Carlos Miles v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: May 28, 2015
• Docket: 49A05-1411-CR-514
• Status: Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION May 28 2015, 10:11 am 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 Ellen F. Hurley Gregory F. Zoeller Marion County Public Defender Agency Attorney General of Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana Christina D. Pace Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Carlos Miles, May 28, 2015

Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 49A05-1411-CR-514 v. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Stanley E. Kroh, Magistrate Appellee-Plaintiff Case No. 49G03-1311-FC-71767

Crone, Judge.

Case Summary [1] Carlos Miles challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction

for class C felony battery. Finding the evidence sufficient, we affirm.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A05-1411-CR-514| May 28, 2015 Page 1 of 5 Facts and Procedural History [2] The facts most favorable to the judgment show that on October 30, 2013, Miles

and his girlfriend Kristina Kirby were arguing in their front yard. A neighbor,

Sarah Korb, heard the shouting and called the police. Another neighbor,

Joseph Yobst, pulled into his driveway and heard Miles screaming at Kirby.

He exited his vehicle and yelled for Miles to chill out. Tr. at 50. Miles retorted,

“What did you say, mother f***er,” and Yobst reiterated that Miles needed to

chill out before someone called the police. Id.

[3] Miles ran across the street to Yobst’s driveway, put his right index finger in

Yobst’s face, and screamed at him. Yobst told him to get his finger out of his

face, and Miles pushed him down. When Yobst got back up, Miles put his left

index finger in his face. Again, Yobst told him to get his finger out of his face,

and pushed his left hand away. By this time, Miles held a greenish-blue box

cutter in his right hand behind his back. He “swiped” at Yobst with his right

hand and then put his hand behind his back. Id. at 20, 54, 73-74. Within

seconds, Yobst felt wetness and realized that his left forearm was gushing

blood. At first, Yobst thought that Miles might have cut him with very sharp

fingernails, but then he noticed that Miles had a “box kni[fe], … like the kind

you can buy at Ace Hardware.” Id. at 54. Miles said, “I don’t have a knife, I

don’t have a knife.” Id. at 20. Korb, whose pacemaker had been triggered by

the commotion, came outside and observed the altercation from behind Miles.

She saw that Miles had a green and blue knife in his right hand and exclaimed,

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A05-1411-CR-514| May 28, 2015 Page 2 of 5 “yes, he does have a knife.” Id. Miles fled the scene on foot before police

arrived.

[4] The State charged Miles with class C felony battery, class D felony

intimidation, and class A misdemeanor battery. At his bench trial, Indianapolis

Metropolitan Police Department Detective Sergeant John Green testified that

based on his training and experience Yobst’s injury was caused by a sharp

object consistent with a knife or glass. State’s Exhibit 5 is a photograph of

Yobst with a deep slice wound on his bloody forearm. The trial court found

Korb’s and Yobst’s testimony concerning the knife to be consistent with the

photograph and the detective’s testimony. Tr. at 169-70. The court convicted

Miles on the two battery counts but vacated the misdemeanor battery

conviction due to double jeopardy concerns. Miles was acquitted on the

intimidation count. He now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as

necessary.

Discussion and Decision [5] Miles challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for

class C felony battery. When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of

evidence, we neither reweigh evidence nor judge witness credibility. Drane v.

State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind. 2007). Rather, we consider only the evidence

and reasonable inferences most favorable to the judgment and will affirm the

conviction “unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the

crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A05-1411-CR-514| May 28, 2015 Page 3 of 5 [6] Miles was convicted pursuant to Indiana Code Section 35-42-2-1(a)(3) (2009),

which states, “A person who knowingly or intentionally touches another person

in a rude, insolent, or angry manner commits battery, …. a Class C felony … if

it is committed by means of a deadly weapon.” Miles admits that he

intentionally touched Yobst in an angry manner; he merely challenges the

evidence to support the trial court’s finding that he used a deadly weapon, i.e., a

knife.

[7] Miles asserts that he did not cut Yobst with a knife. Instead, he maintains that

some sharp rhinestones on his wristwatch cut Yobst’s arm during their

altercation. At trial, he described how he placed his watch down on his

knuckles while running across the street to confront Yobst. However, the trial

court considered this evidence and found that Korb’s and Yobst’s testimony

was consistent with the photograph depicting Yobst’s sliced arm.

[8] Miles also challenges the probative value of Korb’s testimony, claiming that she

was upset over the death of her cat and her pacemaker being triggered and that

she had ulcers in her left eye that impaired her ability to judge whether she

actually saw him with a knife. To the extent that he asserts that she only saw

the handle of the knife, we note that this is consistent with Yobst’s description

of the weapon as a box knife, which would have a retractable blade. It is also

consistent with Korb’s description of the knife as one with a “metal flap” for

protection “when you put it in your pocket.” Tr. at 18. Again, the trial court,

as the finder of fact, evaluated this evidence in combination with the physical

evidence and Korb’s testimony describing her vision in her right eye as “fairly

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A05-1411-CR-514| May 28, 2015 Page 4 of 5 excellent.” Id. at 28. Simply put, Miles’s insufficiency arguments amount to

invitations to reweigh evidence and judge witness credibility, which we may not

do. Accordingly, we affirm.

[9] Affirmed.

Brown, J., and Pyle, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A05-1411-CR-514| May 28, 2015 Page 5 of 5