Shelby v. State

• Decision Date: 24 April 2013
• Docket Number: No. 87A01–1207–CR–313.,87A01–1207–CR–313.
• Citation: 986 N.E.2d 345
• Parties: Ryan SHELBY, Appellant–Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

986 N.E.2d 345

Ryan SHELBY, Appellant–Defendant,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff.

No. 87A01–1207–CR–313.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

April 24, 2013.

S. Anthony Long, S. Adam Long, Long & Mathies Law Firm, P.C., Boonville, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Jodi Kathryn Stein, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

MATHIAS, Judge.

Ryan Shelby (“Shelby”) was convicted in Warrick Circuit Court of murder, Class D felony obstruction of justice, and two counts of Class A misdemeanor false informing. Shelby appeals and presents numerous issues, which we reorder, renumber, and restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it denied Shelby's request to view the murder scene and independently collect evidence without supervision;

II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying Shelby's motion to certify for interlocutory appeal its order that Shelby's viewing the crime scene was to be supervised;

III. Whether the cumulative effect of the following alleged errors require reversal of Shelby's convictions: (A) Brady violations by the State; (B) the failure of the police to investigate other suspects; (C) the presentation of “corrupt” testimony in the form of inconsistent testimony by witnesses; (D) the trial court's rejection of several of Shelby's tendered jury instructions; and (E) prosecutorial misconduct;

IV. Whether the trial court erred when it admitted into evidence Shelby's confession to the police; V. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in excluding certain testimony from Shelby's expert witness; and

VI. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by failing to consider “residual doubt” as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

What follows is a statement of the facts which are favorable to the jury's verdict.¹ Jessica Oesterle (“Jessica”) had a daughter, Alexis (“Lexi”), who was born in January 1994. Jessica and her girlfriend lived in Florida with Lexi until 2007, when Jessica and Lexi moved to Owensboro, Kentucky. Shortly thereafter, Jessica met Shelby, and the two began a romantic relationship. After approximately two months of dating Shelby, Jessica and Lexi moved in with Shelby, and the couple later married. Lexi and Shelby developed a close relationship, and Lexi referred to Shelby as “dad.” Tr. p. 1359.

By February 2008, Jessica was pregnant. Shelby, though, was reluctant to tell his parents about the pregnancy, and Jessica and Shelby's parents had an inimical relationship. Shelby tried to avoid conflict with his parents over his relationship with Jessica and ultimately moved to Rockport, Indiana with Jessica and Lexi in the spring of 2008. After the move, Shelby's relationship with Jessica began to deteriorate. Lexi too began to have behavioral problems. Shelby's daughter with Jessica, A.S., was born in December 2008, and Lexi was very close with her baby sister.

By May of 2009, Lexi's behavior had become a serious problem, and Jessica had to call the police several times to help her with Lexi. Jessica told the police that Lexi had tried to fight her, but that she refused to fight her daughter back. Jessica eventually admitted Lexi to the Deaconess Cross Pointe facility for mental health treatment in May 2009. There, Lexi was diagnosed with a non-specified mood disorder and her conflict with her parents was noted. Lexi was prescribed a mood-stabilizing drug and discharged within a week. In late June 2009, Lexi attempted suicide after her boyfriend ended their relationship. As a result, she was admitted to River Valley Behavioral Health Hospital for a week, where she was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with a disturbance of mood and anxiety; her parental conflict issues were again noted.

In August 2009, Shelby left home with A.S., who was then six months old, to visit his parents in Kentucky, and he did not return home. Jessica repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, attempted to telephone Shelby. Obviously upset by this turn of events, Jessica filed for a dissolution of her marriage with Shelby. To help pay for the services of an attorney, Jessica sold most of Shelby's large knife collection, but kept one larger, sheathed knife.

Sometime in September 2009, Lexi received a text message from one of her friends informing her that Shelby was at the local high school that Lexi attended. Shelby was visiting his sister, who was a teacher there, and had A.S. along with him. Upset that Shelby had kept her baby sister away for so long, Lexi went to the school and confronted Shelby and threatened Shelby's sister. Lexi's threat to Shelby's sister resulted in Lexi's expulsion from the school.

