Chatham v. State

845 N.E.2d 203, 2006 WL 922014
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 11, 2006
Docket39A01-0512-CR-550
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 845 N.E.2d 203 (Chatham v. State) 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
Chatham v. State, 845 N.E.2d 203, 2006 WL 922014 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

SHARPNACK, Judge.

Seott A. Chatham appeals his conviction for sexual battery as a class D felony. 1 Chatham raises one issue, which we restate as whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain his conviction. We reverse and remand. *

The facts most favorable to the convicetion follow. On June 7, 2005, Diana Kerns was taking a walk along Vaughn Drive in Madison, Indiana. Kerns saw Chatham while she was walking, but she did not know him. While she was walking, Chat-ham "came up behind [her] and grabbed up with [his] hand in between [her] thighs and [her] crotch as far as [he] could." Transcript at 18. Kerns turned around, and Chatham's face was "right in front of [her] face." Id. at 14. Kerns was seared and started walking away, and Chatham ran away.

The State charged Chatham with sexual battery as a class D felony. After a bench trial, the trial court found Chatham guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced Chatham to eighteen months in the Indiana Department of Correction.

The issue is whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain Chatham's conviction. When reviewing claims of insufficiency of the evidence, we do not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses. Jordan v. State, 656 N.E.2d 816, 817 (Ind.1995), reh'g denied. Rather, we look to the evidence and the reasonable inferences therefrom that support the verdict. Id. We will affirm the conviction if there exists evidence of probative value from which a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

*206 The offense of sexual battery as a class D felony is governed by Ind.Code § 85-42-4-8(a), which provides:

A person who, with intent to arouse or satisfy the person's own sexual desires or the sexual desires of another person, touches another person when that person is:
(1) compelled to submit to the touching by force or the imminent threat of force; or
(2) so mentally disabled or deficient that consent to the touching cannot be given; commits sexual battery, a Class D felony.

The State was required to prove that Chatham, with the intent to arouse or satisfy his own sexual desires or Kerng's sexual desires, touched Kerns when she was compelled to submit to the touching by force or the imminent threat of force. Chatham argues that the evidence is insufficient to show that he acted with the intent to arouse or satisfy his own sexual desires or Kerns's sexual desires or to show that Kerns was compelled to submit to the touching by force or the imminent threat of force.

A. Acted with Intent to Arouse or Satisfy Sexual Desires.

Chatham argues that the evidence is insufficient to show that he acted with the intent to arouse or satisfy his own sexual desires or Kerns's sexual desires. "A person's intent may be determined from their conduct and the natural consequences thereof and intent may be inferred from cireumstantial evidence." J.J.M. v. State, 779 N.E.2d 602, 606 (Ind.Ct.App.2002). "Furthermore, the intent to gratify required by the statute must coincide with the conduct; it is the purpose or motivation for the conduct." Id.

We found sufficient evidence to show that a defendant acted with the intent to arouse or satisfy his own sexual desires in J.J.M. Id. There, the defendant, a high school student, was making comments and touching other females in his class. Id. "Specifically, J.J.M. was calling the females in his class 'skanks and ho's' and saying that he wanted them to 'get up and clap it for him,' which mean[t] shake their derrigres." Id. J.J.M. then grabbed the victim's head, pulled it toward his crotch, and told her to "give him head." Id. J.J.M. then proceeded to another female in the class and began to touch her and make thrusting motions behind her chair. Id. We held that "[the natural and usual sequence of J.J.M.'s conduct is that he intended to satisfy his sexual desires by grabbing [the victim's] head and pulling it towards his crotch and forcibly holding it there." Id. "Additionally, J.J.M.'s surrounding actions and comments to other females in the classroom that day support the contention that he was satisfying his own sexual desires." Id. '

Similarly, here, Chatham's intent may be inferred from his conduct and the natural consequences thereof. Chatham approached Kerns from behind and "grabbed up with [his] hand in between [her] thighs and [her] erotch as far as [he] could." Transeript at 13. This evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that Chatham was acting with the intent to arouse or satisfy his own sexual desires or Kerns's sexual desires. See, eg., J.J.M., TT9 N.E.2d at 606.

B. Compelled to Submit to Touching by Force.

Although an element of the offense of sexual battery is that the victim was "compelled to submit to the touching by force or the imminent threat of force," the force need not be physical or violent, but may be implied from the circum-State, stances. Scott-Gordon v. State, 579 *207 N.E.2d 602, 604 (Ind.1991). Evidence that a victim did not voluntarily consent to a touching does not, in itself, support the conclusion that the defendant compelled the victim to submit to the touching by force or threat of force. Batley v. State, 764 NE.2d 728, 730 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), trans. denied. However, "it is the vietim's perspective, not the assailant's, from which the presence or absence of forceful compulsion is to be determined." Tobias v. State, 666 N.E.2d 68, 72 (Ind.1996). "This is a subjective test that looks to the vice-tim's perception of the circumstances surrounding the incident in question." Id. "The issue is thus whether the victim perceived the aggressor's force or imminent threat of force as compelling her compliance." Id.

In support of his argument regarding the sufficiency of the evidence to show that Kerns was compelled to submit to the touching by force or the imminent threat of force, Chatham relies upon Scott-Gordon v. State, 579 N.E.2d 602 (Ind.1991), and Smith v. State, 678 N.E.2d 1152 (Ind.Ct.App.1997), reh'g denied, trans. denied. In Scott-Gordon, the defendant was charged with sexual battery for grabbing an employee's buttocks, after which the employee punched the defendant in the eye. 579 N.E.2d at 604. The Indiana Supreme Court concluded that the employee's immediate reaction demonstrated that he did not voluntarily consent to the touching by the defendant, but the Court found no evidence to support the conclusion that the defendant compelled the employee to submit to the touching by force or imminent threat of force. Id. The Court noted that the defendant made no threats to the employee and that the employee was not afraid of the defendant. Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Inga v. State
440 P.3d 345 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 2019)
Wendy Burnett v. State of Indiana
74 N.E.3d 1221 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2017)
Willie Moore v. State of Indiana
49 N.E.3d 1095 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016)
Aaron Cannon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016
Newland McElfresh v. State of Indiana
40 N.E.3d 1259 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Segun Rasaki v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015
State v. Terry Lin Smith
357 P.3d 1285 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2015)
Truong Vu v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Kevin B. Perry v. State of Indiana
962 N.E.2d 154 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)
McCarter v. State
961 N.E.2d 43 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)
Mitchell A. McCarter v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Cleverson J.R. Punturi v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Ball v. State
945 N.E.2d 252 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)
Bunch v. State
937 N.E.2d 839 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
845 N.E.2d 203, 2006 WL 922014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chatham-v-state-indctapp-2006.