Timothy L. Hall v. State of Indiana

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 18, 2014
Docket02A05-1404-CR-183
StatusUnpublished

This text of Timothy L. Hall v. State of Indiana (Timothy L. Hall 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
Timothy L. Hall v. State of Indiana, (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing Dec 18 2014, 8:05 am

the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

STANLEY L. CAMPBELL GREGORY F. ZOELLER Fort Wayne, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

CHANDRA K. HEIN Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

TIMOTHY L. HALL, ) ) Appellant-Defendant, ) ) vs. ) No. 02A05-1404-CR-183 ) STATE OF INDIANA, ) ) Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE ALLEN SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Frances C. Gull, Judge Cause No. 02D05-1308-FB-153

December 18, 2014

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

CRONE, Judge Case Summary

Timothy L. Hall appeals his convictions for class B and class C felony sexual

misconduct with a minor. He maintains that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting

evidence of prior sexual misconduct with his daughter. He also contends that the evidence is

insufficient to support his convictions. Finding that the trial court acted within its discretion

in admitting the challenged evidence and finding the evidence sufficient to support his

convictions, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

The facts most favorable to the verdict are as follows. In 2012, the forty-two-year-old

Hall lived with his fifteen-year-old daughter B.B. On Saturday, December 1, 2012, B.B.

phoned her childhood friend K.F., also age fifteen, and invited her to spend the night. Hall

and B.B. picked up K.F., and the three ate dinner with Hall’s mother and brothers.

Afterwards, they went to Hall’s house. Hall drank beer, and the girls snuck occasional sips.

At one point, K.F. recalled that either Hall or B.B. “said something about a threesome, but I

didn’t say anything, I kind of laughed it off.” Tr. at 42. Because B.B. had a small bed in her

room, it was decided that the girls would sleep in Hall’s bedroom and he would sleep in the

living room.

While K.F. was sleeping, Hall entered the bedroom, crawled into the bed, and kissed

her. He attempted to pull down K.F.’s pajama pants, and when she resisted, he told her to

“go with it.” Id. at 48. He climbed on top of her and pinned her arms over her head with one

hand. He removed her sweatshirt and pulled down her underwear. He fondled her breasts

2 with his other hand, and when she struggled to get him off of her, he used his legs to

immobilize her legs. He inserted his penis into her vagina and engaged in intercourse until

he ejaculated. Immediately thereafter, he got up, turned on the light, saw that both K.F. and

the sheets were covered with blood, and suggested that she should shower. When she went

to take a shower, she observed Hall flushing a condom down the toilet.

After her shower, K.F. went to B.B.’s room and went to sleep in the small bed. Just

before dawn, she was awakened by a noise outside the bedroom window. Hall entered the

room and inquired about the noise. He took K.F. back to his room, where he pulled down her

pants and inserted first his finger and then his penis into her vagina. During the second

incident, Hall did not wear a condom and K.F. could not recall him ejaculating. B.B. later

testified that she had seen Hall engaging in sexual intercourse with K.F.

Shortly after the second incident, K.F. asked Hall to take her home. On Monday,

December 3, 2012, K.F. disclosed the molestation to a teacher at her school. The school’s

resource officer contacted police, and Fort Wayne Police Detective Todd Battershell took

K.F. and her mother to a local sexual assault treatment center. Certified Forensic Nurse

Angela Mellon examined K.F. and found an abrasion on her hymen indicating blunt-force

trauma consistent with penile penetration as well as a bruise on her wrist.

On August 29, 2013, the State charged Hall with class B felony sexual misconduct

with a minor, class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor, and class A misdemeanor

contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A jury found Hall guilty of both counts of sexual

3 misconduct with a minor and not guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Hall

now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

Discussion and Decision

Section 1 – Admission of Evidence

Hall challenges the trial court’s admission of evidence concerning his alleged sexual

misconduct with his daughter B.B. The admission or exclusion of evidence is entrusted to

the discretion of the trial court, and we therefore review the trial court’s decision for an abuse

of discretion. Collins v. State, 966 N.E.2d 96, 104 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012). An abuse of

discretion occurs when the trial court’s decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the

facts and circumstances before it or it misinterprets the law. Id. In conducting our review,

we consider the conflicting evidence most favorable to the trial court’s ruling and any

uncontested evidence favorable to the defendant. Id.

Hall asserts that the admission of evidence violated Indiana Evidence Rule 404(b),

which reads in pertinent part,

Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character …. This evidence may be admissible for another purpose, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident. On request by a defendant in a criminal case, the prosecutor must … provide reasonable notice of the general nature of any such evidence that the prosecutor intends to offer at trial … and … do so before trial.

Our supreme court has held that Rule 404(b)’s list of other purposes for which the

evidence is admissible is an illustrative rather than an exhaustive list. Hicks v. State, 690

N.E.2d 215, 219 (Ind. 1997). Rehabilitation of a witness on redirect has been held to be a

4 proper purpose when the defense has opened the door during cross-examination concerning

the witness’s credibility based on her fear of the defendant. Shoultz v. State, 995 N.E.2d 647,

656 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013), trans. denied.

When assessing the admissibility of Rule 404(b) evidence, the trial court must first

determine whether the evidence is relevant to a matter at issue other than the defendant’s

propensity to commit the charged act and then balance the probative value of the evidence

against its prejudicial effect under Indiana Evidence Rule 403. Hicks, 690 N.E.2d at 219.

Rule 403 reads in part that the trial court “may exclude relevant evidence if its probative

value is substantially outweighed by the danger of … unfair prejudice.”

Here, the State provided the required pretrial notice of its intent to use Rule 404(b)

evidence. In that notice, the State alleged that evidence of an ongoing sexual relationship

between Hall and his daughter B.B. “is relevant and material and is offered to explain why

[B.B.] has given different accounts of the events giving rise to the charges in this cause, the

nature of the relationship between the defendant and [B.B.], and [B.B.’s] state of mind.”

Appellant’s Amended App. at 24.

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Related

Drane v. State
867 N.E.2d 144 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2007)
Bowles v. State
737 N.E.2d 1150 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2000)
Hicks v. State
690 N.E.2d 215 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)
Collins v. State
966 N.E.2d 96 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)
John Aaron Shoultz III v. State of Indiana
995 N.E.2d 647 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013)
Fredrick Allen Laux v. State of Indiana
985 N.E.2d 739 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013)

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