Ivan Aragon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2018 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Sep 13 2018, 9:25 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Mark K. Leeman Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Leeman Law Office Attorney General of Indiana
Cass County Public Defender
Logansport, Indiana Ellen H. Meilaender
Supervising Deputy Attorney
General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Ivan Aragon, September 13, 2018
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
09A04-1712-CR-2824
v. Appeal from the Cass Circuit
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Leo T. Burns,
Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
09C01-1506-F1-1
Najam, Judge.
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Statement of the Case
[1] Ivan Aragon appeals his convictions for child molesting, as a Level 4 felony,
and criminal confinement, as a Level 5 felony, following a bench trial. Aragon
presents several issues for our review, which we consolidate and restate as the
following four issues:
1. Whether the trial court erred when it entered judgment of
conviction on child molesting, as a Level 4 felony, when
he was not charged with that offense and when it is not a
lesser included offense of the child molesting charge filed
by the State.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion and violated
Aragon’s Sixth Amendment rights when it denied his
request to take a deposition of the minor victim without
her mother present.
3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it
admitted into evidence at trial a videotaped statement of
the minor victim.
4. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support
his criminal confinement conviction.
[2] We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.
Facts and Procedural History
[3] On June 1, 2015, Aragon was living in a home in Logansport with J.A. and her
three minor children: M.L., A.L., and E.L. Late in the day, M.L. was playing
outside, E.L. was sleeping, and J.A. was in the bathroom taking a shower.
Ten-year-old A.L. was watching television in the living room when Aragon
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“pulled [A.L.’s] arm and pushed [her]” into his bedroom. Tr. Vol. 2 at 134.
Aragon “tried to pull [A.L.’s] pants down,” but she “tried to pull [them] back
up.” Id. Aragon also tried to pull his pants down, and he continued trying to
remove A.L.’s pants. At some point, J.A. entered the bedroom, and she saw
A.L. pulling up her pants and Aragon pulling up his pants and pulling down on
his shirt. J.A. asked Aragon and A.L. what was happening. Aragon did not
respond, but A.L. told J.A. that Aragon had tried to pull her pants down. J.A.
told Aragon to leave, but he refused. Accordingly, J.A. told A.L. to call the
police, which she did.
[4] Officers with the Logansport Police Department arrived to investigate, and
Officer Daniel Fagan observed that J.A. and A.L. looked “scared.” Id. at 185.
A.L. told Officer Fagan that Aragon had “abus[ed]” her, and Officer Fagan
placed him in handcuffs. Id. Officer Fagan observed that Aragon’s pants’
zipper was unzipped.
[5] The State charged Aragon with attempted child molesting, as a Level 1 felony,
and criminal confinement, as a Level 5 felony. Defense counsel scheduled the
depositions of J.A. and A.L. to take place on January 27, 2016. But when A.L.
requested that J.A. be present during A.L.’s deposition, defense counsel
objected, and the parties asked the trial court to resolve the matter during a
hearing that same day. The State had offered to have J.A. sit behind A.L.
during the deposition so that they could not make eye contact with one another,
and the State also offered to prohibit communication between J.A. and A.L.
during the deposition. But defense counsel argued to the trial court as follows:
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Our investigation has revealed or produced some information
that bears questioning an examination and the questioning has to
do with almost daily isolation of [A.L.] and repeated questioning
by [J.A.] about the defendant. There [are] two or three terms
that are used in Spanish that need to be defined by both [J.A.] as
to what it means and by [A.L.] as to what she believes it means.
They may not necessarily be the same. The term is lo, L-O, boy,
B-O-Y, a, A, chingar, C-I-N, excuse me, spelling C-H-I-N-G-A-
R. The word chingar has various meanings in Spanish, none of
which are positive. It could mean “we are going to get him. I’m
going to f*** him. I am going to do something bad to him.”
