Jeffrey Leonard Camp v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 20, 2017
Docket79A02-1707-CR-1676
StatusPublished

This text of Jeffrey Leonard Camp v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Jeffrey Leonard Camp v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) 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.

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Jeffrey Leonard Camp v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), FILED this Memorandum Decision shall not be Dec 20 2017, 10:18 am regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK Indiana Supreme Court the defense of res judicata, collateral Court of Appeals and Tax Court

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Kyle E. Cray Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Bennett Boehning & Clary, LLP Attorney General of Indiana Lafayette, Indiana Henry A. Flores, Jr. Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Jeffrey Leonard Camp, December 20, 2017 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 79A02-1707-CR-1676 v. Appeal from the Tippecanoe Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Sean M. Persin, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 79D05-1611-F6-1008

Brown, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1707-CR-1676 | December 20, 2017 Page 1 of 17 [1] Jeffrey Leonard Camp appeals his conviction and sentence for residential entry

as a level 6 felony. Camp raises three issues which we revise and restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in admitting certain evidence;

II. Whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain his conviction; and

III. Whether his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and his character.

We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] At approximately midnight on October 7, 2016, Camp went to the residence of

Julie Camp. The two had been divorced for approximately six years and had

two children together who lived with Julie. Camp and Julie had attempted to

reconcile but he had not lived at her residence since April of 2016. M.C., who

was Camp and Julie’s sixteen-year-old daughter, heard tapping on the window

of the front door of the house and went to the door, moved the curtain over the

window to the side, and observed Camp. Julie was not home and was with a

friend at a going away party. M.C., who was babysitting her younger brother

and the child of Julie’s friend, knew that she was not allowed to let Camp in the

house, was really scared, and ran to her phone to tell her mother that Camp

was at the house. Because Julie’s phone did not have cellular service, M.C.

used a messaging application to send messages to Julie’s friend. The messages

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1707-CR-1676 | December 20, 2017 Page 2 of 17 stated “PLEASE HELP MY DAD IS HERE” and “PLEASE HELP PLEASE

HELP.” The time-stamp on the screenshot showing these messages displays

11:53 p.m. State’s Exhibit 3.

[3] M.C. went back to the living room “because [she] heard [Camp] at the door like

he was still there” and “checked if he was still there and he was in our house.”

Transcript Volume 2 at 66. Camp asked where Julie was and why M.C was

using her phone. M.C. replied “to text mom because he wasn’t supposed to be

there,” Camp told M.C. “[t]urn your phone off,” and she did so. Id. at 67-68.

Camp asked in a raised voice why M.C. was home by herself, and M.C. was

scared. Camp left the house, and M.C. immediately locked the door, turned

her phone on, and sent follow-up messages to Julie’s friend. The messages

stated “he left,” “[h]e made me shut my phone off,” and “[h]e just appeared at

the door and came in and I’m shaking.” State’s Exhibit 4. Julie arrived home

soon afterwards and called the police, and Julie and M.C. spoke to the

responding police officer.

[4] Camp sent numerous messages to Julie following the incident. Julie sent Camp

a message asking “[w]hy are you coming to the house late at night?!?!” State’s

Exhibit 5 at 1. Camp replied: “To catch you in your bullshit. Mission

accomplished.” Id. Camp sent numerous other messages to Julie throughout

the rest of the night and the next day. State’s Exhibit 5 contains approximately

seventy-four pages of messages he sent beginning at 11:47 p.m. The exhibit

shows that Julie sent several text messages to Camp at approximately 12:01

a.m. stating that she was not home and M.C. was babysitting and telling him to

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1707-CR-1676 | December 20, 2017 Page 3 of 17 leave. She also sent messages at 12:24 a.m. stating that he had no right to go

inside the house. The remainder of the numerous and lengthy barrage of

messages were sent by Camp to Julie from 12:04 a.m. through 4:48 a.m. and

then again from 11:50 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. with additional messages sent

after that time. See State’s Exhibit 5 at 1-74.

[5] On November 7, 2016, the State charged Camp with residential entry as a level

6 felony. On January 9, 2017, prior to trial, Camp went to the prosecutor’s

office and indicated he was there to give a statement hoping to clear things up.

He was advised of his right to an attorney, that anything he said could be used

against him, and that there were not any promises made to him, and he

provided his version of events to Maria Hancock, an investigator for the

prosecutor’s office, and the deputy prosecutor. Camp did not have an

appointment and was not represented by counsel at the time. He disclosed that

he had gone inside Julie’s house and also stated that M.C. had “giggl[ed] [sic]

the door handle and it opened.” Transcript Volume 2 at 118.

[6] On May 2, 2017, Camp filed a motion in limine requesting in part that the court

exclude from evidence conversations that took place between the State and

Camp regarding the resolution of the case. In ruling on Camp’s motion, the

court stated that the request “remain[ed] under advisement until trial to see

whether a proper foundation/waiver exist.” Appellant’s Appendix Volume 2 at

52.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 79A02-1707-CR-1676 | December 20, 2017 Page 4 of 17 [7] During the trial, the jury heard testimony from M.C., Julie, Investigator

Hancock, and Camp. M.C. testified that the door was locked. When asked

how she knew it was locked, she answered “[b]ecause we are supposed to check

it, it’s part of our safety plan.” Transcript Volume 2 at 59. When asked if she

ever had to unlock the door for anything, M.C. answered “[o]nly when my

mom tells me to if it’s her” and “[t]o let our cats inside or outside.” Id. at 59-60.

M.C. indicated that she, her brother, and her mother were allowed to unlock

the door to let the cats in and out, that she did not unlock the door that night to

let the cats out, and that she did not know if her younger brother did so. She

testified that Camp did not live at the house and did not have a key to the house

and that she was not allowed to let him in. When asked what happened after

she sent the messages to Julie’s friend, she responded: “I went back to the living

room because I heard dad at the door like he was still there and I checked if he

was still there and he was in our house.” Id. at 66. When asked if the door was

unlocked, M.C. replied “[n]o, not that I know of” and again indicated that she

did not know if her younger brother had unlocked the door. Id. When asked if

she opened the door for Camp, M.C. answered “[n]o.” Id. at 67. When asked

how she felt while Camp was present, she testified she “was really scared.” Id.

at 68. When asked how long Camp talked to her, M.C. answered “[m]aybe

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