Charles Stephenson, Appellant (defendant) v. State of Indiana, Appellee (plaintiff)

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed Charles Stephenson's convictions for the robbery and murder of Leigh Jennings and his sentence of life imprisonment without parole. The court held the evidence sufficient to establish robbery even though part of the crime occurred before and part after the victim's death, and sufficient to prove the statutory aggravator that the murder was committed while committing robbery. Evidence of Stephenson's attempted suicide was admissible as relevant to motive, and his challenge to testimony about his euphoric appearance was waived for lack of a matching trial objection and was not fundamental error. Under Appellate Rule 7(B), the nature of the offense and his character did not warrant sentence revision.