Also in September, Shelby and Jessica attended a custody hearing in their dissolution proceedings and entered into a custody agreement. Shortly thereafter, Shelby returned to live with Jessica. When he returned home, Shelby inquired as to where his knife collection had gone. Jessica did not tell Shelby that she had sold the knives, but she did return the larger, sheathed knife to him. Despite his return home, Shelby's relationship with Jessica was still strained, and Jessica believed that Shelby had not told his parents that he had returned to live with her. Shelby and Lexi also argued frequently about A.S., as Lexi was upset that Shelby had taken A.S. away from Jessica and Lexi for so long.

On October 31, 2009, Lexi spent the night with friends while Shelby and Jessica went out for the evening, and Shelby's parents watched A.S. Shelby and Jessica seemed to be patching up their relationship and spoke of buying a house and having another baby. The following morning, Shelby drove to Owensboro to pick up A.S. from his parents' house. Jessica wanted Shelby to return quickly so that she could spend time with A.S. Lexi called Shelby while he was going to get A.S. and asked him for money. She later called back and told Shelby that she hated him. Lexi returned home before Shelby.

When Shelby did return, he did not have A.S. with him. Jessica was upset that her daughter was not with Shelby and ordered him to return to Owensboro and get her. Shelby drove away, but instead of going to get A.S., he drove around, thinking that if he waited, Jessica would be too tired to press the issue further that night. Shelby called Jessica on his mobile phone and claimed that he needed to fuel his car. When Shelby did not return home, Jessica called him and asked where he was. Shelby told her that the credit card reader on the pump at the BP station was broken and that he had to go to another gas station. Jessica was suspicious that Shelby was lying to her, so she called the BP station and asked if the card reader was broken; she was told that it was not. Shelby then called Jessica again and told her that he was at another gas station and that his car had stopped running. Shelby falsely told Jessica that he had A.S. with him.

Jessica then got into a truck that Shelby had borrowed from his father and went to pick Shelby up at the gas station. When she did not find Shelby at the gas station, she returned home. Shelby had returned home and parked his car at a storage facility located at the end of the street so that it would not be seen at home. Shelby hoped to get the key to his storage facility, get some clothes, and spend the night at his sister's house. Shelby walked through some woods to the backyard.

In the meantime, Lexi's friend Jacob Gunter (“Gunter”) came over to visit Lexi, and the two talked in the driveway. Lexi told Gunter that her mother was angry with her father, Shelby, for having taken A.S. and that her mother had gone to find Shelby. Gunter and Lexi saw the shadowy figure of Shelby go from the woods to the back of the house. Shelby then called Lexi repeatedly on her mobile phone, so she walked to the back of the house, telling Gunter that she would return.

In the back yard, Lexi confronted Shelby over where he had taken A.S. Lexi then walked back to the driveway to talk to Gunter. Lexi was upset and near tears. Gunter also noticed that Lexi had a steak knife in her hand. Gunter took the knife away from Lexi, and placed it in his vehicle,telling Lexi not to do anything stupid. Gunter also saw a white man peek his head around the corner of the home, and when Gunter asked Lexi who the man was, she replied that it was her dad. Gunter told Lexi to calm down, but Lexi stated that she was so angry that she could stab her father. Gunter left at approximately 11:00 p.m., and Lexi returned to the back yard with Shelby.

Lexi again confronted Shelby with questions of where A.S. was and why he had not brought her back. Shelby told Lexi, “that's enough[.]” Ex. Vol. State's Ex. 5 at 24:43. Lexi then came at Shelby with a knife in her hand as if to stab Shelby in the stomach. Shelby, a U.S. Navy veteran, disarmed Lexi. But when Lexi approached him again, unarmed, Shelby slashed at the girl's throat with the knife. Lexi fell to the ground, grabbing her throat. Shelby then repeatedly stabbed Lexi in the throat and neck. Shelby dragged Lexi by her ankles to the back of the backyard shed. Shelby left Lexi there, dead, and ran to his car. He drove away with his lights off, drove outside of town, and threw the knife away in a wooded area near a back road.

At approximately 11:09 p.m., Jessica returned home and found that no one was there. She assumed Lexi had gone out with her friends, which she had previously mentioned. Gunter also texted Lexi at 11:09 p.m., and asked her, “Is everything ok?” Tr. p. 1136. But his text went unanswered.

Jessica then left home again to look for Shelby and telephoned him from the BP gas station. When she got a hold of Shelby, he told her that he would be home in a few minutes. Jessica returned home at 11:27 p.m., and Shelby returned two minutes later, without A.S. After discussing the situation, the couple went to bed.

The next day, Jessica was not...