Mason v. State, 10S00-8711-CR-1079
| Citation | 539 N.E.2d 468 |
| Decision Date | 15 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 10S00-8711-CR-1079,10S00-8711-CR-1079 |
| Parties | John Edward MASON, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Indiana |
Jeffrey D. Stonebraker, Office of the Public Defender of Clark County, Jeffersonville, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Gary Damon Secrest, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
A jury trial resulted in a conviction of appellant of Confinement, a Class B felony, for which he received a sentence of ten (10) years, enhanced by ten (10) years by reason of aggravating circumstances; Battery, an included offense on the charge of Child Molesting, a Class B misdemeanor, for which he received one hundred eighty (180) days; and Resisting Law Enforcement, for which he received a sentence of one (1) year, the sentences to run concurrently.
The facts are: On the evening of August 21, 1986, the 14-year-old victim was walking home on the streets of Louisville, Kentucky when appellant drove up beside her and told her that her uncle had asked him to take her home. Although she did not know appellant, she got in his automobile, and when she realized he was not taking her home, she began to cry and asked him to take her home. However, he struck her and told her to shut up.
After stopping at a friend's house and driving around the city of Louisville, appellant crossed the state line into Indiana. He stopped for gasoline at Sellersburg where the victim was permitted to go into the station and buy a soft drink. He then drove to Clarksville and stopped at another friend's house and a liquor store where he purchased beer and a pint of vodka.
Sometime during the early morning of August 22, appellant parked his car on Riverside Drive in Clarksville. He attempted to force the victim to drink from the liquor bottle and placed his hand between her legs several times. At one point, the victim got out of the car but immediately got back in when appellant threatened to shoot her. (There is no other evidence that appellant had a firearm with him.) Appellant then removed a tire iron from the trunk of the car and threatened to beat the victim into a coma if she continued to cry.
At approximately 10:00 a.m., John Ringo heard cries as he drove by appellant's car. He got out to investigate, walked up to the driver's side of the car, saw appellant lying on top of the victim and heard the girl scream, "I want out, I want out, he's got a gun." Ringo then drove to the Clarksville Police Station where he reported the incident.
Police Chief Gary Hall and Detective Noble McCutcheon responded and drove to the site in an unmarked police car. Hall approached the driver's side of appellant's car, and McCutcheon approached the passenger's side. Both of them saw a tire iron in appellant's right hand. Hall ordered appellant to let go of the girl and get out of the car. Hall had to repeat his order several times before appellant obeyed. McCutcheon had to assist Hall twice in subduing appellant due to his constant screaming at the victim, his attempts to walk toward her, and his general refusal to cooperate.
Appellant claims the jury verdict of guilty of criminal confinement as a Class B felony was not supported by sufficient evidence. He claims that inasmuch as the testimony of the victim showed that she voluntarily got into his car, that when he stopped at a liquor store she was left alone in the car and did not escape, and that at a filling station she was permitted to go inside to buy a soft drink and did not complain to the two attendants present, the jury should have found that the victim was voluntarily in his car and voluntarily remained so. He contends he thus could not be guilty of confinement.
He further argues that the evidence is insufficient to show that he attempted to use the tire iron in a manner which would demonstrate that he was using it as a deadly weapon, which was necessary for the jury to find that the confinement constituted a Class B felony. The fact that the victim voluntarily entered appellant's automobile and possibly could have escaped at later times does not preclude a conviction for criminal confinement. Robinson v. State (1987), Ind., 512 N.E.2d 855; Lytle v....
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