Ramirez v. State

• Decision Date: 23 September 2021
• Docket Number: Supreme Court Case No. 20S-LW-430
• Citation: 174 N.E.3d 181
• Parties: Ryan RAMIREZ, Appellant (Defendant) v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff)
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

174 N.E.3d 181

Ryan RAMIREZ, Appellant (Defendant)

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff)

Supreme Court Case No. 20S-LW-430

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Argued: May 27, 2021

Filed: September 23, 2021

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: Spenser G. Benge, The Law Office of Spenser G. Benge, Anderson, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, Courtney L. Staton, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana

Rush, Chief Justice.

A jury convicted Ryan Ramirez of murdering twenty-three-month-old P.H. and neglecting three-year-old R.H., resulting in serious bodily injury.After finding two statutory aggravators beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury recommended life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction; and the trial court adopted that recommendation.In this direct appeal, Ramirez now argues multiple trial-court errors in admitting certain evidence, excluding other evidence, and giving a supplemental jury instruction.He also challenges his life without parole sentence.We conclude that none of the alleged errors warrant reversal and affirm in all respects.

Facts and Procedural History

Kayla Hudson met and began dating Ryan Ramirez in January of 2018.Two months later, Hudson and her toddlers, R.H. and P.H., moved with Ramirez into a room at the Red Roof Inn.

Klarissa Manuel babysat for Hudson's toddlers every day and, as Hudson and Ramirez's relationship progressed, noticed the children coming to her with injuries.R.H. would be covered in bruises on his arms, legs, back, and the back of his neck where it looked like he had either been hit or grabbed.And R.H. became very protective of P.H., getting in front of her whenever anyone tried to pick her up.On one occasion, Manuel watched Ramirez hit R.H. in the head with a wiffle ball bat.She also saw that the children were afraid of Ramirez and worried Ramirez was abusing them.

Around June, Ramirez quit working due to an injury and took over watching R.H. and P.H. while Hudson worked, spending a lot of time alone with the toddlers.He often took them over to his parents’ house where he spent the days and some nights.

That summer, Hudson observed her children's physical condition deteriorating and saw they were scared of Ramirez.She noticed R.H. had bruising and black eyes, while P.H. had bruising on her stomach and arms and bruises that looked like fingerprints covering her leg.Hudson confronted Ramirez and suggested finding another babysitter to watch the toddlers; but he just accused her of not trusting him, so Hudson didn't press further.

On July 27, in the early evening, Ramirez dropped Hudson off at work.P.H. was alert and told Hudson, "I love you."Ramirez then took the children to his parents’ home.When Hudson got off work at 10:46 p.m. and called Ramirez to pick her up, he told her he was changing P.H.’s diaper.When Ramirez showed up fifteen minutes later, P.H. appeared to be asleep in her car seat.Ramirez carried her into the hotel and placed her in her Pack ‘n Play while Hudson brought R.H. inside.

Hudson noticed that R.H. had new bruises on his arms and leg and a black eye.So, she went to Walmart to purchase bruise cream and tea bags to cover the bruises and reduce the swelling.When Hudson returned, she applied the cream and a tea bag, put R.H. to bed, and left again—without checking on P.H.—to pick up fast food and cigarettes.And when she returned again, she ate, smoked a cigarette, and watched Netflix with Ramirez on his phone before going to sleep.

When Hudson finally checked on her toddler daughter at 6:00 a.m., P.H. was cold and stiff.Hudson started screaming, and Ramirez told her to be quiet and "that it was okay."Hudson took P.H. to the bathroom, where she tried to wake her by splashing water on her.Hudson and Ramirez next tried to give CPR to P.H.When that didn't revive her, Hudson told Ramirez she was going to take P.H. to the hospital.But Ramirez cautioned her that they needed to get their "story straight."Hudson felt like Ramirez "had done something" and wanted her "to back him up."Neither Ramirez nor Hudson called 911.Ramirez took R.H. to his parents’ house, while Hudson drove P.H. to the hospital.

Dr. Soper examined P.H. in the emergency room after Hudson carried her in.He was unable to resuscitate her and couldn't place a breathing tube down her throat because rigor mortis had set in.Dr. Soper also observed livor mortis—blood and fluids settling from P.H. having been laid on her back shortly before or after she died and remaining in that position for some time.

