Knudson v. State
| Decision Date | 20 April 2023 |
| Docket Number | 22A-CR-1758 |
| Parties | Jordan M. Knudson, Appellant-Defendant, v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
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 Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision is not binding precedent for any court and may be cited only for persuasive value or to establish res judicata, collateral estoppel, or law of the case.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 Ripley Circuit Court The Honorable Ryan J. King Judge Trial Court Cause No. 69C01-2103-MR-1
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Stacy R. Uliana Bargersville, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Theodore E. Rokita Attorney General of Indiana Jodi Kathryn Stein Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana
[¶1] Jordan Knudson appeals his conviction for murder and his maximum sentence of sixty-five years. Knudson argues that: 1) the trial court abused its discretion by denying his request for a mistrial; 2) the trial court abused its discretion by improperly finding two sentencing aggravators; and 3) Knudson's maximum sentence is inappropriate. We find Knudson's arguments without merit and, accordingly, affirm.
[¶2] Knudson raises three issues on appeal, which we restate as:
[¶3] Knudson and Christina Jones were partners in a "volatile" sexual, and sometimes romantic, relationship dating back to the summer of 2019. Tr. Vol. VIII p. 72. Knudson was concerned that Jones was becoming "more distant from him" and "felt like [Jones] was seeing other people [and] having sex with other [] men." Tr. Vol. V p. 207.
[¶4] In the late summer or fall of 2020, Knudson and Jones were arguing. At some point, Jones drove Knudson's ATV, "obvious[ly] . . . wanting to get away from" Knudson, and Knudson shot a firearm at the back of the ATV from a close range. Id. at 120.
[¶5] On December 11, 2020, Knudson wrote a post on Facebook that stated, "Oh just thinking about how much I hate you [Jones,] hope you die you fake mf! . . . Don't ever come near me mf ever again!" Ex. Vol. XI p. 64 (errors in original). Several days later, Jones's father, Alois Asche, received a text from Jones's mother, which claimed that Knudson was keeping Jones at the Knudson property against her will. Asche brought Jones home where she was "scared" of Knudson and "wanted to make sure the windows [were] all bolted[.]" Tr. Vol. III pp. 193-194. Jones later presented to the hospital with concussion-like symptoms and complained of a history of physical abuse from Knudson, including "multiple episodes of being knocked out." Tr. Vol. VI p. 28. Jones also sought a protection order, of which Knudson refused to accept service on two occasions.
[¶6] Between January 7, 2021, and January 10, 2021, Knudson texted Jones, "[Y]our day is coming[,] it's cumming baby[,] it's f*****g cumming fast"; "[H]ope you get burned alive"; "Die Bitch"; and "DOA[.]" Ex. Vol. XI pp. 7778, 83, 85 (errors in original). On January 9, 2021, Knudson drove Jones to the Holton Food Mart where Jones hid from Knudson in a stranger's car. The next day, Knudson called Jones twenty times and sent her twenty-one texts.
[¶7] On January 10, 2021, Jones was staying at the residence of Rodney McEvoy, a mutual friend of Jones and Knudson. On or about midnight that night, McEvoy discovered Jones's body in his bathtub. McEvoy and his parents contacted the police, who arrived shortly thereafter.
[¶8] An autopsy determined that Jones had been shot three times with a shotgun- twice in the right side of her mouth and once in her left temple. The laboratory technicians recovered "wads"[1] in Jones's mouth, throat, and skull and over 200 pellets disbursed throughout her head, neck, and torso. Tr. Vol. IV p. 84. Laboratory analysis revealed that the shotgun shells were likely manufactured by Remington, and the technicians could not rule out that the pellets were #4 shot. The coroner ruled Jones's death a homicide.
[¶9] Law enforcement identified Knudson as a person of interest. Police learned that, approximately one hour before Jones's body was discovered, Knudson had traveled in the direction of McEvoy's house. Knudson initially told police that he was heading to a different friend's house, which was in the same direction as McEvoy's house, and Knudson insisted that he took the same route home. When confronted with video footage, which showed Knudson traveling one route in the direction of McEvoy's house but not returning by the same route, however, Knudson "claimed he had remember[ed]" taking a different route home. Tr. Vol. VI p. 3.
