Mills v. State
| Decision Date | 18 May 2023 |
| Docket Number | 22A-CR-1392 |
| Parties | Elijah Mills, Appellant-Defendant, v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Appeal from the Hamilton Circuit Court The Honorable Paul A. Felix Judge Trial Court Cause No. 29C01-1911-F1-9633
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Thomas C. Buchanan
Buchanan & Bruggenschmidt, P.C.
Zionsville, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Attorney General
Courtney Staton
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
[¶1] In 2020, our Supreme Court issued Wadle v. State, 151 N.E.3d 227 (Ind. 2020), and Powell v. State, 151 N.E.3d 256 (Ind. 2020), overhauling Indiana doublejeopardy law and eliminating the constitutional and common-law analyses through which we previously determined substantive double jeopardy. In place of these analyses, the Court articulated new tests focused on statutory intent. In Wadle, the court addressed cases when a defendant's single act or transaction implicates multiple criminal statutes. The Wadle test requires courts to first determine whether the statutes allow multiple punishments for the charged offenses. If so, there is no double jeopardy, but if not, the courts then look to our included-offense statutes to determine whether one of the offenses is included-either inherently or as charged-in another. If not, there is no double jeopardy. Neither of these steps allows us to look at the evidence presented at trial. Only if the court has determined that an offense is included in another- inherently or as charged-should the court go on to look at the evidence presented to determine whether the defendant's actions constitute a single transaction or separate and distinct crimes.
[¶2] Here, after the death of his son L.M., Elijah Mills was found guilty of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury or death and Level 3 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury. The statutes of these offenses do not expressly permit multiple punishments, but Mills does not assert the offenses are included inherently or as charged. Instead, he argues the offenses are included because the facts established at trial show the State used the same act-his battery of L.M.-to prove both offenses. But Wadle does not permit us to look to the evidence presented at trial to determine whether an offense is included in another for purposes of substantive double jeopardy. As such, we find no double-jeopardy violation here and affirm on this and all other issues.
[¶3] L.M., born in January 2015, was the biological son of Mills and Brittany Pearson. In 2018, L.M. lived with Mills and his girlfriend, Taylor Abrams, with Pearson exercising parenting time. In March of that year, Pearson noticed bruises on L.M.'s back, buttocks, and thighs and took him to the hospital. The Department of Child Services (DCS) was notified, and Ne'Cole Whyde, a DCS case manager investigated. Whyde spoke with Mills, who admitted he "whooped" L.M. with a belt for saying "damn." Tr. Vol. II p. 14. Whyde concluded Mills caused the bruising, substantiated the claim of physical abuse, and removed L.M. from the home. A few days later, Mills retracted his statements and told Whyde that the bruising was caused by a "fall down the stairs." Tr. Vol. III p. 149. L.M. was returned to Mills's care in April.
[¶4] In September, Pearson noticed bruises on L.M.'s lower abdomen and thighs. The next month, DCS Family Case Manager (FCM) Thomas Brown investigated, but Mills initially refused to speak with him without an attorney. Based on the timing of the injuries, Brown determined L.M. received them while in Mills's care. Mills later suggested to Brown that this bruising may have occurred when L.M. was playing with another child. Nonetheless, Brown had "severe concerns with [L.M.'s] safety in the care of [Mills] and [Abrams]" and made a formal report raising claims of physical abuse against them. Id. at 173. However, the claims were never substantiated, and the matter was closed a few weeks later.
[¶5] In the summer and fall of 2019, Pearson again began noticing bruises on L.M. and that he was getting "skinnier." Id. at 113. Around this time, several other people expressed concern about L.M. Rumer Beck, Mills's friend, was asked to babysit L.M., and when she arrived Abrams said that L.M. was being punished and had to stand in the corner with his arms raised. When Beck expressed concern about the punishment, she was told "that was what they wanted for their child." Tr. Vol. IV p. 127. Later that night, Mills returned home "angry" and "[f]rustrated" and took L.M. into a bedroom, where Beck heard "swat[ting]" and "smacking" sounds and L.M. "crying out for his mother" for about "25 minutes." Id. at 115-16, 213.
