Larry Shawn Martin v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 17, 2016
Docket64A05-1511-CR-1907
StatusPublished

This text of Larry Shawn Martin v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Larry Shawn Martin 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
Larry Shawn Martin v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

FILED MEMORANDUM DECISION Jun 17 2016, 8:44 am

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

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Clay M. Patton Gregory F. Zoeller Osan & Patton, LLP Attorney General of Indiana Valparaiso, Indiana Tyler G. Banks Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Larry Shawn Martin, June 17, 2016

Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 64A05-1511-CR-1907 v. Appeal from the Porter Superior Court. The Honorable Roger V. Bradford, State of Indiana, Judge. Appellee-Plaintiff. Cause No. 64D01-1309-FA-8687

Sharpnack, Senior Judge

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A05-1511-CR-1907 | June 17, 2016 Page 1 of 19 Statement of the Case [1] Following a jury trial, Larry Shawn Martin was convicted of five counts of 1 Class A felony child molesting. He was sentenced to forty-eight years in the

Indiana Department of Correction for each count, with the sentences to be

served concurrently. He appeals the sentence and challenges the sufficiency of

the evidence to support his convictions. We affirm.

Issues [2] Martin presents the following restated issues for our review:

I. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to sustain his convictions; II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it sentenced him; and III. Whether his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of his offenses and his character.

Facts and Procedural History [3] The victim, K.H., is the daughter of Eleena Haag (n/k/a Eleena Escalante). In

October 2012, Eleena and Martin began dating. Shortly thereafter, Eleena,

K.H., and S.H. (Eleena’s son and K.H.’s younger brother) moved in with

1 Ind. Code § 35-42-4-3(a)(1) (2007).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A05-1511-CR-1907 | June 17, 2016 Page 2 of 19 Martin. They first lived in an RV camper located on the property of Martin’s

employer, but soon moved to a house in Hebron, Indiana (the Hebron house),

shortly before Halloween.

[4] Eleena and Martin’s relationship deteriorated, and Eleena and her children

moved from the Hebron house a few days before Christmas 2012. Eleena and

her children moved to an apartment in Valparaiso, Indiana. She enrolled K.H.

in school on January 7, 2013. K.H. was in the 7th grade. Eleena told the school

counselor that K.H. was not to have access to the internet “because there were

some concerns with regard to communication that [K.H.] might have with

someone.” Tr. p. 331. At some point, Eleena obtained a no contact order

against Martin that covered Eleena and her children. The school counselor was

aware of the order.

[5] The school counselor began meeting with K.H. approximately weekly

regarding various matters. During the meetings, K.H. would discuss an adult

man she identified “as her mom’s ex-boyfriend.” Id. at 333. The adult man

was Martin. The counselor “became concerned that [K.H.] seemed . . . very

attached to him and missed him very much.” Id. According to the counselor,

“a lot of the ways [K.H.] talked about [Martin] sounded more like a

boyfriend/girlfriend type relationship than a father figure.” Id. One of K.H.’s

teachers provided the counselor with a hand-written note from K.H. wherein

K.H. professed her love for Martin. On January 30, 2013, the school counselor

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A05-1511-CR-1907 | June 17, 2016 Page 3 of 19 met with Eleena about the relationship between K.H. and Martin. Eleena then

spoke with K.H. about the matter and instructed K.H. not to talk to Martin.

[6] K.H. and S.H.’s father, John Haag, lived with his girlfriend, Thora Vitalone,

and his friend, Kevin Keesler, in Keesler’s home in South Haven (Porter

County), Indiana. Between October 2012 and March 2013, K.H. and S.H.

enjoyed overnight visits with their father approximately twice a month. On one

occasion, while K.H. was visiting, Vitalone noticed that K.H. was

communicating with someone on Facebook. Vitalone saw parts of the

conversation and testified to seeing the following on the laptop screen: “I miss

you. I try to be with you. . . . How have you been? . . . Oh, I wish [I] was

there, too.” Id. at 361-62. This information was relayed to Eleena. Eleena

assumed K.H. was communicating with Martin, and she, again, instructed

K.H. not to communicate with Martin.

[7] On March 2, 2013, Robin Shultman (n/k/a Robin Bilbrey), Martin’s ex-wife,

received a picture by text message from Martin. Martin told Shultman the

picture was of K.H.’s buttocks, while wearing underwear. Shultman sent the

picture to Eleena and Eleena confronted K.H. about the picture. K.H.

explained that she sent Martin the picture “[b]ecause he asked [her] to send him

one.” Id. at 230. K.H. then began crying and told her mother that Martin was

having sex with her and that “[Martin] had done horrible things to her.” Id. at

298.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A05-1511-CR-1907 | June 17, 2016 Page 4 of 19 [8] Eleena contacted the Valparaiso Police Department, and she and K.H. travelled

to the police station to report the sexual contact between K.H. and Martin.

K.H. reported that sometime in November 2012, at the Hebron house, Martin

asked K.H. to come down into the basement and help him install a washer and

dryer. K.H.’s brother, S.H., and Martin’s son from another relationship, S.,

remained upstairs in one of the bedrooms. While in the basement, Martin

removed K.H.’s clothes, bent her over, “put his wiener in [her] vagina,”

covered her mouth, and had sexual intercourse with her. Id. at 185. K.H.

testified that Martin told her not to tell anyone about the incident or “he would

hurt [K.H.] and [her] family.” Id. at 186. While K.H. resided in the Hebron

house, Martin had sexual intercourse with K.H. “either every day or every

other day; sometimes more than one time a day.” Id. at 191. The encounters

occurred in the basement, the dining room, the hallway, the living room, the

garage, and the bathroom. K.H. testified that during the encounters, Martin

would sometimes have her sit on top of him and he would move her underwear

to the side to have intercourse with her. K.H. testified that Martin has a tattoo

on his penis that reads, “Your Name.” Id. at 200.

[9] Martin also had sex with K.H. when they drove places in his car. He would

either have K.H. sit on top of him while he drove or he would pull his vehicle to

the side of the road and have sex with K.H. outside of the vehicle. K.H.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 64A05-1511-CR-1907 | June 17, 2016 Page 5 of 19 indicated at trial that Martin had sex with her approximately eighty to ninety

times while she lived at the Hebron house. Id. at 253.

[10] Martin also had sex with K.H. when K.H. was visiting her father in South

Haven. Martin would communicate with K.H. via Facebook and tell her when

he wanted to meet with her. One night, Martin told K.H. he wanted to see her,

and a short time later K.H. walked out of the South Haven house to Martin’s

car, which was parked in the driveway.

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