[¶10] The investigation also revealed that Knudson had access to two shotguns, either of which could have been the murder weapon: his own sawed-off .410 shotgun and one purchased by his father, Norman, a Mossberg 500 .410 shotgun, which was stored in the den of the house Knudson shared with his parents. The day after Jones's murder, Norman reported the Mossberg shotgun and a box of #4 Remington shot missing. Several days later, police received an anonymous letter that alleged Jones stole the Mossberg shotgun and sold it to the author, who then sold it to McEvoy. Police identified Knudson's fingerprint on the letter, but Knudson accused police of fabricating the letter.
[¶11] As for Knudson's sawed-off shotgun, Knudson told police that he sold it to a man named Jeff Smith. Police took Knudson to Smith's residence, where Smith denied purchasing the shotgun. Some time later, Knudson returned to Smith's home without police and asked Smith to tell police that Smith did purchase the shotgun and that Smith "thr[ew] it in the river." Tr. Vol. VIII p. 16.
[¶12] On March 23, 2021, the State charged Knudson with murder, a felony. The trial court held a six-day jury trial in April 2022. Several law enforcement officials testified regarding the murder investigation. A firearms expert testified that, in order for shotgun wads to penetrate the target, the shotgun would have to be fired from "very close range." Tr. Vol. V p. 143. In addition, McEvoy testified regarding the night of the murder. During this testimony, Knudson requested a mistrial, which the trial court denied. More facts regarding the mistrial request will be provided below.
[¶13] Knudson testified in his own defense and denied killing Jones. Knudson admitted to firing a weapon at Jones from a distance of ten feet while she was driving the ATV in 2020 and admitted to fabricating the letter that alleged Jones stole the Mossberg shotgun. Knudson further admitted to violating the protection order because, he claimed, Jones told him she was "not going to go to court" over it. Tr. Vol. VIII p. 129.
[¶14] The jury found Knudson guilty of murder, and the trial court entered judgment of conviction. The trial court held a sentencing hearing on June 28, 2022. Jones's brother, Dustin Asche, read a victim's impact statement in which he alleged that Knudson abused Jones by beating, dragging, and raping her; firing guns at her; throwing hot coffee in her face; and forcing her to "strip down naked and get into this ditch full of water in a thunderstorm, where he would push her head underwater until she almost drowned." Tr. Vol. VIII p. 228. Dustin further alleged that Knudson stalked and spied on Jones and threatened to burn down her parents' house and kill her son if she left him.
[¶15] The trial court found seven aggravators: 1) Knudson was released on bond when he committed the murder; 2) Knudson violated the protection order; 3) Knudson's criminal history consisted of one felony, six misdemeanors, and four probation violations; 4) Knudson committed domestic violence against Jones; 5) the nature and circumstances of the offense demonstrated that Knudson acted with premeditation and attempted to mislead police; 6) Knudson expressed no remorse and blamed the victim; and 7) the impact on Jones's family. The trial court explained that it weighed the first three aggravators "extremely heavy," the fourth and fifth aggravators "heavy as well," and the final two aggravators as "not as heavy as the other aggravating factors." Tr. Vol. IX p. 5. The trial court found no mitigators.
[¶16] The trial court further found that Knudson was one of the worst offenders and sentenced Knudson to the maximum sentence of sixty-five years in the Department of Correction. The trial court explained that it "[c]ertainly . . . would have sentenced [Knudson] to the maximum sentence even without the final two [aggravators]." Id. at 8. Knudson now appeals.
[¶17] Knudson first argues that the trial court committed reversable error by denying his request for a mistrial based on two "outbursts" during the cross-examination of McEvoy and "a pattern throughout the trial of the State's witnesses being combative with the defense." Appellant's Br. pp. 18, 22. We disagree.
[¶18] "'[A] mistrial is an extreme remedy that is only justified when other remedial measures are insufficient to rectify the situation.'" Isom v. State, 31 N.E.3d 469, 481 (Ind. 2015) (quoting Mickens v. State, 742 N.E.2d 927, 929 (Ind. 2001)). "'[T]he denial of a mistrial lies within the sound discretion of the trial court, and reversal is required only if the defendant demonstrates that he was so prejudiced that he was placed in a position of grave peril.'" Inman v. State, 4 N.E.3d 190, 198 (Ind. 2014) (quoting Gill v. State, 730 N.E.2d 709, 712 (Ind. 2000)).
[¶19] "'The gravity of the peril turns on the probable persuasive effect of the misconduct on...
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