Dr. Smith, a pathologist, conducted P.H.’s autopsy.He testified that P.H. exhibited a skull fracture, a large scalp hemorrhage, and bleeding due to trauma in her brain.Her body was covered with numerous bruises; her liver was torn in two places due to a severe impact to the front of her abdomen; and almost half the blood in her body was found in her abdominal cavity.Dr. Smith said that a person would die within hours from that kind of internal bleeding, and he determined that P.H.’s ultimate cause of death was "multiple blunt force injuries" with liver lacerations and intra-abdominal hemorrhage.The Madison County Deputy Coroner concluded that the manner of P.H.’s death was homicide.

R.H. was later taken from Ramirez's parents’ house to the hospital, where Dr. Pugh, an E.R. physician, examined him.R.H. had raccoon eyes, meaning bruising to his eye sockets; bleeding in the white of his left eye; bruises of different ages; and a distended abdomen that, along with elevated liver enzymes, raised a concern about possible internal injuries.Dr. Pugh found that R.H.’s distended abdomen and elevated enzymes were caused by injuries that occurred less than a week earlier.He concluded R.H.’s injuries were caused by child abuse and transferred him to Riley Children's Hospital.

At Riley, Jamie Haddix, a forensic medical examiner, evaluated R.H. and found abrasions on his genitals, which she testified were consistent with trauma.Dr. Thompson, a child abuse pediatrician at Riley, also evaluated R.H. after receiving a call from his Department of Child Services(DCS) caseworker requesting an evaluation.Dr. Thompson determined that R.H. had extra fluid in his abdominal cavity and a cyst on his liver, along with a broken arm and a broken rib.In total, he had four fractures in different stages of healing.She further observed bruising on R.H.’s genital area, places on R.H.’s head where it looked like his hair had been pulled out, and injuries inside his ear.Like Dr. Pugh, Dr. Thompson concluded that R.H.’s injuries were consistent with child abuse—not self-inflicted.

Police later obtained a search warrant to photograph/videotape Ramirez's parents’ property.While executing the warrant, Detective Stanton with the Anderson Police Department noticed a security camera on the outside of the front of the house.Then, as the officers passed through the living room, Detective Stanton noticed a computer monitor underneath a table.On the monitor, the detective saw live video of the house's driveway with a police vehicle parked on it, though the date and time stamps were off.After noticing the monitor was attached to a recording device, Detective Stanton seized the recorder but obtained a search warrant before examining its contents.

The surveillance system footage showed Ramirez's van pulling up to his parents’ driveway, where he's then seen twice making a punching motion into the side of the vehicle R.H. later emerges from.Ramirez then pulls P.H. from the other side of the van, and P.H. rubs her head while she and R.H. follow Ramirez up the driveway.Later, at 10:07 p.m., the video shows Ramirez carrying what appears to be P.H. to the van and then returning to the house.Two minutes later, he walks R.H. to the van, circles it, reaches back to where P.H. was seated, gets in, and drives away.

In the days following P.H.’s death, Ramirez was charged with both murder and neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.After the recorder was seized, he claimed that its seizure was unconstitutional and moved to suppress the security system footage, which the trial court denied.He later raised a continuing objection to the video's admission at trial.Ramirez also sought to introduce evidence under Rule 404(b) of Hudson's prior bad acts involving her children, suggesting that her actions had caused their injuries.The trial court denied this request.

During deliberations, the trial court issued a supplemental jury instruction over Ramirez's objection in response to a question from the jury.Fifteen minutes later, the jury found Ramirez guilty on both counts.And it recommended a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) for the murder conviction, finding that the State showed beyond a reasonable doubt that the torture and murder-of-a-child statutory aggravating circumstances were satisfied.Ramirez was sentenced to LWOP for P.H.’s murder along with a consecutive, fourteen-year sentence for neglect of R.H. resulting in serious bodily injury.

Ramirez filed this direct appeal.

Discussion and Decision

Ramirez raises multiple issues on appeal.Regarding admission of the surveillance system footage, we hold that seizing the recorder did not violate the federal or state constitutions.And we conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding evidence of Hudson's prior bad acts involving her children, nor were Ramirez's substantial rights affected.

As to the supplemental jury instruction the trial court gave during deliberations, we emphasize that the decision to give a supplemental instruction should be made with great caution.But consistent with Indiana Code section 34-36-1-6, we no longer require an error or legal lacuna—a gap—for a trial court to supplement final instructions in response to a jury's question on a point of law.Thus, the instruction's flawed wording is not reversible error.And Ramirez waived any argument about...