Stephens v. Morris

• Decision Date: 08 February 1991
• Docket Number: Civ. No. F 90-68.
• Citation: 756 F. Supp. 1137
• Parties: Lonnie K. STEPHENS, Petitioner, v. Leta MORRIS, Probation Officer; and Attorney General, State of Indiana, Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

756 F. Supp. 1137

Lonnie K. STEPHENS, Petitioner, v. Leta MORRIS, Probation Officer; and Attorney General, State of Indiana, Respondents.

Civ. No. F 90-68.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, Fort Wayne Division.

February 8, 1991.

Robert G. Forbes, Forcum & Forbes, Hartford City, Ind., for petitioner.

Donald J. Semler, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, Ind., for respondents.

ORDER

WILLIAM C. LEE, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner was sentenced to twenty (20) years for an attempted rape, a class B felony, which he was convicted on October 27, 1987. The conviction was affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court. Stephens v. State, 544 N.E.2d 137 (Ind.1989). Having exhausted his state remedies, petitioner turned to this federal court for relief.

Stephens challenges his conviction on the following grounds:

(1) The Indiana Rape Shield Statute should not be construed as to preclude testimony concerning statements and acts of the principals at the time and place of the alleged offense.

(2) A statutory rule of evidence such as the Rape Shield Statute cannot "take precedence" over due process of law.

For the following reasons, the petitioner's application for writ of habeas corpus will be DENIED.

Facts

On the evening of March 17, 1987, the petitioner, Lonnie Stephens ("Stephens") went to the house trailer of the prosecutrix. Also at the trailer that evening were the prosecutrix's son, age four; her sister and brother-in-law, and their son, age three months. The entire time Stephens was there, both the sister and the brother-in-law and the two children remained asleep. Both the prosecutrix and the defendant tell vastly different versions of what took place that evening. There was no physical evidence nor were there witnesses. Petitioner asserts that the crucial factor in his appeal is that he was prevented from relating his entire version of the events of the evening.

Testimony of Prosecutrix

The prosecutrix asserted that Stephens came into her home through an unlocked front door while she was asleep on the couch. She sat upright on the couch and Stephens sat down next to her and put his arms around her. She moved down the couch and Stephens followed her and again put his arm around her. This action was repeated a second time, after which the prosecutrix yelled for her sister. After Stephens removed his arm, the prosecutrix asked the petitioner to leave. Stephens put his arm around her again and this time he attempted to kiss her. The prosecutrix yelled for her sister, this time at the top of her lungs. Stephens retreated momentarily, then tried to put his arms around her. The prosecutrix was able to knock him to the floor, causing him to collide with the coffee table. The prosecutrix yelled for her sister a third time, and again, no one responded. Stephens got to his knees and attempted to kiss the victim's feet. At some point during these activities, Stephens unfastened the prosecutrix's bra and ripped her shirt.

Stephens finally agreed to leave but asked if he could use the bathroom first. When he returned he asked the prosecutrix whose little boy was in the bedroom. The prosecutrix replied he was her sister's. Stephens became upset and threw the prosecutrix on the couch because he felt she had lied about who was in the trailer. He put one hand over her mouth and put his other hand on her jeans between her legs. Stephens began to unfasten her pants but the prosecutrix was able to shift her body weight which caused the petitioner to lose his balance and fall to the floor. The prosecutrix then got up from the couch and ran to the bedroom where her sister and brother-in-law were asleep.

After waking her sister and brother-in-law, the prosecutrix testified that her brother-in-law got up and looked out the window by the front door. He testified that he saw a man in a red shirt running in a southeasterly direction. Visibly upset, the prosecutrix told her sister what had just transpired. The prosecutrix asked her sister if she could see any marks on her face. Her sister testified that there were marks on the prosecutrix's entire face. Her sister further testified that it appeared as if someone had put their hand over her mouth, the impressions from their fingers were still visible on her cheek.

Around 11:30 P.M., the prosecutrix received a telephone call from her estranged husband. He had previously arranged to be at the trailer at 10:00 that evening to visit their son. The prosecutrix told her husband that Stephens tried to rape her. Her husband finally arrived between 1:00 A.M. and 1:30 A.M., after he had first stopped by the Stephens' residence.

