Koch v. State

Decision Date02 December 2011
Docket NumberNo. 82A01–1004–CR–154.,82A01–1004–CR–154.
Citation952 N.E.2d 359
CourtIndiana Appellate Court
PartiesMatthew Erin KOCH, Appellant–Defendant,v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff.

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Matthew J. McGovern, Evansville, IN, Attorney for Appellant.Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Monika Prekopa Talbot, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Matthew Erin Koch appeals his convictions and sentences for two counts of criminal confinement as class B felonies,1 battery by means of a deadly weapon as a class C felony,2 kidnapping as a class A felony, 3 and robbery as a class A felony.4 Koch raises five issues, which we revise and restate as:

I. Whether the evidence is sufficient to support his convictions for kidnapping, robbery, and battery;

II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by rejecting Koch's proposed instruction on jurisdiction;

III. Whether Koch's convictions for criminal confinement and kidnapping violate Indiana's prohibition against double jeopardy or the continuing crime doctrine;

IV. Whether the court abused its discretion in sentencing Koch; and V. Whether his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

The relevant facts follow. In 2005 or 2006, Lien Kim Le met Koch in a chemistry class at U.S.I. in Evansville, Indiana. At some point, Le and Koch started dating and dated [o]n and off” for approximately three years. Transcript at 429. By July 2008, Le and Koch remained friends and talked regularly.

On July 17, 2008, Le talked to Koch while she was at work in Evansville regarding a television they had purchased and had decided to return. Around 3:00 p.m., Koch went to Le's workplace and picked up her debit card because Le had agreed that Koch was entitled to a portion of the refund from the television. Koch withdrew money from Le's account and purchased a prepaid debit card. Koch told Le that he was moving to California, which he had previously discussed with her. He returned Le's debit card to her, said goodbye, and left.

Le later called Koch to check to see if he was aware if there was an activation or transaction fee on the debit card he purchased, and Koch [a]ll of a sudden ... said someone's trying to kill [him], and then he hung up the phone.” Id. at 434. Le then repeatedly attempted to call Koch back, but could not reach him. A short time later, Le was able to reach Koch, and Koch told her that someone was trying to kill him and asked Le if she would call him after she was finished working. Koch called Le again and told her that he was calling from St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville. When Le finished working around 6:30 p.m., she drove straight to the hospital and as she passed a CVS she saw Koch's vehicle in the CVS parking lot, which she thought was odd.

Le pulled into a parking space at the hospital and saw Koch “just standing in the parking lot.” Id. at 440. Le exited her vehicle and asked Koch “what was going on,” and Koch asked her to take him to his vehicle. Id. Le then entered her vehicle, and Koch entered the passenger side of her vehicle, “pulled a gun out, and sat it on his lap” with the barrel facing toward Le. Id. Koch then told Le to take him to his vehicle. Le asked Koch why he had the gun, but Koch “wouldn't give [her] any answers, he just said that he wanted [her] to take him to his vehicle.” Id. at 441. Koch also told Le that she was “going for a trip.” Id. Le did not want to drive Koch to his vehicle but she was afraid and did so because Koch had a gun. On the drive to CVS, which took [a] few minutes,” Koch said that someone had tried to kill him earlier that afternoon, and he went through Le's pockets and dismantled her cell phone. Id. at 444.

When they arrived at CVS, Koch told her to pull in next to his vehicle. Le did so, put her vehicle in park, and Koch reached over and took the keys out of the ignition. Koch then told her that he was “taking [her] with him,” and “to get out of the vehicle, don't run, don't yell for help, don't get anybody's attention.” Id. With the gun still on his lap, Koch said that he could run faster than [her], and [she] knew what he could do to [her].” Id. Le was afraid and unwillingly entered the passenger side of Koch's vehicle. Koch entered the driver's side and drove south on Green River Road.

Le made it clear to Koch that she had no intention of going anywhere with him, that he should let her go and that he could leave. Le also said: “I don't want to go with you, I don't know where we're going,” but Koch told her that he needed to take her with him. Id. at 446. He headed south on Green River Road, entered the I–164 ramp and then headed toward St. Louis. For the next two to three hours, Le expressed her desire not to continue with Koch. She repeatedly told him: “you're kidnapping me, people are going to expect me to be at work, my aunt and uncle are going to come home, they're going to know something's wrong, people are going to know that I'm missing.” Id. at 447–448. Le's pleas did not have any impact.

