Jose Luis Aguilar-Robles v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided July 27, 2017·No. 48A04-1608-CR-1875·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Jul 27 2017, 8:55 am

court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral CLERK Indiana Supreme Court

estoppel, or the law of the case. Court of Appeals and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE John T. Wilson Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Anderson, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana Michael Gene Worden

Deputy Attorney General

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Jose Luis Aguilar-Robles, July 27, 2017 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

48A04-1608-CR-1875

v. Appeal from the Madison Circuit Court

State of Indiana, The Honorable Thomas Newman Appellee-Plaintiff. Jr., Judge Trial Court Cause No.

48C03-1412-FA-2085

Pyle, Judge.

Statement of the Case

[1] Jose Luis Aguilar-Robles (“Aguilar-Robles”) appeals his sentences imposed,

following a bench trial, for his convictions of five counts of Class A felony child Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 48A04-1608-CR-1875 | July 27, 2017 Page 1 of 17 molesting1 and three counts of Class B felony incest.2 Aguilar-Robles argues that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion when considering the threat to his daughter and his lack of remorse as aggravating circumstances; and (2) his aggregate 120-year sentence is inappropriate and should be revised to an aggregate thirty-year sentence.

[2] In regard to aggravating circumstances, we conclude that the trial court’s reference to a threat to the victim, which was done when discussing the nature and circumstances of the crime and Aguilar-Robles’s violation of his position of trust with his daughter, was not an abuse of discretion. As for the lack of remorse aggravator, the State concedes, and we agree, that the trial court improperly considered Aguilar-Robles’s lack of remorse to be an aggravating circumstance where he maintained his innocence. Nevertheless, we need not remand for resentencing because the trial court found other valid aggravating circumstances, and we can say with confidence that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence without the lack of remorse aggravating circumstance. Additionally, we conclude that Aguilar-Robles’s aggregate sentence is not inappropriate, and we affirm his aggregate sentence. Finally, we note that there is a double jeopardy concern with Aguilar-Robles’s child molesting convictions in Counts I-III and his incest convictions in Counts VI-

1 IND. CODE § 35-42-4-3(a)(1). We note that under the current version of the child molesting statute, which took effect in 2014 and was then amended in 2015, Class A felony child molesting is now a Level 1 felony. Because Aguilar-Robles committed his offenses in 2010, we will apply the statute in effect at that time. 2 I.C. § 35-46-1-3. The incest statute was also amended in 2014, and Class B felony incest is now a Level 4 felony.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 48A04-1608-CR-1875 | July 27, 2017 Page 2 of 17

VIII. Because the State relied on the same evidence of sexual intercourse to support Aguilar-Robles’s child molesting convictions in Counts I-III and his convictions of incest in Counts VI-VIII and entered judgments of conviction and sentences on all these convictions, we remand to the trial court with instructions to vacate Aguilar-Robles’s incest convictions.

[3] We affirm and remand.

Issues

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when sentencing Aguilar-Robles.

2. Whether Aguilar-Robles’s sentence is inappropriate pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B).

Facts

[4] During Summer 2010, on three separate occasions, twenty-six-year-old Aguilar-

Robles engaged in sexual intercourse with his seven-year-old daughter, E.R. The first time he did so, Aguilar-Robles’s wife and E.R.’s mother, Sarah Robles (“Mother”), was out of town, and Aguilar-Robles was watching E.R. and her two brothers. E.R. and her brothers were sleeping in Aguilar-Robles’s bedroom when she had a nightmare and went to the kitchen to tell her father. Aguilar- Robles, who was drinking beer, told her to return to bed and that he would check on her in a moment. When Aguilar-Robles went to the bedroom to see E.R., he removed her underwear and clothing below the waist, got on top of her, kissed her on her mouth with his tongue, and inserted his penis into her vagina, causing E.R. “[a] lot of pain.” (Tr. 55). When she told him to stop, he Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 48A04-1608-CR-1875 | July 27, 2017 Page 3 of 17 asked “why” and did not stop. (Tr. 55). Aguilar-Robles also touched the inside of E.R.’s vagina with his finger. E.R. did not tell anyone what had happened to her because she “was scared.” (Tr. 56).

[5] The second time that Aguilar-Robles molested E.R. was during a morning before school when Mother was at work. Aguilar-Robles, who had E.R. on the bathroom floor, got on top of her, put his penis inside her vagina, and kissed her on her mouth. Again, she told him to stop, and he did not. Aguilar-Robles told E.R. not to “tell your mom or else both of us will get in trouble[.]” (Tr. 61). E.R. was “scared” and did not tell anyone what he had done because she thought “he might hurt [her] or [her] family.” (Tr. 60).

[6] The third molestation also happened at Aguilar-Robles’s house in the morning before school while Mother was at work. Aguilar-Robles went into E.R.’s bedroom, and, as she was on her bed, he kissed her on the mouth and “stuck” his penis in her vagina, causing her pain. (Tr. 61). That same day after E.R. returned from school, Aguilar-Robles gave her an “air soft gun” and instructed her not to show it to anyone, including Mother and her brothers. (Tr. 63).

[7] E.R. did not initially tell anyone that Aguilar-Robles had molested her. Eventually in November 2014, after several years of being “sick of it” and having it “playing over and over in [her] mind[,]” E.R. revealed to Mother what Aguilar-Robles had done to her. (Tr. 65). Aguilar-Robles was in the room when E.R. told her mother, and he “started throwing up in the kitchen sink.” (Tr. 46). Mother then took E.R. to the police department to report the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 48A04-1608-CR-1875 | July 27, 2017 Page 4 of 17 incidents. E.R. was also interviewed by a forensic interviewer and examined by a sexual assault nurse.

[8] That same day, a uniformed police officer went to Aguilar-Robles’s house “to do a stand by” to ensure that Mother and the three children could safely leave the house with their belongings. (Tr. 171). As the officer walked up to the house, Aguilar-Robles, who was crying, walked out and “raised his arms up . . . in a handcuffing position, and said I’m sorry[,] I’m sorry[,] I’m sorry.” (Tr. 173). The officer informed Aguilar-Robles that he was at the house only so that Mother could safely leave and told Aguilar-Robles to go back inside the house.

[9] Thereafter, in December 2014, the State charged Aguilar-Robles with: Counts I through V, Class A felony child molesting,3 and Counts VI through VIII, Class B felony incest. The police were not initially able to arrest Aguilar-Robles because he had left town and no longer showed up for work. About five months later, in May 2015, the police located Aguilar-Robles and arrested him.

[10] In July 2016, the trial court held a bench trial. E.R. testified to the facts as stated above. Aguilar-Robles testified on his own behalf. He denied that he had sexual intercourse with E.R. or had otherwise molested her. During closing argument, the State argued that the evidence of Aguilar-Robles’s three acts of sexual intercourse supported his child molesting charges in Counts I-III

3 As for the five counts of Class A felony child molesting, Counts I, II, and III alleged that Aguilar-Robles had engaged in sexual intercourse with E.R., and Counts IV and V alleged that Aguilar-Robles had performed deviate sexual conduct on E.R.

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