Dellia Castile v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 17, 2013
Docket71A04-1212-CR-625
StatusUnpublished

This text of Dellia Castile v. State of Indiana (Dellia Castile 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
Dellia Castile v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Sep 17 2013, 5:34 am 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:

ERNEST P. GALOS GREGORY F. ZOELLER South Bend, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

GEORGE P. SHERMAN Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

DELLIA CASTILE, ) ) Appellant-Defendant, ) ) vs. ) No. 71A04-1212-CR-625 ) STATE OF INDIANA, ) ) Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE ST. JOSEPH SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Jane Woodward Miller, Judge Cause No. 71D01-1111-FB-198

September 17, 2013

MEMORANDUM DECISION – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BAKER, Judge The appellant-defendant Dellia Castile, her son, his three children and their

cousins, all lived together at Castile’s residence. Castile’s son routinely abused and beat

the three boys and he eventually killed one of them. Castile knew of the abuse and

occasionally thwarted police department and Department of Child Services (DCS)

investigations about the incidents.

Castile appeals her convictions for Neglect of a Dependent,1 a class A felony, and

two counts of Neglect of a Dependent,2 a class B felony. Castile maintains that the trial

court erred in denying her motion to dismiss the charges against her and challenges the

sufficiency of the evidence. Castile also maintains that the fifty-year aggregate sentence

the trial court imposed was inappropriate.

Concluding that the trial court properly denied Castile’s motion to dismiss the

charges against her, finding that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions,

and determining that Castile’s sentence was not inappropriate, we affirm the judgment of

the trial court.

FACTS

Te., age fourteen, Tram. age ten, and Ter., age eight, lived with their father, Terry

Sturgis, their cousins, and Castile—their grandmother—at Castile’s house in South Bend.

Sturgis was away from home quite often to receive dialysis treatment, leaving his sons at

home with Castile. She would play games with the boys and join them in their activities

1 Ind. Code § 35-46-1-4. 2 I. C. § 35-46-1-4(b). 2 “almost every day.” Tr. p. 895. Castile also made sure that the boys had everything they

needed for school on a daily basis.

Beginning in August 2008, Sturgis physically abused the boys several times a

week. Sturgis would beat them with sticks, poles, table legs, and belts, and burn them

with an iron. On occasion, Castile would tell Sturgis to “stop whoopin’ them before he

end[ed] up killing one of them.” Id. at 790, 810. Sometimes Castile would promise to

wash Sturgis’s clothes or give him cash if he would not “whoop them.” Id. at 790, 899.

Castile would often treat the boys’ injuries, and she saw Sturgis choke and burn Te. on

one occasion. Castile also told Sturgis that “he did not know his own strength,” and that

he “could kill the boys.” Id. at 713.

On February 10, 2010, Tram.’s elementary school teacher informed the school

nurse that Tram. reported that Sturgis had hit him. Robin Braun, an investigator with the

DCS, spoke with Tram. Thereafter, Braun spoke with Sturgis and informed him of the

nature of the allegations in front of Castile. Braun also spoke to the other children, but

they claimed that Tram. was lying about Sturgis’s alleged abuse. As a result, Braun

decided not to pursue the matter after concluding that Tram.’s allegations were

unsubstantiated.

DCS Case Worker Ermin Pucar also conducted an investigation in May 2011,

about instances of abuse. Pucar talked with Castile, Sturgis, and the children. It

appeared that Castile “was caring for all” of the children “equally.” Tr. p. 872-73. When

Pucar spoke with Castile about the allegations of abuse, Castile denied that any of the

3 children were being inappropriately disciplined or abused. Castile told Pucar that she

would “not allow that to happen.” Id. at 877-78.

On September 4, 2011, Sturgis became angry with Te. for taking one of his

brother’s snacks, so he began hitting Te. with a table leg and “bust[ed his] head.” Id. at

707. Te. started to bleed and Sturgis doused him with water. Sturgis then took Te.

upstairs and showed Castile what had happened. Castile remarked that Te. would likely

need stitches and directed Sturgis to take him to the hospital. Sturgis complied, but he

told Te. to tell medical personnel that he had hit his head on the bed frame. Te. required

twelve stitches for his injuries.

Several weeks later, Sturgis became upset with Te. and accused him of lying and

stealing. Castile was present and witnessed Sturgis throw Te. down the stairs and ram his

head against a wall.

On November 4, 2011, Te. caused a disturbance at school and told Castile about

the incident that afternoon. As punishment, Castile directed Te. to clean the basement.

When Sturgis came home, Te. walked upstairs and noticed that Sturgis was holding a

stick and some duct tape. Castile and Sturgis discussed the school incident with Te., and

Sturgis told Te. that he did not believe his account of what had happened. Sturgis then

remarked that “me and my stick gonna have some fun.” Tr. p. 689.

Sturgis grabbed Te. by the neck, ripped off Te.’s pants, and began hitting him with

the stick. Id. at 690. While Te. was “moaning and screeching,” Sturgis wrapped Te.’s

arms with duct tape. Te. was able to escape and ripped the tape from his arms. However,

4 Sturgis hit Te. with the stick and “busted [his] head open.” Id. at 691. Sturgis then sat on

Te. and started choking him. Sturgis looked over at Tram. and started hitting him with the

stick. Sturgis choked Tram., wrapped him in duct tape, and burned him with an iron.

Sturgis also used the iron to burn the other two boys. The entire incident lasted several

hours. After continually beating and burning the boys, Sturgis told them to clean

themselves up. Sturgis became upset again and when he saw Tram. drop an ice pack, he

burned him again and choked him. Even though Tram apologized, Sturgis continued to

hit him and eventually threw him on the stairs. Sturgis punched Tram. several more

times before choking him and saying, “that’s how it feels to get knocked the f**k out.”

Tr. p. 701. Sturgis then told Te. to continue cleaning up and monitoring Tram. to make

sure that he continued breathing. Te. then went upstairs to use the bathroom.

At some point, Sturgis noticed that Tram. was not breathing and began performing

CPR. Tram. then began to vomit. Sturgis clothed Tram. and took him upstairs. Sturgis

yelled for Castile but she responded that she did not want to see Tram. “like this.” Id. at

703.

Sturgis told Castile that if the police asked what had happened, she should tell the

officers that Tram. had been playing with a pot of hot water. Castile then called 911

and requested an ambulance. Castile reported that her grandson was not breathing.

When the emergency dispatcher requested additional information, Castile hung up the

phone. South Bend police officer Andy Witt was dispatched in response to the report that

a young boy was not breathing. When Officer Witt arrived, he entered through the front

5 door and saw Tram. lying on the floor.

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