At least two hours after they left Evansville, Koch fired the gun out of the sun roof window. Koch said that he did so “because at some point and time during that day, the gun was left alone, and he was afraid someone had tampered with it, and he wanted to make sure it was still working properly.” Id. at 448. He stopped several times and would usually stop on the side of the road to “use the restroom.” Id. Koch “made [Le] get out of the vehicle, stand with both of [her] hands on the door of the vehicle facing him while he used the restroom.” Id. Le complied because Koch had the gun and she was afraid. Koch stopped at several gas stations, and Le saw people but did not ask for help because she “didn't want to get hurt, [and] didn't want anyone else to get hurt.” Id. at 449.

The two arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico less than twenty-four hours after leaving Evansville. They stayed at a hotel for a couple of hours, and Le slept “may be [sic] a couple of minutes,” but was otherwise too scared to sleep. Id. at 452. At some point, Koch told Le that he decided to take her back to Evansville, and that “the reason he had taken [her] was he felt he could only make it to California safely with [her] there, but since he was still having health issues along the way, that it didn't matter if [she] was there or not....” Id. The two then headed east.

A few minutes after leaving the hotel, Koch asked Le if she would drive, and Le agreed. Koch pulled over to the side of the road, and they switched seats. Koch then grabbed Le by the neck and started choking her with his left hand and “smacked” her in the face with his right hand. Id. at 454. Le could not breathe or “do anything.” Id. Koch then let go and told Le to start driving.

At some point, Koch told Le to pull over and to walk over to the passenger side of the vehicle, and Le complied. Koch screamed at her and punched her in the chest. He asked her “why was [she] doing this to him, who else was [she] working for, things of that nature.” Id. at 454. Le fell to the ground, and then entered the vehicle again after Koch told her to do so. Koch started driving and hit Le in the face, neck, and chest while he was “yelling at [her] and accusing [her] of this conspiracy theory that he had.” Id. at 456. At some point, Koch believed he was hearing voices in the speakers of the vehicle, pulled over to the side of the road, and started ripping out the speakers inside the door.

[O]n the other side of Albuquerque,” Koch again pulled over to the side of the road, told Le to exit the vehicle and walk towards a ditch, and Le complied. Id. at 521. He yelled at her and asked if she was working for the FBI or the police department, and she thought he was going to kill her. Koch then shot Le in her left ankle and she fell to the ground and was rolling in the dirt with pain. Koch then kicked her in the stomach and rib area, put the gun in her mouth, and screamed at her to tell him the truth. Le was crying, bleeding, and afraid. She told Koch that she did not want to die, that she was telling the truth, and that she “had no involvement in any of it.” Id. Koch went back to the vehicle, screamed into the speakers, and said: [A]re you happy now? Come and get me, she's bleeding, she needs help....” Id. at 461.

Koch told Le to stand up, but she was unable to stand on her own so he helped her back to the vehicle, but then dropped her on the ground and said that he “had to get something [be]cause he didn't want [her] to bleed all over the vehicle.” Id. He then wrapped Le's foot in a fleece blanket and began driving. At some point he wrapped string around Le's mouth and later placed a sock in her mouth and again wrapped the string around her mouth.

Shortly after Koch shot Le, he told her to give him her debit card, took the card from Le, and used it to purchase gas. At that point, Le decided that it was in her best interest to pretend that she had “passed out or fallen asleep so that [Koch] would stop hitting [her].” Id. at 466.

After reaching Oklahoma City, Koch said that because he had already shot Le, he knew that he was going to be in trouble, and that if he was going to be in trouble, he wanted everyone to know his story. He spoke to two men standing outside a business and said: “I know this looks bad, but this girl is my girlfriend, we've dated a long time, she's an undercover Police agent, and she's trying to kill me.” Id. at 467. Koch flagged down Oklahoma City Police Lieutenant Tammie Reeder at 6:25 a.m. on July 19, 2008, and asked her for directions to the “newspaper place,” which Lieutenant Reeder provided. 5 Id. at 292. Koch eventually entered a news station, returned to his vehicle, and told Le that they were doing the weather and then they would talk to him after that.” Id. at 468. Koch believed they were...

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