Ludack v. State

967 N.E.2d 41, 2012 WL 1430715, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 200
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 25, 2012
Docket49A02-1109-CR-930
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 967 N.E.2d 41 (Ludack 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
Ludack v. State, 967 N.E.2d 41, 2012 WL 1430715, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 200 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

CRONE, Judge.

Case Summary

John Ludack was convicted of two counts of class A felony child molesting and adjudicated a habitual offender and sentenced to an aggregate term of one hundred thirty years. On appeal, he argues that his constitutional right against compulsory self-inerimination was violated when the detective who interviewed him testified that Ludack neither admitted nor denied the allegations of child molesting but just asked to stop speaking. Ludack also argues that his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and his character.

We conclude that defense counsel, by first asking the detective whether Ludack had admitted the allegations of child molestation during the interview, opened the door to the detective's testimony. We also conclude that Ludack fails to carry his burden to persuade us that his sentence is inappropriate. Therefore, we affirm his convictions and sentence.

Facts and Procedural History

In June 2008, Ludack lived in an Indianapolis apartment with his girlfriend T.E. and her children: ten-year-old M.E. and her older brothers, TV. and AV. Ludack had been living with them approximately eighteen months. T.E. worked full-time at a pharmacy and attended cosmetology school. While TE. was working and attending classes, Ludack cared for the children, with whom he had a good relationship.

One day in early June while T.E. was at work, Ludack told M.E. to go into her mother's bedroom. Onee there, Ludack told her to take off her clothes. ME. tried to leave, but Ludack blocked the door. ME. said that she was going to call her mother, but Ludack had the phone and would not give it to her. ME. was seared. Ludack finally let M.E. out of the bedroom, but would not let her call her mother.

*43 Ludack then told ME. to go to her bedroom. He followed her into her room and shut the door behind him. He told her to remove her pants and underwear and get on the bed. She complied and lay on her back. Ludack forcibly held ME. down as he put his penis in her vagina. M.E. was frightened and in pain. She tried to make him stop and struggled to get up. He violently held down her legs using a great deal of force. Afterward, ME. continued to feel pain and noticed that she was bleeding a little bit. Ludack told M.E. that if she told anyone that he "would hurt [her] mom or [Ludack and her mom] would be gone for a long time, or he would hurt anyone [that M.E.] told." Tr. at 30.

During the first two weeks of June, Lu-dack forced ME. to have sexual intercourse several times. Onee, it occurred in her mother's bedroom. Another time, M.E. fought back and scratched Ludack. Another time, Ludack attempted to force her to have sexual intercourse in the living room, but he was interrupted when TV. and A.V. knocked on the apartment door and wanted to come in.

On June 15, 2008, Ludack left the apartment and never returned. Sometime after Ludack left, M.E. tearfully explained to TV., using hand gestures, that Ludack had put his penis in her vagina. She told TV. not to tell anyone because Ludack had said that he would hurt someone. TV. did not tell anyone until January 2011, when he broke down and told his father, who immediately called T.E. She in turn immediately called the police. A forensic child interviewer interviewed ME., and a medical doctor physically examined her. The physical exam did not reveal any physical evidence of the sexual abuse that had occurred two and a half years earlier. Indianapolis police detective Chris Lawrence interviewed Ludack, TE., TV., and T.V.'s father.

The State charged Ludack with two counts of class A felony child molesting 1 and two counts of class C felony child molesting and alleged that he was a habitual offender. The jury found Ludack guilty as charged, and he pleaded guilty to the habitual offender enhancement. The trial court sentenced Ludack to fifty years on each class A felony child molesting conviction and thirty years for the habitual offender enhancement, to be served consecutively, for an aggregate executed sentence of one hundred thirty years. Lu dack appeals.

Discussion and Decision

I. Fifth Amendment Violation

At trial, Detective Lawrence testified for the State. On direct examination, the prosecutor asked Detective Lawrence (1) whether he had interviewed Ludack, 2) whether Ludack stated that he was living with T.E. in June 2008, and (3) whether Ludack stated that he provided childcare to T.E.'s children. Detective Lawrence answered all three questions affirmatively. The prosecutor did not ask any other questions about Detective Lawrence's interview with Ludack. On cross-examination, Lu-dack's attorney asked Detective Lawrence whether Ludack "made any admissions" during the interview, and the detective replied, "He didn't admit to it, no." Tr. at 122-23. At a sidebar conference, the prosecutor argued to the court that the jury was left with a false impression and that she wanted to further examine the detective to confirm that Ludack had neither admitted nor denied the allegations of sex *44 ual abuse. The trial court granted the request, and the prosecutor questioned Detective Lawrence as follows:

Q: When you did you[r] interview with John Ludack, it was a fairly short interview, wasn't it?
Yes, it was.
And during that short period of time he gave you a few facts that we've already discussed, is that correct?
Yes, he did.
Q: And he neither admitted nor denied committing the offense, didn't he?
A: He didn't deny doing it either; Re just asked to stop speaking.

Id. at 124-25 (emphasis added). Ludack did not object, move to strike, or move for mistrial.

Ludack argues that Detective Lawrence's testimony violated his right against compulsory self-incrimination guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, resulting in fundamental error. "In order to constitute fundamental error, an error must be blatant and the potential harm must be so substantial and apparent that to ignore it would clearly constitute a denial of due process.!" Owens v. State, 937 N.E.2d 880, 885 (Ind.Ct.App.2010) (quoting Hinkle v. State, 569 N.E.2d 349, 350 (Ind.Ct.App.1990), trans. denied (1991)), trans. denied (2011).

The Fifth Amendment provides that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." 2 This privilege extends to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The seope of the privilege is comprehensive.

The privilege can be claimed in any proceeding, be it eriminal or civil, administrative or judicial, investigatory or adjudicatory. [I]t protects any disclosures which the witness may reasonably apprehend could be used in a criminal prosecution or which could lead to other evidence that might be so used.

Application of Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 47-48, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
967 N.E.2d 41, 2012 WL 1430715, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ludack-v-state-indctapp-2012.