Those terms coupled with the isolated inquir[i]es by the mother
of the child leaves one to question and examine the fear that this
child was under and the influence that mother had on the child to
carry out what is believed to be the mother’s demand that certain
things occur. It is for that reason, the fear of the daughter that
the defendant wants to depose the daughter without the mother
being present. It is the defendant’s right to have a complete
examination of the issues. These are not collateral issues. This is
the issue. This is the heart of the issue. This is what caused the
charge to be filed and that is the position of the defendant as to
why he wants to do this. And in this instance the defendant
believes that his right to a proper . . . examination of the alleged
victim trumps whatever parent/child right may exist to be
present during a deposition.
Tr. Vol. 2 at 5-6. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court denied Aragon’s
request to depose A.L. without J.A. present, but the court ordered that J.A. be
seated behind A.L. and prohibited from communicating with A.L. in any way
during the deposition. In the end, Aragon decided not to depose either J.A. or
A.L.
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[6] At some point, a police officer conducted a videotaped interview of A.L. And
seven days before trial, the State notified defense counsel of its intent to
introduce the interview at trial. On the first day of the bench trial, defense
counsel indicated that he would object to the admission of the interview
because the State did not provide notice of its intent to introduce it into
evidence at least ten days before trial, as required by statute. During trial, the
trial court admitted the interview into evidence over Aragon’s objection.
[7] At the conclusion of trial, at which both J.A. and A.L. testified, the court found
that the State had not proven child molesting, as a Level 1 felony, but found
him guilty of child molesting, as a Level 4 felony, and criminal confinement, as
a Level 5 felony. The court entered judgment of conviction accordingly and
sentenced Aragon to an aggregate executed term of six years. This appeal
ensued.
Discussion and Decision
Issue One: Child Molesting Conviction
[8] Aragon first contends that the trial court erred when it found him guilty of child
molesting, as a Level 4 felony, a crime with which he had not been charged and
which is not a lesser included offense of the charged offense, attempted child
molesting, as a Level 1 felony. The State agrees that this conviction constitutes
fundamental error and must be vacated. Indeed, “‘it is well-established that due
process requires that a defendant be given notice of the crime or crimes with
which he is charged so that he can prepare his defense. Absent sufficient notice
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that a particular offense is charged, a defendant cannot be convicted of that
crime.’” Thompson v. State, 761 N.E.2d 467, 470 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002) (quoting
Lewis v. State, 413 N.E.2d 1069, 1071 (Ind. Ct. App. 1980)). And notice
sufficient to satisfy due process extends to inherently or factually included lesser
offenses of the charged crime. See Young v. State, 30 N.E.3d 719, 728 (Ind.
2015).
[9] The State charged Aragon with attempted child molesting, as a Level 1 felony,
which required the State to prove that Aragon, who was over twenty-one years
of age, attempted to perform sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct with
A.L., who was under the age of fourteen. Ind. Code § 35-42-4-3(a) (2018). The
trial court found that the evidence was insufficient to convict on that charge.
Instead, sua sponte, the court found Aragon guilty of child molesting, as a Level
4 felony, which required proof that Aragon had fondled or touched A.L. with
intent to arouse or to satisfy the sexual desires of either A.L. or himself. I.C. §
35-42-4-3(b).
[10] The State acknowledges that it is well settled that Level 4 child molesting is not
an inherently included lesser offense of Level 1 felony child molesting. See Hall
v. State, 634 N.E.2d 837, 841 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994) (holding the two crimes have
different elements and neither is established by proof of the same or less than all
of the material elements of the other). And where, as here, the information
does not include an allegation that the defendant intended to arouse or satisfy
anyone’s sexual desires, Level 4 child molesting is not a factually included
lesser offense of Level 1 felony child molesting. See Downey v. State, 726 N.E.2d
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794, 799 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000), trans. denied. The trial court committed
fundamental error when it convicted Aragon of a crime with which he had not
been charged, and we reverse that conviction.1 See Young, 30 N.E.3d at 726.
Accordingly, we remand to the trial court with instructions to vacate Aragon’s
child molesting conviction.
