John W. Kimbrough v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 21, 2012
Docket45A04-1106-CR-328
StatusUnpublished

This text of John W. Kimbrough v. State of Indiana (John W. Kimbrough 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
John W. Kimbrough v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED Mar 21 2012, 9:32 am regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, CLERK of the supreme court, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. court of appeals and tax court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

P. JEFFREY SCHLESINGER GREGORY F. ZOELLER Appellate Public Defender Attorney General of Indiana Crown Point, Indiana GARY R. ROM Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

JOHN W. KIMBROUGH, ) ) Appellant-Defendant, ) ) vs. ) No. 45A04-1106-CR-328 ) STATE OF INDIANA, ) ) Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE LAKE SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Kathleen Sullivan, Judge Cause No. 45G04-1011-FA-48

March 21, 2012

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge John W. Kimbrough (Kimbrough) appeals after a jury trial resulting in his convictions

and sentence for four counts of class A felony Child Molesting.1 Kimbrough presents the

following restated issues for our review:

1. Was there sufficient evidence of penetration to support Kimbrough’s child molesting convictions?

2. Did the trial court err in its instruction defining female sex organ?

3. Did the trial court abuse its discretion when sentencing Kimbrough?

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

A.D. (Mother) began dating Kimbrough in January 2009. After approximately six

months of dating, Mother introduced Kimbrough to her three children: J.L., a daughter who

was born in January 2003, A.D., a daughter who was born in July 2004, and A.D.L., a son

who suffered from cerebral palsy. The couple and the children did many things as a family,

including staying at hotels to swim at the pool and staying at a casino hotel. Kimbrough

routinely drove the children to school and helped them with their homework. When Mother

and Kimbrough ended their relationship in the spring of 2010, Mother continued to allow

Kimbrough to take the children to school. Mother did so because she trusted Kimbrough and

the children loved him. At the time, Kimbrough lived in the basement of his grandparents’

house.

On the evening of October 29, 2010, Mother thought that J.L. appeared to be hiding

something and acted scared. A.D. also acted like she did not want to talk, but ultimately told

1 Ind. Code Ann. §35-42-4-3 (West, Westlaw current through 2011 1st Reg. Sess.).

2 Mother that her vagina was hurting. Mother asked the two if anyone had touched them

“down there” and after Mother’s questioning for a third time, J.L. and A.D. indicated that

Kimbrough had touch them inappropriately. Transcript at 136. J.L. was the one who

brought up Kimbrough’s name. Kimbrough had picked the girls up from school early that

day and had the children alone the previous weekend.

J.L. called her vagina a “private” and A.D. called hers a “cootie cat.” Transcript at

148. Kimbrough would put baby oil on his penis prior to touching J.L. and A.D. A.D. said

that Kimbrough would put his private area against hers and her sister’s and that he would

stick his private part in her “cootie cat.” Kimbrough also licked A.D.’s vagina. While in the

basement at Kimbrough’s grandparents’ house, Kimbrough put his private area up in A.D.’s

“cootie cat.” A.D. also observed Kimbrough putting his private area up in J.L.’s “cootie cat.”

When A.D. told Kimbrough to stop, he refused. Instead, Kimbrough would say no and

instruct A.D. not to tell anyone what had happened.

Kimbrough also touched J.L. in her “private” and in the back with his private part. He

would put his private part up in J.L.’s private part and would sometimes stick his penis in

J.L.’s back side. J.L. observed Kimbrough touching A.D. Kimbrough touched J.L. more

than once with his penis and used his fingers to touch J.L. inside her “private.” J.L. saw

Kimbrough masturbating and then ejaculating. Kimbrough asked J.L. to touch his penis and

she complied. The touching occurred both at the hotel and in the basement of Kimbrough’s

grandparents’ house.

On October 30, 2010, law enforcement officers were contacted and Mother took the

girls to the emergency room for examination. Each girl was examined by Dr. Kathryn Watts,

3 and both girls told her that Kimbrough had rubbed his penis against their vaginas and touched

their vaginas with his hands. Both A.D. and J.L. denied full penetration, or full insertion of

the penis inside the vaginal vault. During the physical examination, Dr. Watts found a small

break in J.L.’s hymen, but the break was not fresh because there was no bleeding. According

to Dr. Watts, a break such as that can be found in cases of sexual abuse and can heal in one

or two weeks. A.D. told Dr. Watts that her vagina was hurting. Upon examination, Dr.

Watts discovered that A.D. had redness around her vaginal openings and about a one

centimeter tear in her hymen. According to Dr. Watts while such an opening is not unusual,

it can be found in cases of sexual abuse. Further, redness can also be caused by penetration.

J.L. and A.D. were later interviewed by an officer at the family assistance bureau center.

On the evening of October 30, 2010, Kimbrough went to the residence of Sabrina

Clark, his cousin. Kimbrough, who was scared, told his cousin to close the doors. Clark

asked Kimbrough what was going on and he eventually said that he might be in trouble and

that it was all his fault. Kimbrough also told Clark that he wanted to end his life. Clark

pleaded with Kimbrough not to end his life. Police officers responded minutes later to

Clark’s residence and apprehended Kimbrough.

The State charged Kimbrough with four counts of class A felony child molesting and

two counts of class C felony child molesting. At the conclusion of Kimbrough’s four-day

jury trial, he was found guilty as charged. The trial court did not enter a judgment of

conviction on the two counts of class C felony child molesting. The trial court did enter

judgments of conviction as to the remaining counts and sentenced Kimbrough to an

aggregate sentence of eighty years imprisonment. Kimbrough now appeals.

4 1.

Kimbrough argues that there is insufficient evidence of penetration to support his

convictions of two counts of child molesting by performing sexual intercourse.2 When

reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence needed to support a criminal conviction, we neither

reweigh evidence nor reassess witness credibility. Henley v. State, 881 N.E.2d 639 (Ind.

2008). We consider only the evidence supporting the conviction and any reasonable

inferences that can be drawn from such evidence. Id. We will affirm if there is substantial

evidence of probative value such that a reasonable trier of fact could have concluded the

defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

“Sexual intercourse” is defined by statute as “an act that includes any penetration of

the female sex organ by the male sex organ.” Ind. Code Ann. § 35-41-1-26 (West, Westlaw

current through 2011 1st Reg. Sess.). Thus, the State was required to prove penetration in

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