Chappell v. State

• Decision Date: 29 March 2012
• Docket Number: No. 89A01–1106–CR–265.,89A01–1106–CR–265.
• Citation: 966 N.E.2d 124
• Parties: Shamir CHAPPELL, Appellant–Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

966 N.E.2d 124

Shamir CHAPPELL, Appellant–Defendant,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff.

No. 89A01–1106–CR–265.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

March 29, 2012.

David M. Jordan, J. Clayton Miller, Jordan Law, LLC, Richmond, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Gary R. Rom, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

MATHIAS, Judge.

Shamir Chappell ("Chappell") was convicted in Wayne Superior Court of Class A felony burglary causing bodily injury, Class B felony burglary of a dwelling, Class D felony battery, and he admitted to being an habitual offender. Chappell appeals and presents five issues, which we renumber restate as the following two: (1) whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support Chappell's convictions for burglary, and (2) whether the trial court erred in sentencing Chappell to an aggregate term of seventy years. We conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence to support Chappell's conviction of Class A felony burglary, and that the trial court did not err in imposing sentence, but we determine sua sponte that his convictions for both Class A felony burglary and Class B felony burglary constitute double jeopardy. We therefore affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

Facts and Procedural History

In 2010, Elly Casebolt–Flanagan ("Casebolt–Flanagan") rented a home in Richmond, Indiana to Dinashia Bee ("Bee"). Bee and Casebolt–Flanagan had an "understanding" that only Bee was to live at the home. Despite this, Bee lived at the home with her mother and two brothers. One of Bee's brothers, Maurice Jones ("Maurice") lived at the home with his wife, Heather Jones ("Heather"). Casebolt–Flanagan was unhappy with this and legally evicted Bee from the home on September 8, 2010. As a result of the eviction, Bee was given until September 13, 2010 to vacate the house and take her belongings. Although Bee and her mother moved out of state, Maurice and Heather stayed at the house on September 12, 2010 in order to remove the remainder of Bee's belongings.

That evening, Maurice went to the home of Carlotta Wilkerson ("Wilkerson"), with whom he had a relationship. Wilkerson began to send Heather text messages, taunting her that Maurice was going to leave her to be with Wilkerson. Wilkerson even called Heather and threatened to physically assault her. Undaunted by these threats, Heather went to Wilkerson's home to confront her. The two women argued, but Maurice was able to keep them physically separated. Maurice then went back to the rented home with Heather, and the two slept in the back bedroom of the house.

At some point in the middle of that night, Maurice and Heather heard someone banging on the front door. Heather got out of the bedroom to see what was causing the noise when she saw the door fly open and Wilkerson and Chappell enter the house. Heather then ran back to the bedroom and shut the door. Wilkerson and Chappell tried to force their way into the bedroom, but Maurice and Heather held the door shut. Chappell then kicked the door repeatedly, eventually breaking it off the latch and hinges. Wilkerson was holding a steak knife, so Heather attempted to flee out the front door but was blocked by an unknown individual. Heather then ran to the basement in an attempt to flee out a back door, but Wilkerson followed her.

In the basement, Wilkerson stabbed Heather in the arm. Maurice and Chappell soon came to the basement, and Chappell blocked Heather's attempt to run back up the basement stairs. When Maurice attempted to come to Heather's defense, Wilkerson told Chappell, "we're in this together, do it," and "what are you waiting for?" Tr. pp. 302, 245. Chappell then swung his fists at Maurice. Heather managed to escape back up the basement stairs, but as she did, Wilkerson stabbed her again, this time in the hip. Heather was then able to run out the front door and found shelter at a neighbor's house, where the neighbor called the police. Maurice too ran to the front door. As he did, Chappell ran by him, telling Wilkerson, "come on, we gotta go." Tr. p. 319.

Wilkerson and Chappell left the house, and Wilkerson slashed the tires on Maurice's car. Maurice went back into the house and also called the police.

