Heffner v. State

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

James Thomas Heffner was tried by jury and convicted of voluntary manslaughter, a Class B felony, Ind.Code § 35-42-1-3 (Burns 1985 Repl.). The trial court sentenced him to twenty years in prisión.

Among the several issues Heffner raises on direct appeal, he prevails on one: Whether the admission of Heffner’s statements during interrogation by the police after he had requested an attorney violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

I. Evidence at Trial

On Friday, June 21, 1985, Heffner drove from Baltimore to Indiana to take his friend Phyllis Wiczulis back to her home…