Latham E. Small v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided November 20, 2017·No. 02A05-1704-CR-926·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION FILED

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), Nov 20 2017, 9:10 am

this Memorandum Decision shall not be CLERK regarded as precedent or cited before any Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals

and Tax Court

court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Scott L. Barnhart Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Brooke Smith Attorney General of Indiana Keffer Barnhart LLP Angela Sanchez

Indianapolis, Indiana Supervising Officer Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Latham E. Small, November 20, 2017 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

02A05-1704-CR-926

v. Appeal from the Allen Superior Court

State of Indiana, The Honorable Appellee-Plaintiff. John F. Surbeck, Jr., Judge Trial Court Cause No.

02D04-1604-F3-27

Kirsch, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 02A05-1704-CR-926 | November 20, 2017 Page 1 of 17

[1] Following a jury trial, Latham E. Small (“Small”) was convicted of two counts of Level 3 felony rape,1 one count of Class A misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury,2 and one count of Class B misdemeanor furnishing alcohol to a minor.3 He appeals his two rape convictions and raises the following restated issues:

I. Whether one of the two convictions for Level 3 felony rape must be vacated because they were based on the same act and violate Indiana’s prohibition against double jeopardy; and

II. Whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain either of Small’s two convictions for Level 3 felony rape.

[2] We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand with instructions.

Facts and Procedural History [3] Small and H.S. married in May 2015, and they lived with H.S.’s parents. In

October 2015, H.S.’s nineteen-year-old sister, H.D., also moved into the residence. On the evening of October 21, 2015, Small, H.S., H.D., and their mother, K.D., had dinner together at the home, and, after dinner, the four of them had a bonfire in the fire pit on the backyard patio.4 Small and K.D. had two or three alcoholic drinks, but sisters H.S. and H.D. did not have any.

1 See Ind. Code § 35-42-4-1(a)(2).

2 See Ind. Code § 35-42-2-1(c)(1).

3 See Ind. Code § 7.1-5-7-8(a)(1).

4 K.D.’s husband, who was also the father of H.S. and H.D., was a firefighter and was on duty at the time.

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Around 9:00 p.m., H.S. and K.D., went inside and went to bed, leaving Small and H.D. outside. Small suggested that H.D. finish her mother’s drink, but H.D. declined. Small went in the house and came back out with two shots of alcohol, offering one to H.D. She drank the shot, and as the night continued, Small kept offering shots to H.D., who drank them and became increasingly intoxicated. At one point, Small went in the house, and when he came back outside, he slid his hand down H.D.’s shirt and rubbed her breast. She told him not to do that again, because “it wasn’t right, and he was married to my sister.” Tr. Vol. I at 216.

[4] Small sat back down, and the two continued to talk. H.D. “start[ed] to not remember things” around that point in the night. Id. Her next recollection was finding herself “out in the middle of the lawn and [Small] was trying to shove his penis in my face.” Id. H.D. “blacked out [] again for a while,” but then woke to find her pajama pants down around her knees, and she saw Small walking into the house. Id. at 217. She got up, felt “really dizzy” and “really nauseous,” and went back into the house, headed toward her bedroom. Id. In the hallway, H.D. encountered her sister, H.S., who asked H.D., “what’s going on, are you okay,” but H.D. did not say anything to her. Id. at 218; Tr. Vol. II at 192. Concerned that H.D. had been drinking, H.S. woke their mother, K.D., for assistance. K.D. and H.S. comforted H.D., who was crying and threw up, and they heard H.D. make references to “bad Latham” and “that is my sister.” Tr. Vol II at 35.

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[5] H.S. went to another room and confronted Small to find out what he had done to H.D. Initially, Small denied doing anything, but later stated, “All I tried to do was kiss her.” Id. at 35, 213. A physical altercation ensued between Small and K.D., and H.S. called 911. Officer Nicholas Keefer (Officer Keefer”) of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department5 responded to the domestic battery dispatch call at around 12:05 a.m. and was the first to arrive; other law enforcement and emergency personnel came to the scene, too. Officer Keefer encountered K.D. in the garage and spoke to her. He also spoke to Small, who yelled to Officer Keefer, “[I]t’s me, I’m the one you’re looking for.” Id. at 61.

[6] As Officer Keefer spoke to Small, he heard a scream from a back bedroom. Officer Jason Schmieman (“Officer Schmieman”) went to the room and found H.D. in bed, and fresh vomit on the floor. H.D. was crying and appeared to be “very intoxicated.” Id. at 85. Officer Schmieman tried to talk to H.D. and ask her what happened. She said she did not know “[a]nd then seconds later she said she might have been raped but she did not remember.” Id. at 86. Officer Keefer learned from H.D. that “bad things happened,” but could not get detail from H.D. Id. at 66. Officer Keefer eventually learned from H.D. that Small had touched her breast and tried to remove her pants, but H.D. did not know if he had sexual intercourse with her because she had blacked out. Id. at 68-69.

5 We note that some law enforcement individuals who testified referred to their employer as the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, while others identified it as the Allen County Police Department, see tr. vol. II at 57, 83, 88, 144, but they generally refer to each other as “officers,” not deputies, see id. at 59, 64, 65, 84, and we will do the same in this decision.

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EMTs also came into H.D.’s room and tried to treat her, but she screamed whenever they tried to get near her.

[7] Because law enforcement suspected a possible rape had occurred, they contacted sexual assault nurse examiner Shawn Callahan (“Callahan”) by phone. Callahan heard the commotion of H.D. on the phone and, believing H.D. was “basically incoherent,” Callahan told police she could not accept H.D. as a patient until she sobered up because the exam required consent and based on what she was hearing, she did not believe H.D. had the capacity to consent to the exam. Id. at 113. The next morning, H.D.’s father took H.D. to the sexual assault treatment center to be examined by Callahan, who conducted a full body exam and took swab samples from H.D.’s breast, external and internal vagina, anal folds, perineum, vaginal wash, bilateral inner thighs, and buttocks. Id. at 124. She also collected H.D.’s pajama pants. The swabs and pants were sent to the Indiana State Police (“ISP”) crime laboratory for testing.

[8] In April 2016, the State charged Small with three counts of Level 3 felony rape, alleging rape by force or imminent threat of force, rape when H.D. was unaware that sexual intercourse was occurring, and rape when H.D. was so mentally disabled or deficient that she could not give consent to sexual intercourse. Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 15, 17, 19. The State also charged Small with one count of Class A misdemeanor battery. Id. at 21. In August 2016, the State filed an amended charging information to add a fifth count, Class B misdemeanor furnishing alcohol to a minor. Id. at 23, 32-34.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 02A05-1704-CR-926 | November 20, 2017 Page 5 of 17

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