42 N.E.3d 172 (Ind.App. 2015), 27A05-1502-CR-61, Woods v. State
| Judge | Kirsch, Judge. Najam, J., and Barnes, J., concur. Najam, J., and Barnes, J., concur. |
| Parties | Robert L. Woods, Appellant-Defendant, v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff |
| Date | 09 November 2015 |
| Docket Number | Court of Appeals 27A05-1502-CR-61 |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
| Citation | 42 N.E.3d 172 |
Page 172
Editorial Note:
These opinions are not precedents and cannot be cited or relied upon unless used when establishing res judicata or collateral estoppel or in actions between the same party. Indiana Rules of Appellate Procedure 65(D).
Appeal from the Grant Superior Court. The Honorable Dana J. Kenworthy, Judge. Trial Court Cause No. 27D02-1405-FA-9.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
[¶1] Following a jury trial, Robert L. Woods was convicted of two counts of Class A felony child molesting.1 He raises five issues, which we consolidate and restate as:
I. Whether the trial court erred when it admitted into evidence the nurse examiner's diagram of the female sex organ, which showed where the victim had been touched by Woods, and permitted the nurse examiner to testify that the victim's statements to her demonstrated penetration;
II. Whether testimony of the investigating detective constituted impermissible vouching; III. Whether the State's evidence was sufficient to convict Woods of Class A felony child molesting by sexual intercourse; and IV. Whether Woods's one-hundred-year sentence is inappropriate.
[¶2] We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[¶3] One night in late March or early April 2014, eleven-year-old K.A.D. was at home, along with her brother, a cousin, and Woods, who was her step-father. Her mother (" Mother" ) was playing late night bingo at another location. Near midnight, K.A.D. came out of her room and asked Woods if she could watch television. Woods said yes and told her she could lie down on the couch, which she did. K.A.D.'s brother and cousin were asleep in her brother's bedroom.
[¶4] Woods got on the couch next to K.A.D., lying behind her. Woods then turned K.A.D. onto her back, and he got on his knees and hunched over her. Woods moved K.A.D.'s pajamas pants and underwear down to her knees and " started doing something" " to himself" and then he " started rubbing his private on [hers]" in a " rough" manner. Tr. at 41-42. He rubbed his penis where she would " wipe" when she would " pee." Id. at 42. He told her not to tell Mother or her brother because that would make them sad. Approximately a couple of weeks later, K.A.D. was sick and throwing up and Woods purchased a pregnancy test and told K.A.D. to take it. Woods thought she dipped it in water, so he purchased a second one at Family Dollar, as she waited in the car, and directed her to use it, which she did.
[¶5] Thereafter, on April 29, 2014, Woods woke up K.A.D. for school around 6:00 a.m. Mother and K.A.D.'s brother were home, each in their respective bedrooms. Not wanting to go to school, K.A.D. went to the living room couch and lay down. Woods proceeded to lay down next to her. Again, K.A.D. was, initially, on her side, but Woods flipped her onto her back. He took off her pajama pants and threw them on the floor, and he pulled down her underwear to her knees. He did something to himself, and hunched over her, with a blanket draped over him. Wood started " rubbing his private on [her] private." Id. at 46. He rubbed his penis in the same area of her private part as he had on the prior occasion, namely where K.A.D. would " wipe." Id. at 47.
[¶6] While Woods was doing this, Mother entered the room and saw Woods, under a blanket, but " on all fours" above K.A.D. " moving his hand up and down . . . by his waist area." Id. at 90. Mother yelled and cussed at Woods. Mother went to her room, and Woods followed her, explaining that he was just tickling K.A.D. to wake her for school. K.A.D. also went into the bedroom and, when her Mother asked what happened, K.A.D. told her. K.A.D. thereafter got dressed and went to school that day.2 Later that evening, Mother took K.A.D. to the Marion General Hospital (" Hospital" ), arriving around 10:00 p.m.
[¶7] Detective Brian Sharp (" Detective Sharp" ) of the Marion Police Department was dispatched to the Hospital. Because the Hospital did not have a pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (" SANE" ), the plan was to send K.A.D. to the Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center (" Fort Wayne Center" ) to be examined. Detective Sharp spoke briefly to K.A.D. to explain to her that she was going to the Fort Wayne Center for an examination, and before leaving for Fort Wayne, K.A.D. and Mother accompanied Detective Sharp to their home, where he took pictures of the home's interior, and he collected K.A.D.'s underwear and shirt as evidence. K.A.D. and Mother arrived at the Fort Wayne Center around 3:15 a.m., and K.A.D. met with SANE Joyce Moss (" Moss" ) for an examination. K.A.D. told Moss about the morning's incident with Woods, and Moss took notes as K.A.D. provided the information of what happened with Woods.
