made them uncomfortable and slightly fearful of the victim.
While they were riding around, the victim asked to borrow the defendant's cigarette lighter. The lighter was a Zippo lighter, which the defendant carried in a special case. According to the defendant's testimony, it was given to him by his late-grandfather and had sentimental value. However, Mr. Bates testified that he recalled the defendant telling him that the defendant's boss, Earl Carroll, had given it to him. In any event, the defendant allowed the victim to use the lighter. However, when the defendant later asked the victim to return his lighter, the victim refused. According to the defendant, the victim said it was his lighter now, that it was in his pocket, that he was keeping it, and that he would take "some more stuff too." The defendant eventually stopped the car at a friend,'s, Red Morgan's, house. Mr. Bates testified that he fell asleep during the drive to Red Morgan's and did not hear the conversation about the lighter. Upon arriving at Red Morgan's house, the men were told that Mr. Morgan was not at home. Mr. Bates had a brief conversation with another occupant of the Morgan residence, and then the defendant, Mr. Bates, and the victim left.
After they left Mr. Morgan's house, Mr. Bates indicated to the defendant that he wanted the defendant to take him home. The defendant responded that he wanted to take the victim home first. In his testimony, the defendant explained that he wanted to take the victim home first because he was afraid of the victim and did not want to be alone with him in the car. According to Mr. Bates, the victim told the defendant that he did not want to go home yet. However, according to the defendant, the victim added that he was not going home right then and informed the defendant that the defendant was "going to ride him around." The defendant responded that he did not have enough gas to continue driving around and
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