Granger v. State

946 N.E.2d 1209, 2011 WL 1158434
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 30, 2011
Docket10A01-1002-CR-39
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 946 N.E.2d 1209 (Granger 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
Granger v. State, 946 N.E.2d 1209, 2011 WL 1158434 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

946 N.E.2d 1209 (2011)

Sheila K. GRANGER, Appellant-Defendant,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 10A01-1002-CR-39.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

March 30, 2011.

*1211 Jeffrey D. Stonebraker, Chief Public Defender, Jeffersonville, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Andrew R. Falk, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

BAILEY, Judge.

Case Summary

Sheila K. Granger ("Granger") appeals from her convictions on five counts of Child Molesting, as Class A felonies,[1] three counts of Child Molesting, as Class C felonies,[2] and one count of Child Solicitation, as a Class D felony.[3]

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

Issues

Granger raises several issues for our review, which we renumber and restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in admitting items of a sexual nature into evidence because they were:
(a) Not specified in a search warrant;
(b) Irrelevant;
(c) Unduly prejudicial to Granger under Evidence Rules 403 and/or 404(b); or
(d) Kept on display during the trial; and
II. Whether her sentence is inappropriate under Appellate Rule 7(B).

Facts and Procedural History

From August to December 2007 and again from October to December 2008, S.R., who was born in 1996, and Granger's daughter, C.G., were dating. S.R. was a member of a little league football team coached by Granger's husband, Phil Granger ("Phil"). S.M., also born in 1996, was on the same football team and dated C.G. from December 2007 to October 2008. Both boys attended school with C.G. Granger and her husband became prominent figures in the lives of both boys and their families, paying for S.R.'s football fees and gear, driving S.R. home from practice sessions, buying gifts for the boys and members of their families, buying school clothes *1212 for S.R., becoming close friends with S.M.'s parents, and taking the boys and other family members on vacations to amusement parks and camp outings. Phil became a kind of father figure to S.R. because of S.R.'s difficult relationship with his own father.

During the period from August to December 2007, Granger began to fondle S.R. after football practices, initially passing this behavior off as a joke or mistake. This progressed to kissing, touching one anothers' genitalia, and S.R. performing oral sex upon Granger.

Sometime late in 2007, S.R. had a falling-out with C.G. As a result, S.R.'s mother, Crystal, restricted S.R. from having contact with C.G. Granger's attention then turned to S.M. Granger began to fondle S.M. This progressed to several episodes of sexual intercourse with Granger. Granger also performed oral sex on S.M. and asked S.M. to use sex toys on her, which he refused to do. After one sexual encounter, Granger told S.M. not to tell anyone about their relationship because she could go to jail. At some point, Granger told S.M. that she had become pregnant, that he had impregnated her, and that she had had an abortion.

After a period of time living elsewhere, S.R. and his family moved back to the community and in August 2008 S.R. began once again to play football with Phil's team. S.R. took care of Granger's family dog while the Grangers were on vacation in August 2008. After the family returned, Granger and S.R. had sex in the Grangers' home. Their sexual encounters became more frequent. S.R. and Granger had sexual intercourse on many occasions, often before Granger would drive S.R. to school. S.R. used sex toys on Granger, and Granger suggested they use a sex manual to try different sexual positions. Granger also told S.R. that he had impregnated her; she showed him the positive test, was crying, and eventually had an abortion.

Not long after this, S.R.'s relationship with Granger deteriorated. S.R.'s behavior at home worsened and Crystal became concerned about the amount of time S.R. spent with the Granger family. After talking with Phil and Granger by telephone, Crystal confronted S.R. about his relationship with the Grangers. S.R. told her that Granger had fondled him. On March 5, 2009, Crystal reported Granger's fondling of S.R. to Officer Joseph Waters ("Officer Waters"), the School Resource Officer at S.R.'s school.

On March 20, 2009, a warrant for Granger's arrest was issued, as were search warrants for Granger's home and for photographs of tattoos and other physical characteristics of Granger's body. Among the items obtained from the search of Granger's home were a "Manual of Sexual Positions"; some hand-written notes; three playing cards depicting nude figures, one of which was using a sex toy; four vibrators; condoms; an item called a "Tongue Joy Turbo Pack"; and an E.P.T. Home Pregnancy Test Kit. (App.65.)

On November 4, 2009, Granger filed a Motion to Suppress the items seized, claiming they were outside the scope of the search warrant and therefore the result of an unconstitutional search and seizure. Granger also filed a Motion in Limine to exclude much of this evidence from use at trial as unfairly prejudicial and/or evidence bearing only on Granger's character. The trial court denied each motion the same day.

A jury trial was held from November 4, 2009, to November 12, 2009. During the trial, Granger renewed her objections to the introduction of evidence she had sought to exclude in her prior motions. *1213 These objections were overruled. The jury found Granger guilty on all counts. On December 10, 2009, the trial court entered judgment against Granger under each count and sentenced her to thirty years imprisonment for each of the five convictions for Child Molesting, as Class A felonies; four years imprisonment for each of the three convictions for Child Molesting, as Class C felonies; and 1½ years imprisonment for Child Solicitation, as a Class D felony. Three Class A felonies and two Class C felonies were run concurrent with each other, and two Class A felonies, one Class C felony, and the Class D felony were also run concurrent with each other; each grouping of concurrent sentences was run consecutive to one another, yielding an aggregate consecutive term of sixty years imprisonment.

This appeal followed.

Discussion and Decision

Standard of Review

Granger challenges numerous of the trial court's decisions on the admissibility of evidence. We review a trial court's admission of evidence for an abuse of discretion. Camm v. State, 908 N.E.2d 215, 225 (Ind. 2009). We reverse the trial court's decision only when it is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court. Joyner v. State, 678 N.E.2d 386, 390 (Ind.1997), reh'g denied. Even if the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence, we leave the judgment undisturbed if that decision is harmless error. Fox v. State, 717 N.E.2d 957, 960 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), trans. denied. Harmless error occurs "when the conviction is supported by such substantial independent evidence of guilt as to satisfy the reviewing court that there is no substantial likelihood that the questioned evidence contributed to the conviction." Lafayette v. State,

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

Related

Christopher Duncan v. State of Indiana
23 N.E.3d 805 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014)
Craig Sampson v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014
Trent A. Burnworth v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014
Justin D. Coates v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014
Daniel E. Wilkins v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Christopher Baxter v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Aaron Di-Shon Windom v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Joseph Ward v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Alexander A. Lopez v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Brenda Varo v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
James Henley v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Tami L. Duvall v. State of Indiana
978 N.E.2d 417 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)
John W. Kimbrough v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012
Pattison v. State
958 N.E.2d 11 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)
Brewer v. Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission
954 N.E.2d 1023 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
946 N.E.2d 1209, 2011 WL 1158434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/granger-v-state-indctapp-2011.