[¶8] Later that morning, around 11:00 a.m., K.A.D. met with Detective Sharp at the First Light Child Advocacy Center (" the CAC" ), to be interviewed at a " neutral," " child-friendly" environment. Id. at 259. K.A.D. was interviewed by Kelly Scott (" Scott" ) of the Indiana Department of Child Services, while a multi-disciplinary team, including Detective Sharp, a representative of the CAC, and a representative from the prosecutor's office observed on a television monitor in another room.
[¶9] On April 30, 2014, Woods met with Detective Sharp and Officer David Bennett for questioning during a videotaped interview. Woods denied that the two incidents on the couch occurred at all, maintaining that he did not touch K.A.D. He also denied that he required K.A.D. to take a pregnancy test, and he denied buying a pregnancy test. " Why would I make a child take a pregnancy [test] if nothing never happened and therefore if it did happen I never penetrated or to go inside of her for her to take a pregnancy test. It don't make sense." Ex. Vol. at 40 (State's Ex. 22T). Detective Sharp took a buccal swab DNA sample from Woods.
[¶10] On May 7, 2014, the State charged Woods with three counts of Class A felony child molesting; counts I and II alleged child molesting by sexual intercourse with K.A.D., and count III alleged Woods committed criminal deviate conduct by penetrating K.A.D. with his finger.
[¶11] At the jury trial, K.A.D. testified to the two incidents where Woods had rubbed his penis on her while she was on the couch at home. When describing specifically on her body where Woods's penis touched her body, K.A.D. described that it was the location where she would wipe after urinating. K.A.D. testified that, during the first incident, she told Woods to stop and he replied, " Relax." Tr. at 42. She pushed Woods off of her, and " he smiled and then gave [her] a high five." Id. at 43. K.A.D. started crying and Woods said, " [S]top crying" and told K.A.D. go and change her underwear. K.A.D. changed her underwear and began to read a book in her room. Woods came into her room and asked K.A.D. " if [she] knew what that was called," and when she replied that she did not, he said, " [T]hat was called molestation." Id. 43, 45. K.A.D. testified about meeting with Moss, stating that she told Moss of the exact locations where the touching occurred and that she also showed Moss by using her own hands to point to locations on her body.
[¶12] K.A.D. also testified that, sometime between the first and second incidents involving Woods, she was ill and threw up " like five times" in one day. Id. at 61. Woods gave her " a stick for her to pee on." Id. Woods suspected that she did not urinate on the first one, so he went to Family Dollar store and purchased a second one; K.A.D. accompanied him but waited in the car while he went inside. When she got home, she told Woods that she " didn't want to" use it, but Woods told her, " Just do it so I can make sure you're okay." Id. at 63. K.A.D. testified that she did not tell Mother or her brother about the two incidents when Woods had touched her because she did not want them to be sad, and she expected they would be because they loved Woods. K.A.D. stated that she too loved Woods " [b]efore these things happened." Id. at 64.
[¶13] On cross-examination, counsel for Woods asked K.A.D. about the first incident, inquiring, " Did he put his penis in you at that time?" and she replied, " No." Id. at 65. She gave the same response when asked, " Did he put a finger in you at that time?" Id. Counsel for Woods then asked whether Woods " put anything inside the outer lips of your vagina." Id. She replied, " What do you mean?" Woods's counsel repeated the question, and she replied, " No." Id. at 65-66. Counsel for Woods then asked about the second incident on the couch, asking " Did he insert anything in the outer lips of your [] vagina?" and K.A.D. responded, " No." Id. at 66. Counsel further inquired, " So he didn't spread them and put anything in there?" to which K.A.D. answered, " I still don't understand," but later said, " Yeah, he did not put anything in me." Id.
[¶14] Mother, who at the time of trial was no longer married to Woods, testified that although she and Woods married in 2010, they had been together in a relationship since before K.A.D. was born. Thus, K.A.D. had known Woods her entire life and referred to him as " dad." Id. at 83. Mother described what she saw on April 29, 2014, when she woke up and walked into the living room and saw Woods on top of K.A.D. She said that after she cussed, Woods dropped on top of K.A.D. " and was like tickling her, like as to wake her up for school." Id. at 92. Mother explained that she " retreated" to her room " 'cause I was going to...
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