Cameron Mayfield v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 31, 2014
Docket49A02-1306-CR-500
StatusUnpublished

This text of Cameron Mayfield v. State of Indiana (Cameron Mayfield v. State of Indiana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cameron Mayfield v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

VALERIE K. BOOTS GREGORY F. ZOELLER Marion County Public Defender Agency Attorney General of Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana JAMES B. MARTIN Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

Jan 31 2014, 9:07 am

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

CAMERON MAYFIELD, ) ) Appellant-Defendant, ) ) vs. ) No. 49A02-1306-CR-500 ) STATE OF INDIANA, ) ) Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Sheila A. Carlisle, Judge The Honorable Stanley E. Kroh, Master Commissioner Cause No. 49G03-1302-FC-10571

January 31, 2014

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

CRONE, Judge Case Summary

Cameron Mayfield appeals his conviction for class C felony battery on a pregnant

woman following a bench trial. The sole issue presented for our review is whether the State

presented sufficient evidence to support the conviction. Finding the evidence sufficient, we

affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

The facts most favorable to the conviction indicate that, on February 13, 2013,

Mayfield and Jenkins, the mother of his son, were at the home of Mayfield’s disabled mother,

Dathena. Dathena’s caregiver, Sarah Williams,1 was also at the home. Williams observed

Mayfield and Jenkins “arguing and fussing over a piece of paper that [Jenkins] had. And at

the time, he was pulling on her and pushing on her.” Tr. at 20. Williams said to Mayfield,

“Cameron, you shouldn’t put your hands on a woman, [e]specially if she’s pregnant. She’s

got your baby, you know.” Id. Mayfield refused to take his hands off Jenkins and threatened

to “put his hands” on Williams instead. Id. at 23-24. Mayfield then knocked Jenkins down

onto a futon and started hitting her in the face with his fist. Mayfield also spit in Jenkins’s

face approximately three times. When Mayfield’s brother tried to intervene, Mayfield pulled

out a knife. Williams said to Mayfield, “Cameron, you don’t want to do that, she’s pregnant

with your baby.” Id. at 25. Mayfield replied, “That’s not my baby.” Id. He began to poke

Jenkins in her legs and arms with the knife. Williams tried to help, yelling at Mayfield to

We note that the court reporter transcribed this witness’s name as Sarah “Willims” while other court 1

documents refer to her as Sarah “Williams.” We presume that the transcript spelling is erroneous and will refer to her as Sarah Williams.

2 stop and saying, “You’re going to hurt her. That’s your baby.” Id. Mayfield then “jumped

all the way on top of” Jenkins and appeared to be stabbing her. Id.

Officer Teresa Welborn was dispatched to the scene on a report of a disturbance

involving a pregnant woman and her boyfriend who was armed with a knife. Id. at 39.

Officer Welborn was very familiar with the residence because she had made “numerous

runs” to that location. Id. at 37. When Officer Welborn entered the residence, Dathena told

her that her son was upstairs beating his pregnant girlfriend. As Officer Welborn was

speaking to Dathena, Williams ran to the top of the stairs screaming that Mayfield was

stabbing Jenkins. Officer Welborn rushed upstairs and saw Mayfield straddling Jenkins on

the futon. Jenkins was lying on her side and screaming and crying as Mayfield punched her

in the belly. Officer Welborn observed that it was “obvious” that Jenkins was pregnant. Id.

at 42. Mayfield was punching Jenkins in the belly with his left hand and “his right hand went

in a downward motion like he was going to stab her.” Id. at 45. Officer Welborn deployed

her taser and handcuffed Mayfield. Detective Anna Humkey, a domestic violence detective

with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the scene and observed that

Jenkins “was visibly pregnant.” Id. at 65. Detective Humkey also observed that Jenkins had

a scratch on her chin and a cut on her leg. Williams noticed that Jenkins’s face was red and

swollen and had some red marks on it that looked like scratches.

3 The State charged Mayfield with class C felony battery. Following a bench trial on

April 19, 2013, the trial court found Mayfield guilty as charged. This appeal followed.

Discussion and Decision

When reviewing insufficiency of the evidence claims, we neither reweigh evidence

nor judge witness credibility. Mathews v. State, 978 N.E.2d 438, 443 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012),

trans. denied (2013). Instead, we examine the evidence and reasonable inferences most

favorable to the verdict. Id. If there is evidence of probative value from which a reasonable

trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, we will affirm. Id.

Reversal is appropriate only when reasonable persons would not be able to form inferences

as to each material element of the offense. Perez v. State, 872 N.E.2d 208, 213 (Ind. Ct.

App. 2007), trans. denied.

To convict Mayfield of class C felony battery as charged here, the State was required

to prove that Mayfield: (1) knowingly or intentionally (2) touched Jenkins in a rude, insolent,

or angry manner (3) resulting in bodily injury to Jenkins (4) while Jenkins was pregnant, and

(5) Mayfield knew she was pregnant. See Ind. Code § 35-42-2-1(a)(8). “Bodily injury”

means any impairment of physical condition, including physical pain. Ind. Code § 35-31.5-2-

29.

Mayfield does not contest that he battered Jenkins. He only challenges the sufficiency

of the evidence that Jenkins was pregnant at the time of the battery, that he knew that she was

pregnant, and that she suffered bodily injury. We will address each contention in turn.

4 Regarding Jenkins’s pregnancy, the State presented overwhelming evidence that

Jenkins was pregnant at the time of the battery. Three eyewitnesses testified that she was

clearly and visibly pregnant at the time of the attack. The trial court admitted into evidence a

photograph of Jenkins taken shortly after the incident depicting a visibly pregnant woman.

Tr. at 14. Indeed, at the bench trial held a mere two months after the battery occurred,

Jenkins herself testified that she was currently pregnant with Mayfield’s baby. Despite this

overwhelming evidence, Mayfield asserts that the eyewitness testimony merely reflects the

witnesses’ opinions and beliefs that Jenkins was pregnant, and he also makes much of the

fact that, although Jenkins testified that she was pregnant during the trial, she did not

specifically indicate whether she was pregnant at the time of the incident. In light of all of

the evidence presented, especially the photograph of Jenkins taken shortly after the incident,

we find Mayfield’s arguments disingenuous. The State presented sufficient probative

evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that Jenkins was pregnant at

the time of the battery.

Mayfield maintains that, even assuming that the State proved that Jenkins was

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Related

Elmer J. Bailey v. State of Indiana
979 N.E.2d 133 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2012)
Perez v. State
872 N.E.2d 208 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)
David Mathews v. State of Indiana
978 N.E.2d 438 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)

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