Keenah Taylor v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 2026
Docket25A-CR-02032
StatusPublished
AuthorJudge Tavitas

This text of Keenah Taylor v. State of Indiana (Keenah Taylor 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
Keenah Taylor v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

FILED Mar 19 2026, 8:40 am

CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court

IN THE

Court of Appeals of Indiana Keenah Taylor, Appellant-Defendant

v.

State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

March 19, 2026 Court of Appeals Case No. 25A-CR-2032 Appeal from the Marion Superior Court The Honorable Angela Dow Davis, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49D27-2409-F3-25405

Opinion by Chief Judge Tavitas Judges Weissmann and Foley concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-2032 | March 19, 2026 Page 1 of 17 Tavitas, Chief Judge.

Case Summary [1] Keenah Taylor appeals his convictions and sentence for rape, a Level 3 felony;

robbery, a Level 5 felony; and criminal confinement, a Level 5 felony. After

Taylor made multiple calls to the victim in violation of a no contact order, the

victim did not appear at trial, and the trial court admitted the victim’s

deposition and statements to law enforcement into evidence. On appeal,

Taylor challenges the trial court’s admission of these statements by the victim,

the sufficiency of the evidence to support his rape conviction, and the trial

court’s denial of pretrial good time credit. We conclude that the trial court

properly admitted the victim’s deposition and statements to law enforcement,

and the evidence is sufficient to sustain Taylor’s conviction for rape. The State

concedes, however, that the trial court was statutorily required to hold a

hearing regarding the deprivation of Taylor’s pretrial good time credit and

failed to do so. The State, thus, has waived its opportunity to object to Taylor’s

pretrial good time credit. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and

remand with instructions that the trial court award Taylor pretrial good time

credit.

Issues [2] Taylor raises three issues, which we restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the victim’s deposition and statements to law enforcement.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-2032 | March 19, 2026 Page 2 of 17 II. Whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain Taylor’s conviction for rape.

III. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by failing to hold a hearing before depriving Taylor of pretrial good time credit.

Facts [3] Taylor and L.D. were previously in a dating relationship, but in 2024, the

relationship ended. In August 2024, Taylor appeared at L.D.’s residence and

knocked on the door. When L.D. answered the door, she discovered Taylor,

who was angry about something L.D. posted on Facebook. Taylor

immediately began screaming and yelling at L.D. and punched L.D.’s face.

L.D. tried to calm Taylor down and then ran into her bedroom. Taylor

followed L.D. and began kicking and stomping on her. L.D. retreated into her

closet, but Taylor followed and continued hitting her. Taylor then told L.D.,

“Get your punk a** in here,” and “I wanna get off.” Ex. Vol. I p. 122. L.D.

said, “No. You know I don’t mess with you like that any more.” Id. L.D.,

however, performed oral sex “just to calm him down just so he could just

leave.” Id. at 123. Taylor slapped L.D. twice during the oral sex. Taylor

stopped the oral sex, started crying, took L.D.’s phone, and then left her

residence.

[4] Officer Brian Nall with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department

arrived at L.D.’s residence in response to a 911 call. Officer Nall found that

L.D. was “extremely upset” and had “visible injuries.” Tr. Vol. II p. 20. L.D.’s

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-2032 | March 19, 2026 Page 3 of 17 residence was in “disarray” with doors opened and “items strewn about.” Id. at

23. L.D. told Officer Nall that Taylor beat her, kicked her, stomped on her, and

made her “suck his d**k.” State’s Ex. 1 at 4:36. When asked if Taylor

threatened her, L.D. said that Taylor punched her on her face, “made [her] do

it,” and threatened to kill her if she contacted the police. Id. at 6:06.

[5] A sexual assault nurse examiner (“SANE”) examined L.D. at Eskenazi

Hospital’s Center of Hope. L.D. was “scared, she was crying, [and] she was in

a lot of pain.” Tr. Vol. II p. 61. L.D. told the SANE that Taylor said, “get over

here right now and give me some head.” Tr. Vol. II p. 54. Taylor kept hitting

L.D. and said, “You better do it right.” Id. The examination revealed that

L.D. had cracked ribs on both sides, a black eye, a bite mark, extensive

bruising, and was “sore all over.” Ex. Vol. I p. 130.

[6] On September 3, 2024, the State charged Taylor with rape, a Level 3 felony;

robbery, a Level 3 felony; criminal confinement, a Level 5 felony; intimidation,

a Level 6 felony; and two counts of battery, Class A misdemeanors. The trial

court issued an order prohibiting Taylor from contacting L.D.

[7] L.D.’s deposition was taken on December 19, 2024. When asked during the

deposition whether she felt she had a choice about giving Taylor oral sex, L.D.

responded, “I did it because I felt like in that situation that I’m like I don’t

know if - - if this can escalate worser [sic], or if I do this, would it initially –

would it calm him down?” Ex. Vol. I p. 132. She indicated that she did not

want to give Taylor oral sex. Id. at 140.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-2032 | March 19, 2026 Page 4 of 17 [8] A bench trial was set for April 24, 2025. Between March 19, 2025, and April

24, 2025, Taylor made nearly two dozen calls to L.D. using Taylor’s assigned

jail PIN number. On April 24, 2025, the day of the scheduled bench trial,

Taylor called L.D. at 3:41 a.m., and L.D. did not appear for the trial. The trial

court advised Taylor to immediately stop calling L.D. and continued the bench

trial to May 15, 2025. Taylor called L.D. again using a jail PIN number

belonging to someone else and said, “They postponed until May the 15th, you

hear me? May. Hey, do the same thing, you hear me?” Appellant’s App. Vol.

II p. 113. Between April 24, 2025, and May 15, 2025, Taylor made sixteen

additional calls to L.D. encouraging L.D. to not participate in the May trial.

The May bench trial was later rescheduled to June 26, 2025, due to a medical

emergency, and Taylor continued calling L.D.

[9] On June 26, 2025, L.D. did not appear for the bench trial. The State filed a

motion for unavailability and forfeiture by wrongdoing pursuant to Indiana

Evidence Rule 804(b)(5). The State reported that it had made multiple

unsuccessful attempts to secure L.D.’s attendance at the bench trial. The State

argued that the admission of L.D.’s statements would not violate the

constitutional right to confrontation because “one who obtains the absence of a

witness by wrongdoing forfeits the constitutional right to confrontation.”

Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 113 (citing Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36

(2004)).

[10] Taylor conceded that L.D. was “unavailable” but did not concede “forfeiture

by wrongdoing.” Tr. Vol. II p. 11. The trial court granted the State’s motion

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-CR-2032 | March 19, 2026 Page 5 of 17 and found forfeiture by wrongdoing. The trial court found that L.D.’s

deposition was admissible. As for L.D.’s other statements, the trial court found

they would be inadmissible unless hearsay exceptions applied. Regarding the

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