When the police arrived, the found they front door of the house dented and completely removed from the door frame. Heather was taken to the hospital, and it took eight medical staples to close her knife wounds

. Both Maurice and Heather later identified Wilkerson and Chappell from a photographic array as their attackers. Both were "100%" positive of the accuracy of their identifications. Tr. pp. 182–83, 255

On December 7, 2010, the State charged Chappell as follows: Count I, aiding, inducing, or causing Class A felony burglary resulting in bodily injury; Count II, aiding, inducing, or causing Class B felony burglary of a dwelling; and Count III, Class B misdemeanor battery. The State also alleged that Chappell was an habitual offender. The State later moved to add Count IV, Class C felony battery, and moved later again to amend this charge to aiding, inducing, or causing Class C felony battery. At that time, the State also added Count V, which alleged Class D felony residential entry. A two-day jury trial commenced on February 7, 2011. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Chappell guilty on Counts I, II, IV, and V, but acquitted him on Count III. Chappell then admitted to being an habitual offender.

On March 4, 2011, the trial court sentenced Chappell to forty years on Count I, ten years on Count II, and four years on Count IV. The trial court vacated the conviction on Count V on double jeopardy grounds. The court also attached an habitual offender enhancement of thirty years to the forty-year sentence on Count I, and ordered the sentences on the other counts to run concurrently with Count I. Thus, Chappell was sentenced to an aggregate of seventy years incarceration.

Chappell filed a motion to correct error on March 29, 2011. The trial court held hearings on Chappell's motion on April 15 and May 11, 2011.¹ On June 21, 2011, the trial court entered an order denying Chappell's motion to correct error, and Chappell filed a notice of appeal that same day.²

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Chappell first argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support his convictions for burglary. Upon a challenge to the sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction, we neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses; instead, we respect the exclusive province of the trier of fact to weigh any conflicting evidence. McHenry v. State, 820 N.E.2d 124, 126 (Ind.2005). We consider only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict, and we will affirm if the probative evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence could have allowed a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

A. Building or Structure of Another Person

To convict a defendant of Class A felony burglary, the State must prove that he: (1) broke and entered the building or structure of another; (2) with the intent to commit a felony in it; and (3) it resulted in bodily injury to any person other than a defendant.³ See Ind.Code § 35–43–2–1(2)(A) (2004). Chappell's main argument is that he cannot be guilty of burglary because no person had legal possession of the house he broke into and entered. Chappell is correct that "possession rather than ownership is the essential element in burglary." Butler v. State, 478 N.E.2d 126, 130 (Ind.Ct.App.1985). But we disagree with Chappell that no one had possession of the house at the time of the break-in.

In Count I of the charging information, the State alleged that the structure Chappell broke into was "the building or structure of another person ... owned by Elly Casebolt–Flanagan and rented by Dinashia [B]ee[.]" Appellant's App. p. 12. And the evidence supported this allegation. Maurice's sister, Bee, was the tenant of the house and did not have to vacate the premises until September 13, 2010. It was in the early hours of that day that Chappell broke into the home. And Maurice and Heather had Bee's permission, if not the landlord's permission, to be in the house at the time Chappell and Wilkerson broke into it. Bee still had the right to be in the home at the time of the burglary, and Maurice and Heather were in the home with her permission. In contrast, neither Wilkerson not Chappell had such permission.

We therefore conclude that the State presented evidence sufficient to prove that Chappell broke and entered into the building or structure of another person. See Jewell v. State, 672 N.E.2d 417, 426 (Ind.Ct.App.1996) (burglary statute's requirement that the dwelling be that "of another person" is satisfied if the evidence demonstrates that the entry was unauthorized); Keel v. State, 165 Ind.App. 579, 582–83, 333 N.E.2d 328, 330 (1975) (concluding that evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for burglary where defendant broke into home owned by recently deceased woman but still occupied by decedent's male friend for a week after her death, despite defendant's claim that occupant was unlawfully living there after owner's death).

B. Accomplice Liability

The State charged Chappell under a theory of accomplice liability by alleging that he aided, induced, or caused Wilkerson to break and enter into the home with the intent to commit battery with a deadly weapon and that the burglary resulted in bodily injury to Heather. See Appellant's App. p. 12. Chappell claims that the State failed to prove that he knew that Wilkerson intended to stab Heather. Noting that neither he nor Wilkerson testified, Chappell claims that there was therefore no evidence to show that he knew that Wilkerson was armed or that he knew she intended to attack Heather when the two broke into the home. Neither the law nor...