Fields v. State, 283S39

• Decision Date: 17 November 1983
• Docket Number: No. 283S39,283S39
• Citation: 455 N.E.2d 601
• Parties: Kenneth Jay FIELDS, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 601

455 N.E.2d 601

Kenneth Jay FIELDS, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 283S39.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Nov. 17, 1983.

Franklin W. Arkenberg, Milan, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

PIVARNIK, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Kenneth Jay Fields was convicted by a jury in the Ripley Circuit Court of class A felony Rape, class A felony Criminal Deviate Conduct and class D felony Confinement. He subsequently was sentenced to concurrent imprisonment terms of fifty years for Rape, fifty years for Criminal Deviate Conduct and four years for Confinement. Appellant now directly appeals and raises the following two issues for our review:

1. whether there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could properly find Appellant guilty as charged; and

2. whether the trial court reversibly erred by admitting testimony regarding the accuracy of a vaginal wash test.

I

The facts adduced at trial show that the instant crimes occurred at approximately 10:00 p.m. on May 25, 1982. The victim, V.M., testified that she was waiting beneath a street light adjacent to U.S. Highway 50 in Holton, Indiana, when Appellant approached her asking for a light for his cigarette. When Appellant arrived beside V.M., he struck her and dragged her into a nearby field. Appellant told V.M. that he had a gun and a knife and would use them if she did not cooperate. Appellant thereupon forced V.M. to perform fellatio followed by sexual intercourse; he subsequently forced her to repeat those deeds two additional times. V.M. testified that she was afraid that she was going to be killed and repeatedly begged to be released. Appellant finally permitted V.M. to wander away shoeless. Two police officers in a patrol car happened to drive past V.M. just as she stepped out of the weeds along Highway 50. The officers testified that when they stopped to check on V.M., she immediately began "hollering" that she had been raped by a man wearing a brown coat and that he was still out in the field. V.M. was shaking, her voice cracked, her nose was bleeding, her arm was bruised and her lip was swollen. One officer walked a short distance into the field and found Appellant wearing a muddy brown coat and lying face down, asleep. After Appellant was arrested and taken to the Sheriff's office, Appellant made a statement to State Trooper Pat McCreary. McCreary testified at trial that in said statement, Appellant admitted to having engaged in fellatio and coitus with V.M. but claimed that V.M. initiated the contact and was willing to consent for $20.00.

With regard to sufficiency of the evidence questions, this Court will neither reweigh the evidence nor determine the credibility of witnesses. If there is substantial evidence to support the jury's conclusion that Appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury's verdict will not be disturbed. Oatts v. State, (1982) Ind., 437 N.E.2d 463, reh. denied; Gatewood v. State, (1982) Ind., 430 N.E.2d 781. Furthermore, it is well settled in Indiana that a rape conviction can rest upon the victim's uncorroborated testimony. Johnson v. State, (1982) Ind., 432 N.E.2d 1358; Tillman v. State, (1981) Ind., 426 N.E.2d 1149. Reviewing the evidence in the instant case, we find more than sufficient evidence of probative value to justify the jury's verdicts.

II

Appellant next contends that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence certain testimony...