Schmidt v. State

952 N.E.2d 249, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1321, 2011 WL 2847451
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 19, 2011
DocketNo. 38A02-1008-CR-862
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 952 N.E.2d 249 (Schmidt 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
Schmidt v. State, 952 N.E.2d 249, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1321, 2011 WL 2847451 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Shane Schmidt challenges his conviction of and sentence for Class C felony criminal confinement.1 Because there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction and he has not demonstrated his sentence is inappropriate, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Schmidt and A.C. dated sporadically for four years and had one child together. In February 2010, they broke up. On April 16, 2010, A.C. arrived home around midnight, with nineteen-year-old Matt Ward. After they arrived, Schmidt began pounding on the door and yelling at A.C. to open the door. A.C. refused to open the door, and Schmidt entered the home through an open window. Ward was in the bathroom when Schmidt entered the house.

A.C. tried to grab her cell phone, but Schmidt took it away from her and removed the battery. • Schmidt then began to pound on the bathroom door, telling Ward to come out. Schmidt kicked in the bathroom door and made Ward and A.C. sit in the living room for thirty to forty-five minutes while he was “ranting, ranting, ranting.” (Tr. at 29.) At one point, Schmidt threw A.C. against a wall and began to choke her. Schmidt allowed Ward to leave, but only after threatening to kill him and forcing him to drink beer.2

[251]*251After Ward left the house, Schmidt told A.C. to go to the bedroom with him. Schmidt went through A.C.’s texts on her cell phone. When he realized A.C. was dating Ward, Schmidt became enraged and physically assaulted A.C. She testified “[h]e was punching me in the arms. He kicked me in the ribs, choked me, pulled me by hair, slammed my head into the wall. Just over and over again.” (Id. at 35.)

After beating A.C., Schmidt ordered her to remove her clothes. When she did not remove them fast enough, Schmidt began to tear her underwear off. Once A.C.’s clothes were off, Schmidt tied her hands behind her back and placed her face down on the floor. Schmidt threatened to rape her. At one point, Schmidt poured beer down A.C.’s throat and told her that it would “make it less painful [for her] ... before he killed [her].” (Id. at 38.)

Schmidt untied A.C., then went through phases of calm and anger. When Schmidt believed A.C. might escape, he retied her. At Schmidt’s direction, A.C. ordered a pornographic movie on her television. Schmidt told A.C. that he was going to have sex with her. A.C. did not want to have sex with him, but she did not resist because she was scared Schmidt would kill her if she resisted.

At about three or four o’ clock in the morning, Schmidt and A.C. left the house. They stopped at a gas station and then arrived in Anderson, Indiana, at six-thirty that morning. A.C. testified, “I was in flip flops, had nowhere to go and [was] scared out of my mind and very very sore.” (Id. at 50.)

Afterward, Schmidt took A.C. to his apartment and kept his arm around A.C. while he slept for several hours. After waking, Schmidt told A.C. to turn on her phone, which then contained many messages from A.C.’s mother asking where she was. In one, A.C.’s mother mentioned the police, and Schmidt began to worry. A.C. pled with Schmidt to take her to her father’s house, and Schmidt drove her there. After Schmidt left, A.C. told her father what happened, and he took her to the police.

Police arrested Schmidt. After waiving his rights, Schmidt told police he had been with A.C. on April 17, but contended A.C. let him into the house. The State charged Schmidt with Class B felony rape,3 Class C felony criminal confinement, and Class D felony criminal confinement,4 and alleged he was an habitual offender.5 A jury found Schmidt guilty of Class C felony criminal confinement, and Schmidt admitted he was an habitual offender. The trial court sentenced Schmidt to eight years for the offense, enhanced by eight years due to his habitual offender status.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence

When reviewing sufficiency of evidence, we do not reweigh evidence or determine credibility of witnesses. Bruno v. State, 774 N.E.2d 880, 882 (Ind.2002). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, Hill v. State, 513 N.E.2d 1216, 1216 (Ind.1987), and affirm the conviction if “the probative evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence could have allowed a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.... ” McHenry v. State, 820 N.E.2d 124, 127 (Ind.2005).

[252]*252Schmidt was convicted of criminal confinement, which occurs when a person “knowingly or intentionally confines another person without the other person’s consent, or removes another person, by fraud, enticement, force, or threat of force, from one place to another.” Ind.Code § 35-42-3-3. Criminal confinement is a Class C felony if it results in bodily injury to a person other than the perpetrator. Id.

There was sufficient evidence to support Schmidt’s conviction. Ward testified Schmidt entered the house through a window and forced Ward and A.C. to listen to his tirade. Similarly, A.C. testified about Schmidt’s behavior both before and after Ward left. The State submitted pictures of A.C.’s wounds and torn underwear. Police found a button from Schmidt’s coat next to the window through which he entered. Schmidt admitted he was with A.C. on April 17.

Schmidt urges us to consider evidence A.C. might have had opportunities to escape but did not try to do so. Because this would require us to reweigh the evidence, we decline to do so. See Hill, 513 N.E.2d at 1216 (holding the court will not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses).

Schmidt also suggests A.C. consented to the confinement because she did not try to escape. Other evidence permits an inference that A.C. did not consent. A.C. did not open the door for Schmidt; rather, he entered the house through a window. Schmidt bound A.C. on two occasions during this ordeal. A.C. testified that when they were at the gas station, she was sore from the beating by Schmidt, improperly dressed to attempt an escape, and had no where to go. This evidence is sufficient to infer A.C. did not consent to confinement by Schmidt.

Schmidt cites Cunningham v. State, 870 N.E.2d 552, 553 (Ind.Ct.App.2007), where Cunningham was the victim’s husband and lived in the house where he was alleged to have confined the victim. Cunningham legally entered the home and there was no evidence he restrained the victim. We held evidence of abuse only was insufficient to support an inference of confinement necessary for a criminal confinement conviction. In the case before us, by contrast, Schmidt was not a resident of A.C.’s home, he entered illegally, and he restrained A.C. by binding her wrists. Thus, Cunningham is inapposite.

Our Indiana Supreme Court has held binding victims is sufficient to prove confinement because it is “a substantial interference with their liberty.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
952 N.E.2d 249, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 1321, 2011 WL 2847451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmidt-v-state-indctapp-2011.