When her husband arrived, he was in an agitated state and made enough noise to wake the prosecutrix's sister and brother-in-law. Her brother-in-law and husband became involved in a verbal and physical altercation which caused the prosecutrix's sister to call the police. By the time the police arrived the situation between the two men had calmed down. While the police were present, neither the prosecutrix or any other person told the police about the alleged attempted rape by Stephens. In fact, there was no report made to any law enforcement agency about Stephens until after the prosecutrix was confronted by her landlady.

The following evening the prosecutrix was in an automobile with her brother-in-law when she was stopped by the landlady, Pat Bosworth, who complained about the police being called for the disturbance in her trailer. The landlady told the prosecutrix that she would not have any problems in her trailer park. Even though the landlady was talking about the police being called in response to the fight between her husband and brother-in-law, the prosecutrix indicated to the landlady that the police were called because Stephens was an intruder in her trailer. The landlady suggested that the prosecutrix go to the police to get a restraining order. The prosecutrix and her brother-in-law went to the Blackford County Jail where the prosecutrix stated that she needed to report an attempted rape. She was referred to the Hartford City Police Department, where she made the report.

Testimony of Lonnie Stephens

After almost a full day of drinking beer with David Stone, Stephens asked Stone to drop him off at the prosecutrix's. Since he was drunk and already late in getting home, Stephens decided instead of going home and having his girlfriend get mad at him, he would take the prosecutrix up on her open invitation for him to visit sometime. Stephens maintained that when he arrived at the trailer at about 10:00 P.M., the prosecutrix was awake and after a brief conversation she invited him in. Stephens motioned to Stone that it was alright to leave without him. Initially, on direct examination by the State, Stone gave a completely different version of the events. Stone testified that he dropped Stephens off at a liquor store near the trailer park, however, on cross-examination Stone acknowledged that he had dropped petitioner off at the prosecutrix's and had perjured himself on behalf of the petitioner.

At the prosecutrix's suggestion, Stephens carried her sleeping child from the living room couch into her bedroom. Stephens returned to the living room and joined the prosecutrix on the couch. After a few minutes of small talk about her pending divorce, Stephens asked the prosecutrix if he could give her a kiss. While kissing, Stephens began to play with the prosecutrix's breast and eventually unfastened her bra. Since they could not lie down comfortably on the couch, the prosecutrix suggested they lay down on the floor. Both the prosecutrix and Stephens helped move the coffee table and pushed it against a chair opposite the couch. Stephens started undressing and also helped undress the prosecutrix; first her shirt and then removing her bra the rest of the way off. After removing their pants the parties engaged in sexual intercourse. Stephens stated that while they were having intercourse he told her that Tim and Drema Hall told him that they had participated in sexual partner switching in which she was involved and that she had the reputation of liking sexual intercourse "doggy fashion." Stephens testified that the prosecutrix became so angry she made him stop and told him to leave. Stephens immediately got dressed and as he was leaving he heard the prosecutrix call for her sister.

Once outside Stephens said he went in a southeasterly direction, first walking rather quickly, then running. It was about thirty (30) degrees outside and his coat was in the back seat of Stone's car. Not sure where he was going, Stephens then remember that Stone's nephew, Michael lived nearby. Continuing in the direction toward Michael Stone's house, Stephens testified that he recognized the house of Jeff and Lisa Strait and stopped there instead of Michael Stone's. Jeff Strait was the nephew of another of Stephens' best friends, Bruce Strait and not someone Stephens generally ran around with. Nevertheless, it was freezing out and he needed to get out of the cold. Stephen arrived at the Strait's home around 10:15 P.M., where he found Jeff Strait and Steve Barnes watching a home video of a motorcycle race. Stephens told Strait that he and David Stone had been riding around and that Stone had left him at Hughes Pic a Pac. Stephens testified that he lied to Strait and Barnes because he did not want them to know he had been at the prosecutrix's trailer and had had sex with her and to explain why he did not have a coat on. Stephens stayed and finished watching the video with Strait and Barnes and at about 11:10, Barnes took the petitioner home.

Between 12:30 A.M. and 1:00 A.M., the prosecutrix's husband appeared at the Stephens' trailer demanding to speak to Stephens. The husband asked Stephens what was he doing "trying to screw his old lady." Stephens denied the charge and after an...