Johnson v. State

648 N.E.2d 666, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 304, 1995 WL 126325
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 27, 1995
Docket49A02-9408-CR-475
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 648 N.E.2d 666 (Johnson 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
Johnson v. State, 648 N.E.2d 666, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 304, 1995 WL 126325 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

*667 OPINION

ROBERTSON, Judge.

Frank Johnson appeals his conviction of stalking, a class B misdemeanor. Johnson received a sentence of one hundred and eighty (180) days, with one hundred and sixty (160) days suspended and with credit for six (6) days served. Johnson states the issues as:

I. Whether the credible evidence was and is not sufficient to support Defendant, Appellant Johnson's conviction under the 1993 Stalking Statute, IC. 85-45-10-1 through 5, and the decision, verdict and judgment of the trial Court finding Frank Johnson, "... guilty as charged of stalking", is contrary to law in that the actions of Defendant Johnson complained of were lawfully done within the provisions of the statute 1.C. 35-45-10-1 defining "stalk", to wit: "The term does not include statutorily or constitutionally protected activity."?
II. Whether the statute upon which Defendant-Appellant Johnson was charged and tried, called "Stalking", LC. 85-45-10-1 through 5, a Class B misdemeanor, is unconstitutional and void for vagueness and violative of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and violative of Article 1, Sections 9 and 31 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana?
III. Whether the trial Court at the sentencing hearing for Defendant-Appellant Johnson committed fundamental error in giving the sentence it did to Mr. Johnson, by its stated reasoning to wit:
"I believe this is a very serious crime and you followed this woman across state lines. Congress is thinking of making this kind of thing a federal offense because you crossed state lines and furthermore, people are supposed to be safe at shelters for battered women and their kids and that's where she was and that's where a lot of activity took place and I think that is an aggravating cireumstance because [the victim] was not even able to seek refuge in a place where the community expects that she would be safe."

We affirm.

I

Johnson attacks the sufficiency of the evidence. The evidence most favorable to his conviction reveals that the victim had been Johnson's girlfriend for a year and a half. She bad lived with him, and he had supported her and her children. She ended the relationship on August 19, 1993, because they would fight and argue. At various times, she had moved to four different homes in Ohio. Johnson would always find her, so she would move. She had told her counselor the situation about how she was trying to leave Johnson and how he would not leave her alone. Every time she had left him, he had found her and took control of her life again. The Salvation Army in Ohio had recommended her to a Salvation Army shelter in Indianapolis, and she came to Indiana on August 19, 1998.

Johnson came to Indianapolis three times from September 22, 1998, to September 30, 1993, to find the victim. On September 22, 1993, Johnson appeared at the shelter which housed the victim and her children. He was outside the shelter questioning people as they entered and exited the shelter. He wanted to know whether the victim and the children lived there. Shelter residents were upset and disturbed by his presence, and the assistant director of the shelter confronted Johnson.

Johnson identified himself as the victim's husband and said he was there looking for his wife and children. The assistant director invited him into her office for a conversation. During the conversation, Johnson revealed his true identity. He said he was concerned about the victim, that he loved her very much, and that he just needed to talk with her. He believed he could persuade her to go back to Ohio with him. The assistant director informed him that, if he wanted to talk to any client of the shelter, he should leave his name and the location where he could be contacted. The information would be posted, and the client was free to contact him. The assistant director would not con *668 firm whether the victim was in the shelter. The assistant director also informed Johnson about the shelter's policy on questioning clients. The shelter had a policy to keep the identities of its domestic violence clients confidential for safety reasons and to keep people at the front of the shelter from talking to people entering or leaving the building, espe-clally if they were on shelter property. Johnson said he would abide by the policies and left the office.

Nevertheless, between September 22, 1998, and September 30, 1998, Johnson returned to the shelter. He again questioned residents outside the shelter. He also appeared at the children's school and tried to find out where they were living. On September 30, 1993, the staff of the shelter decided to move the victim to another location. The reason for that action was:

[blecause she was very upset and the children were terrified and they felt very unsafe. They were like in the shelter all the time. They couldn't even go out of the shelter. They was like imprisoned in the shelter. Children couldn't go to school or anything. The children-her daughter started erying and she was just very upset.

(R.94).

On September 30, 1998, the victim went to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. She was tired of running and just wanted to have something done to make Johnson leave her alone. She wanted a restraining or protective order and wanted to file stalking charges against Johnson. A few minutes later, Johnson appeared at the prosecutor's office and said he wanted to talk to the victim. The victim began to ery and indicated to the receptionist that Johnson was bothering her. The victim told Johnson she did not want to talk to him. She stood with her back to him as he talked in her ear. She was in tears and shaking her head no. She told him all the talking was done and she was finished with it. Johnson left the prosecutor's office.

The victim talked to the staff at the prosecutor's office and told them that Johnson was bothering her and would not leave her alone. The prosecutor's staff contacted the Marion County Sheriffs Department, which located Johnson in an elevator. When asked to identify himself, however, he gave a name other than Frank Johnson. Johnson matched the victim's description of him so he was asked to produce some identification. Johnson then said he was being harassed by someone and voluntarily returned to the prosecutor's office when told he could file a harassment complaint there. Upon his return, the victim identified him as Frank Johnson. He proceeded to talk with the vietim again and was arrested.

The victim did not see Johnson from September 22, 1998, to September 30, 1993, until he appeared at the prosecutor's office. Nevertheless, the victim had known that Johnson had been looking for her and that he had been pretending to be her husband so he could locate her and her children. She had known that he had made at least four telephone calls to the shelter and had gone to her children's school. The victim had been afraid of Johnson because he had always found her whenever she had left him. He had threatened her with guns. He had pressured her and had told her what to do.

Our legislature has defined the offense of stalking in Indiana Code Title 35, Article 45, Chapter 10, Sections 1 through 5. Specifically, P.L,242-1998, See. #4, provides:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
648 N.E.2d 666, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 304, 1995 WL 126325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-state-indctapp-1995.