Tammy Lou Kelly v. State of Indiana

2 N.E.3d 777, 2014 WL 297359, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 31
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 28, 2014
Docket09A04-1303-CR-98
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2 N.E.3d 777 (Tammy Lou Kelly 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
Tammy Lou Kelly v. State of Indiana, 2 N.E.3d 777, 2014 WL 297359, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 31 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBB, Judge.

Case Summary and Issues

Tammy Lou Kelley appeals her convictions, following a bench trial, for criminal confinement, a Class C felony; three counts of battery resulting in bodily injury, Class D felonies; and resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor. Kelley presents several issues on appeal, one of which we find dispositive: whether the trial court's verdict finding Kelley guilty but mentally ill was contrary to law. Concluding that the trial court's verdict was contrary to law we reverse and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

On the morning of March 6, 2011, Derrick Shepard left his twelve-year-old daughter, D.S., with Kelley in the apartment that the three of them shared. D.S. was eating breakfast in the living room when Kelley came into the room looking for money and an ID and asked D.S. what she was doing. Kelley then punched D.S. in the face several times, saying that she had had enough of D.S.'s "shit." Exhibit 1 at 6. D.S. pushed Kelley away and at the same time pushed Kelley's hands down. Kelley left the room, grabbed a six-inch steak knife from the kitchen, came back into the living room, and said to D.S., "I can't take this anymore, I've had enough!" and began stabbing D.S. Id. at 2. D.S. was able to get to a phone and call 911 while Kelley continued to stab her, but then D.S. lost the connection to 911. While this was going on, D.S. was moving around the apartment trying to get away from Kelley. At one point, Kelley had D.S. on the floor and was stabbing her, with D.S. holding her arms up so that Kelley could not get to her face. Eventually, D.S. pushed Kelley away so that she could get to the door. Kelley then went into the kitchen again, and D.S. unlocked the door and left. D.S. ran out of the apartment and first went to the apartment complex main office, which was closed. She then began running again and saw a woman coming out of an apartment. She told the woman, Ashley Goodman, that she had been stabbed and asked her for help. Goodman saw that D.S. was covered in blood and had a "busted" lip-which she specifically noticed after D.S. told her that she had been punched before she was stabbed-and took D.S. into her apartment to call 911. Exh. 2 at 7.

Several officers from the Logansport Police Department arrived on the seene shortly thereafter. Officers Carlos Reyno-so and George Franklin arrived at the apartment complex, and as Officer Reyno-so walked up to Goodman's apartment, he could see drops of blood on the sidewalk. *780 Later investigation showed a trail of blood leading from D.S.'s apartment to the main office, with "a large amount of blood on the door to the office," and then more blood leading to Goodman's apartment. Exh. 1 at 5. Officers arrived at Goodman's apartment to find D.S. frightened and covered in blood. An ambulance arrived after the officers spoke to D.S., and en route to the hospital the medics requested that life line be available to transport D.S. via helicopter to a different medical center, where the record indicates that D.S. spent at least a couple of days in the Intensive Care Unit. Ultimately, D.S. was found to have suffered nine knife wounds, including wounds on her head and arms, a back wound that just missed her kidney, and a wound on her chest that partially collapsed one of her lungs.

While Officers Reynoso and Franklin were attending to D.S. at Goodman's apartment, Lieutenant Carl Swan and Officer Rick Bernhardt went to D.S.'s apartment to speak to Kelley. As they approached the apartment, they saw blood stains on the walk leading up to the apartment as well as on the door to the common area. The door to D.S.'s apartment was partially open, and Lt. Swan could see Kelley standing just inside the apartment wearing a white shirt and red pajama pants, with "copious amount [sic] blood stain on Kelley's clothing and body." Id. at 3. Lt. Swan kicked the door open the rest of the way and ordered Kelley to the ground at gunpoint. Kelley initially complied with the order, and the officers came into the living room and noticed blood stains on the carpeting and a blood-stained steak knife with a bent blade lying on the floor about six feet away from Kelley. Lt. Swan handcuffed Kelley while Officer Bernhardt performed a protective sweep of the apartment. Lt. Swan started to Mirandize Kelley, at which point Kelley began to yell "Fuck Off," "I wan't [sic] fucking water," "Give me water," and "I didn't do anything I just need water." Id. The officers requested that Kelley calm down, which she did not do, and when they assisted Kelley to her feet, Kelley became aggressive and kneed Officer Bernhardt in the groin and kicked Lt. Swan in the groin as soon as she stood up. Both men complained of pain and discomfort in the groin area as a result of her strikes. Kelley was taken to the common area of the apartment building where she continued to scream and kick while being held down. Additional officers assisted in securing Kelley for transport, and Kelley was taken to the jail. At the jail, Kelley, still unruly, was taken to a padded cell where her clothing was collected and she was checked for injuries (none were found).

Shepard was interviewed briefly when he came to the police station after learning about the incident between Kelley and his daughter. He explained that he and Kelley had never been married, although she had been in his life before but was not currently his girlfriend. He stated that he knew something was wrong when he left the apartment that morning, and that Kelley had been acting different since coming home from her mother's house that weekend, but that he did not think she was capable of hurting D.S.

On March 9, 2011, the State charged Kelley with: count I, attempted murder as a Class A felony; count II, criminal confinement as a Class C felony; count III, battery of a person under fourteen resulting in bodily injury as a Class D felony; count IV, battery of a law enforcement officer (Officer Bernhardt) resulting in bodily injury as a Class D felony; count V, battery of a law enforcement officer (Lt. Swan) resulting in bodily injury as a Class D felony; and count VI, resisting law enforcement as a Class A misdemeanor. In June 2011 Kelley filed a motion for psychi *781 atric, competency, and mental status evaluation, which the court granted in July 2011.

Two psychiatrists filed reports with the court after evaluating Kelley. Dr. Rebecca Mueller saw Kelley on July 13, 2011, and also reviewed the charging information and probable cause affidavit, police reports, and Kelley's mental health records from the jail as well as from the Four County Counseling Center ("FCCC"). During the interview, Kelley told Dr. Mueller that she and D.S. had gotten "into a scuffle." Exh. A at 2. She told Dr. Mueller that she had had an argument with Shepard that morning and at some point he had called off their engagement. 1 She wanted him to take D.S. to her brother's place that day rather than leaving her at the apartment, but he refused. Kelley did not remember the details of the incident but did remember grabbing a knife and stabbing D.S., although she also said that she "would not have stabbed D.S. in one million years." Id. Dr. Mueller commented that Kelley spoke very little about the stabbing but remarked that Shepard "knew what would happen and should have taken D.S. out of the apartment instead of leaving for work." Id. Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
2 N.E.3d 777, 2014 WL 297359, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tammy-lou-kelly-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2014.