[¶6] In August, law enforcement conducted a welfare check at Mills's apartment after Austin Murrell, who lived in the apartment below Mills, reported hearing "a kid screaming for help" from Mills's apartment and a male voice "yelling [L.M.'s] name" several times. Id. at 168, 169. Officers noted nothing of concern during the check. In October, Tamara Hodgkin, another friend of Mills, became so concerned about L.M. that she made a report to DCS. She reported that Mills and Abrams withheld food and water from L.M. as punishment and would taunt him with food and that L.M. had bruises on his face and was limping. DCS attempted to investigate these claims, but Mills was uncooperative and would not allow photographs or for L.M. to talk to DCS.
[¶7] Around 7:00 a.m. on November 12, the Noblesville Police Department received a call regarding a child who was in cardiac arrest at Mills's home. Officers arrived to find Mills performing chest compressions on L.M., who was unresponsive and lying on his back on the living-room floor. Abrams was also in the home and had called 911. When medical personnel arrived, they noted L.M. had bruising across his face, torso, and inner thighs, all at various stages of healing, as well as abrasions to his knees and scarring "all over his body." Tr. Vol. III p. 73. L.M., who was nearly five years old, appeared severely malnourished and weighed only twenty-nine pounds, approximately the size of a two-year-old.
[¶8] L.M. was taken to Riverview Hospital, where he was placed on a breathing tube and then quickly transferred to Riley Hospital for Children due to the severity of his injuries. After "extensive" testing, doctors determined he suffered "subdural hematomas overlying both hemispheres of his brain," bleeding outside the spinal cord, retinal hemorrhages, heterotopic ossification on his thighs and back,[1] and a "healing injury" of the left forearm. Id. at 236-37. Doctors determined he was "critically ill," his likelihood of "meaningful neurological and developmental recovery was very low," and it was "unlikely that he would survive." Tr. Vol. IV pp. 4-5.
[¶9] Mills gave various explanations for L.M.'s injuries. He told medical personnel who first responded to the home that L.M. had not experienced any trauma or accidents that could explain his injuries. He told FCM Holly McCombs, who went to Riley Hospital after a report was filed with DCS, that he had spanked L.M. that morning for wetting himself and that-as forms of discipline-he "pinch[ed]" L.M. on the thigh and forced him to exercise. Id. at 230. When interviewed by police at the hospital, he claimed L.M. had been experiencing headaches and had recently fallen in the home and at the park. The next day, Mills called Detective Michael Haskett of the Noblesville Police Department and gave more information about the time leading up to the 911 call. He stated that morning he forced L.M. to run as a punishment, that L.M. fell while running and hit his head, that this happened several times, and that Mills made L.M. continue to run even after the falls. He also stated he "popped" L.M. on the head when he refused to run anymore. Ex. 86, 2:38. Later in the call, the two discussed what could have caused the injuries, and Detective Haskett told Mills to let him know if he could think of anything else. Mills then reiterated that L.M. fell "on his face" while running. Id. at 8:09.
[¶10] The State charged Mills with Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury or death and Level 3 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person less than fourteen years old.[2]
[¶11] L.M. spent almost two months at Riley Hospital, and his condition improved enough that he could breathe on his own. In January 2020, he was released from the hospital and placed in foster care. However, he never regained the ability to walk, talk, or eat, his neurological function did not improve, and he suffered from seizures and often struggled to breathe on his own. In November, L.M. contracted pneumonia and was placed on a ventilator. He continued to deteriorate, and doctors at Riley Hospital determined aggressive medical care would not be in L.M.'s best interests, given his poor quality of life and limited life span. L.M.'s breathing tube was removed on December 13, 2020, and soon after he died. L.M.'s cause of death was listed as respiratory failure with traumatic brain injury as an underlying condition. Thereafter, the State amended the charging information to add a count of Level 2 felony battery resulting in death to a person less than fourteen years old.
[¶12] In September 2021, the State filed notice of its intention to present evidence of the 2018 DCS investigations. Mills objected under Indiana Evidence Rule 404(b). Both parties submitted briefs on the issue, and a hearing was held. In part, the State argued that the evidence was relevant to show that L.M.'s injuries were not the result of an...
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