Jesus Ortiz v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 28, 2017
Docket71A03-1704-PC-820
StatusPublished

This text of Jesus Ortiz v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Jesus Ortiz 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.

Bluebook
Jesus Ortiz v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Dec 28 2017, 6:14 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Marielena Duerring Curtis T. Hill, Jr. South Bend, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Ellen H. Meilaender Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Jesus Ortiz, December 28, 2017 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 71A03-1704-PC-820 v. Appeal from the St. Joseph Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Jeffrey L. Sanford, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 71D03-1511-PC-43

Robb, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1704-PC-820 | December 28, 2017 Page 1 of 18 Case Summary and Issue [1] Following a jury trial, Jesus Ortiz1 was found guilty of two counts of child

molesting, both Class A felonies. The trial court entered judgment of

conviction and sentenced Ortiz to an aggregate total of sixty years in the

Indiana Department of Correction. On direct appeal, we affirmed Ortiz’s

convictions. Ortiz v. State, No. 71A03-0607-CR-314 (Ind. Ct. App. Aug. 20,

2007). On November 5, 2015, Ortiz filed a petition for post-conviction relief

alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The post-conviction court

denied Ortiz’s petition. Ortiz now appeals the denial of post-conviction relief,

raising one issue for our review which we restate as whether the post-conviction

court erred in concluding Ortiz’s appellate counsel was not ineffective.

Concluding appellate counsel was not ineffective, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] We summarized the facts of this case in Ortiz’s direct appeal,

A.O. was born in February 1990 to Ortiz and Nora Ortiz. After Ortiz and Nora divorced, A.O. and her brothers spent every other weekend with Ortiz. At one point Ortiz was living with his sister, and A.O. and her brothers would all sleep in Ortiz’s bedroom and often all slept in the same bed with Ortiz.

1 We note the that the Appellant’s name is “Jesus Ortiz” not “Jesse Ortiz” as this court’s docket, many trial court documents, and our opinion on direct appeal incorrectly indicate.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1704-PC-820 | December 28, 2017 Page 2 of 18 When A.O. was eleven or twelve years old, she was downstairs playing pool with her brothers when Ortiz told her to go upstairs and go to sleep. Ortiz went upstairs to his bedroom with A.O. and locked the door. While they were on the bed, Ortiz pulled A.O.’s pants down and put his penis in her vagina. She told him that she “didn’t want to do that,” and he responded, “it’s okay; I’m almost done.” He told her that he was “doing it because he's a good dad.” On another occasion, Ortiz also placed his mouth on A.O.’s vagina.

A.O. did not tell anyone because she was afraid that she would get in trouble. Ortiz told her that she would get in trouble. A.O. eventually told her mother that she did not want to stay with Ortiz anymore. In June 2004, A.O. told a psychological assistant at a juvenile detention center that she had been molested. Also, at some point, A.O. was watching a program about molestation with her mother and brother. A.O.’s mother asked if “anything . . . like that ever happened to” them, and A.O. told her mother about the molestation. Her mother took A.O. to the Madison Center and also took her to see a doctor at the St. Joe Medical Center for an examination.

The State charged Ortiz with one count of child molesting as a class A felony for placing his penis in the sex organ of A.O. and one count of child molesting as a class A felony for placing his mouth on the sex organ of A.O. At Ortiz’s jury trial, A.O. testified that the molestation incident that she described was not the first time Ortiz had molested her. The jury found Ortiz guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced Ortiz to forty years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the child molesting conviction involving the intercourse and suspended twenty years of that sentence but ordered Ortiz to serve those twenty years in the Indiana Department of Correction as a condition of probation. The trial court left open the possibility of a sentence modification at the end of the first twenty-year portion of the sentence. The trial court ordered Ortiz to serve twenty years on

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1704-PC-820 | December 28, 2017 Page 3 of 18 the remaining conviction and then ordered that the sentences be served consecutively.

Id. at *1 (citations omitted).

[3] On direct appeal, Ortiz was initially represented by attorney Neil Weisman who

filed the notice of appeal. Sometime thereafter, Ortiz’s family hired Tony

Zirkle (“appellate counsel”), and Zirkle handled the remainder of Ortiz’s

appeal. Ortiz, through appellate counsel, raised the following issues for our

review: 1) whether Ortiz was entitled to a new trial due the State’s failure to

disclose the victim’s medical records; 2) whether the evidence was sufficient to

sustain Ortiz’s convictions; 3) whether the trial court sentenced Ortiz in

violation of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004); and 4) whether Ortiz

was denied the effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel when they

failed to file a motion to correct error regarding newly-discovered evidence of

the victim’s medical records.2 Id. We affirmed Ortiz’s convictions.

[4] On November 5, 2015, Ortiz filed a petition for post-conviction relief raising the

following claims:

a) Insufficient evidence to convict;

b) Ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel;

2 In his direct appeal, Ortiz alleged his initial appellate counsel, Weisman, was ineffective for failing to file a motion to correct error regarding the medical records. Any subsequent mention of “ineffective assistance of appellate counsel” pertains to Zirkle’s representation on direct appeal.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1704-PC-820 | December 28, 2017 Page 4 of 18 c) Brady violation; and

d) The conviction or sentence was otherwise subject to collateral attack upon any ground of alleged error heretofore available under common law, statutory or other writ, motion or petition, proceeding or remedy.

Appealed Order at 2.

[5] The post-conviction court held an evidentiary hearing on December 2, 2016.

Ortiz testified regarding his interactions with appellate counsel and submitted

documentary evidence of the appellate brief filed on his behalf as well as

evidence of appellate counsel’s suspension from the practice of law. 3 On March

17, 2017, the post-conviction court issued findings of fact and conclusions of

law denying Ortiz post-conviction relief. Ortiz now appeals. Additional facts

will be supplied as necessary.

Discussion and Decision I. Standard of Review [6] Post-conviction proceedings are civil in nature and the petitioner must therefore

establish his claims by a preponderance of the evidence. Ind. Post-Conviction

Rule 1(5). “Post-conviction proceedings do not afford the petitioner an

3 Tony Zirkle was suspended from the practice of law in the State of Indiana on October 1, 2009. Zirkle was denied reinstatement in an order issued July 14, 2016.

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