Wood v. State

804 N.E.2d 1182, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 436, 2004 WL 527835
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided March 18, 2004·No. 36A01-0303-CR-80·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

BROOK, Senior Judge.

Case Summary

Appellant-defendant Daniel J. Wood appeals his convictions and sentence for rape 1 as a Class B felony, criminal confinement 2 as a Class D felony, sexual battery 3 as a Class D felony, battery 4 as a Class A misdemeanor, and public intoxication, 5 a Class B misdemeanor. We affirm in part and remand in part.

Issues

We expand and restate Wood's six issues as follows:

I. Whether the trial abused its discretion in excluding evidence of the victim's bias;
II. Whether the trial court properly excluded his medical records;
III. Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct;
IV. - Whether the trial court committed reversible error in refusing his jury instruction on temporary insanity;
V. Whether the trial court committed reversible error in instructing the jury on battery;
VI. Whether he proved that he was insane at the time of the offenses; and

*1185 VII. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him.

Facts and Procedural Historjf

The facts most favorable to the jury's verdict indicate that on August 22, 2000, Christina Brown lent her husband's pickup truck to coworker Tracy Piercefield to help Piercefield's aunt move out of her apartment.. Christina asked her future sister-in-law, Ruth Amn Strong, to drive the truck. Strong was introduced to Wood, Piercefield's brother, and he rode in the truck with her during the move. After the third trip between residences, Wood borrowed money from Strong to purchase a six-pack of beer. Wood gave away two cans of beer and drank the rest. Around midnight, after delivering the last of six or seven loads, Wood borrowed money from Strong to purchase another six-pack. Strong then drove to Piercefield's aunt's new residence to drop Wood off. The pair parked in an alley and talked. Wood tried to kiss Strong and grab her breast. She rejected 'his advances and told him that she was getting married. Wood apologized and asked if they could be friends. Strong told him that was fine. When someone told Wood that he could not drink beer in the alley, he asked Strong to drive around.

-Strong drove around for twenty minutes while Wood drank beer. She told him that she needed to go home and asked where she could take him. Wood replied that he was homeless. Strong stopped in a parking lot and again asked Wood where she could take him. He stated that he would sleep in a ditch and that she could take him home with her. Wood tried to kiss Strong and grabbed at her. . She again told him that she was getting married and that she "wasn't like that." Tr. at 282. 6 Wood stated that he was okay with that and told her that he had a friend near Highway 11 who might let him stay. As Wood gave Strong directions, he described the residence as his uncle's house. Strong became worried.

When Strong pulled into the: driveway, Wood told her that no one was home and told her to drive back toward town. As she drove, he rubbed her breasts, attempted to climb over the middle console, and forced the truck onto the grass. Wood put the truck in park and shut off the ignition. He exposed his penis and began to masturbate. Strong exited the truck and started walking away. Wood grabbed Strong's ponytail, put his hand over her mouth, and pulled her back toward the truck. Wood told Strong to get. in the truck and drive and stated that she "was going to have sex with him or he was going to take it." Id. at 286. Wood also stated that "if [she] didn't give it to him he was going to rape [her] or something worse" and that she "couldn't keep him from getting what he wanted." Id. Strong refused to have sex with Wood.

Wood exposed and bit one of Strong's breasts, scratched her, bit her neck, hit her head, and put his hands down her pants. He told her that they "were going to sit there until a cop showed up, and when they got there, they would take him to jail and tow the truck out of the driveway." Id. at 287. When Strong asked where she would be, Wood laughed. He told her that she was going to drive to Cypress Lake or that they were going to have sex. En route, Wood told Strong that if she did not want to do it she could turn around and go home. When she attempted to drive toward her friend's house *1186 in Jonesville, he sereamed and grabbed the steering wheel and told her to drive toward a bridge. Wood then asked Strong to stop the truck so that he could urinate. When he opened the door and began to urinate, she grabbed the keys and ran into a nearby beanfield.

Wood called after Strong, telling her that he loved her and would not hurt her. When she did not respond, he began screaming, calling her a bitch and stating that he was going to hotwire the truck and run over her. Strong thought that Wood would "really hurt [her]" if he found her and emerged from the beanfield. Id. at 291. He told her that they were going to have sex. She told him no. Wood yanked Strong's ponytail and forced her to the ground. He pulled down her shorts and underwear and engaged in sexual intercourse. Strong cried out in pain.

The pair returned to the truck. Wood told Strong to lie down in the back of the truck. When she refused, he told her to "get [her] fucking ass in the truck, that he wasn't done with [her]." Id. at 294. Still crying, Strong got in the backseat and told Wood that she was getting married and did not want to have sex with him. He climbed on top of her and again engaged in intercourse. She stopped resisting because it hurt less if she did not fight with him. Wood nodded off, and Strong attempted to escape. Wood awoke and shut the door on the back of her head. Again Wood engaged in intercourse and nodded off, and again Strong unsuccessfully attempted to escape. When she begged to get out of the truck, he ordered her to move to the front seat and engaged in intercourse while standing outside the truck.

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Wood v. State, 804 N.E.2d 1182, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 436, 2004 WL 527835 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).

804 N.E.2d 1182 (Wood v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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