Grigsby v. State

• Docket Number: 23A-CR-1574
• Decision Date: 24 April 2024
• Parties: Jason M. Grigsby, Appellant-Defendant v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

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Jason M. Grigsby, Appellant-Defendant
v.
State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

No. 23A-CR-1574

Court of Appeals of Indiana

April 24, 2024

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision is not binding precedent for any court and may be cited only for persuasive value or to establish res judicata, collateral estoppel, or law of the case.

Appeal from the Pulaski Superior Court Trial Court Cause No. 66D01-2001-F5-2 The Honorable Crystal A. Brucker Kocher, Judge

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Mark F. James Mark James Legal, LLC South Bend, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Theodore E. Rokita Attorney General of Indiana Courtney Staton Deputy Attorney General Brandon D. Smith Certified Legal Intern Indianapolis, Indiana

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MEMORANDUM DECISION

Foley, Judge

[¶1] Jason M. Grigsby ("Grigsby") was convicted after a jury trial of battery resulting in serious bodily injury,^[1] a Level 5 felony, and was sentenced to four years with three years executed in the Indiana Department of Correction ("DOC") and one year served on community corrections. Grigsby appeals and raises the following restated issues for our review:

I. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support his conviction because he maintains that the evidence did not prove that he was the person who battered the victim; and

II. Whether his four-year sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender

[¶2] We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[¶3] On the night of January 17, 2020, three friends-Amanda Luna ("Amanda"), Blake Luna ("Blake"), and Travis Oliver ("Oliver")-went to the Pulaski County American Legion ("the Legion") to hang out and play pool. Amanda had recently gone through a breakup, and the friends decided to get together to help Amanda take her mind off of the breakup. At the Legion, Oliver and Blake played pool while Amanda sat at a nearby table. After they had been

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there awhile, Amanda asked Oliver to come over and take a picture with her. Oliver went to where Amanda was sitting and, at Amanda's request, sat on her lap because all the chairs at the table were full. Grigsby was seated in the chair to Amanda's right. Suddenly, while Oliver was sitting on Amanda's lap, Grigsby stood up from his seat next to Amanda and punched Oliver in the face. The force of Grigsby's blow knocked Oliver from Amanda's lap onto the ground. After Oliver fell to the ground, Grigsby kicked him in the face.

[¶4] Oliver suffered multiple injuries from Grigsby's attack. As a result of the battery, Oliver suffered a broken nose, and two of his teeth were broken. Immediately after being battered, Oliver's face was bleeding profusely, and blood got "all over [Amanda] and the floor." Tr. Vol. 2 p. 27. Oliver required root canal procedures on both broken teeth, and the teeth were ultimately replaced with implants. Oliver had one surgery to repair his broken nose but would require future surgery to fully repair the damage to his septum and still had difficulty breathing through his nose.

[¶5] The State charged Grigsby with Level 5 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury. A jury trial was held on May 9, 2023, at which Amanda, Blake, and Oliver all testified to the fact that Grigsby was the one who struck and kicked Oliver. Additionally, a video of the incident taken from the Legion was admitted into evidence, and Melita McClain ("McClain"), who was the general manager of the Legion-and related to Grigsby by marriage-identified Grigsby as the attacker in the video. At the conclusion of the jury trial, the jury found Grigsby guilty as charged.

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[¶6] Prior to sentencing, the Pulaski County Probation Department prepared a presentence investigation report ("the PSI"). The PSI reflected that, as a juvenile, Grigsby had been adjudicated delinquent for what would have been battery and theft if committed by an adult. As an adult, Grigsby had been convicted of three prior misdemeanors. He had been convicted of Class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated, Class A misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury, and Class A misdemeanor theft.^[2] The PSI revealed that Grigsby had been placed on probation for his conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and that he violated his probation with a probation violation filed against him. The PSI also revealed that Grigsby had previously been charged with Class A misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury in 2002, Class C felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury in 2007, two counts of Class D felony theft in 2012, and one count of Class C felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury in 2012, but that these charges had been dismissed. At the time of the sentencing hearing, Grigsby had pending charges for Class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, Class C misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and Class B misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident. He had also subsequently been charged with Class B misdemeanor criminal

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recklessness and had entered into a pretrial diversion program on May 22, 2023, with a review hearing six months later.

[¶7] In discussing his substance-abuse history, Grigsby reported that he started drinking alcohol when he was sixteen years old and that he has "never had a problem with alcohol." Appellant's App. Vol. 2 p. 36. He also reported that he used marijuana weekly for about two years beginning when he was seventeen years old. Regarding his version of events, Grigsby told the probation department,

The video didn't show it but [Oliver] put his hands on my son first as soon as he walked in the door and was drinking but I didn't hit him till after he shoved him out of his seat right beside Amanda. That was the second time he put his hands on him that night. I let it go [the] first time I couldn't the second time and about [two] weeks before this he was running his mouth outside of [the] [L]egion and I just let it go but I tried to not let it bother me but I was drinking and I wasn't thinking straight and I hit him and I know it's not right and I'm sorry.

Id. at 33.

[¶8] On June 12, 2023, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing. At that time, Grigsby was forty-six years old. The trial court found as aggravating factors that Grigsby had an extensive history of criminal or delinquent behavior, that the harm, injury, loss, or damage suffered by Oliver was significant and greater than the elements necessary to support the conviction, and that Grigsby was a "risk to the safety of th[e] community." Tr. Vol. 2 p. 142. The trial court found no mitigating factors. The trial court sentenced Grigsby to an aggregate four-

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year sentence with three years executed in the DOC and one year served on community corrections. Grigsby now appeals.

Discussion and Decision

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

[¶9] Grigsby argues that insufficient evidence was presented to support his conviction. When there is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, "[w]e neither reweigh evidence nor judge witness credibility." Gibson v. State, 51 N.E.3d 204, 210 (Ind....