Issue Two: Separation of Witnesses
[11] Aragon contends that the trial court abused its discretion and violated his Sixth
Amendment rights to present a defense and to cross-examine witnesses when it
denied his request to take A.L.’s deposition without J.A. present. We address
each contention in turn.
Abuse of Discretion
[12] In making his argument to the trial court, Aragon made a “separation of
witnesses request,” but he did not identify any rule of evidence or trial
procedure in support of the motion. Tr. Vol. 2 at 11. For the first time on
appeal, Aragon asserts that he was entitled to the separation of witnesses being
deposed under Indiana Evidence Rule 615, which provides as follows:
At a party’s request, the court must order witnesses excluded so
that they cannot hear other witnesses’ testimony. Or the court
may do so on its own. But this rule does not authorize
excluding:
1
Because we reverse Aragon’s child molesting conviction, we need not address his contentions that the trial
court erred when it denied him his right to make closing argument relevant to Level 4 child molesting and
that his convictions violate double jeopardy principles.
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(a) a party who is a natural person;
(b) an officer or employee of a party that is not a natural person,
after being designated as the party’s representative by its attorney;
or
(c) a person whose presence a party shows to be essential to
presenting the party’s claim or defense.
[13] The parties dispute whether Evidence Rule 615 applies to depositions. But we
need not decide that issue because, assuming the rule applies here as Aragon
suggests, the trial court did not abuse its discretion under that Rule. The
purpose of a separation of witnesses order is to prevent the testimony of one
witness from influencing that of another. Smiley v. State, 649 N.E.2d 697, 699
(Ind. Ct. App. 1995), trans. denied. “Because the order’s purpose is to prevent
later witnesses from hearing the testimony of earlier witnesses, a trial court does
not abuse its discretion by allowing the early witnesses to remain in the
courtroom after their testimony.” 12 Robert Lowell Miller, Jr., Indiana
Practice § 615.103 (4th Ed. 2016). Here, the State agreed that J.A. would be
deposed first, so her attendance at A.L.’s subsequent deposition would not have
violated a separation of witnesses order.
[14] Further, the party seeking review of a violation of Evidence Rule 615 must
show harm resulting from the trial court’s actions. Id. at § 615.104. And
Aragon has not demonstrated any prejudice as a result of the court’s denial of
his separation of witnesses request. As the State correctly points out, Aragon
can only speculate that A.L. would have testified differently had he been able to
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question her outside of J.A.’s presence. While Aragon argued to the trial court
that certain unidentified people had given him information to support his
allegation that A.L. was lying because of pressure from J.A., Aragon never
produced any evidence to support his claims.2 Mere speculation is insufficient
to show prejudice. See, e.g., State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Gutierrez, 866
N.E.2d 747, 750 (Ind. 2007) (affirming trial court’s denial of motion for
separate trials where moving party only speculated he would be prejudiced by
joint trial).
Sixth Amendment
[15] Aragon also contends that the trial court denied him his right to present a
defense and his right to cross-examine witnesses under the Sixth Amendment to
the United States Constitution. The right to present a defense includes “the
right to offer the testimony of witnesses” and “the right to present the
defendant’s version of the facts as well as the prosecution’s to the jury so it may
decide where the truth lies.” Kellems v. State, 651 N.E.2d 326, 328 (Ind. Ct.
App. 1995). The right to cross-examination is satisfied if the defendant has the
opportunity to bring out such matters as a witness’ bias, lack of care and
2
Aragon asserts on the one hand that, “[b]y the time the trial rolled around, A.L. had had two years to
collude with her mother,” and on the other hand that, at trial, “A.L. could not recall many details about the
purported encounter with Aragon.” Appellant’s Br. at 36. It would seem more likely that a coached witness
who has colluded with her mother to frame a defendant would not have had the apparent trouble
remembering details that A.L. had when she testified at trial. Moreover, Aragon did not schedule A.L.’s
deposition until approximately six months after his arrest, and that gave A.L. and J.A. ample time to get their
stories straight if, indeed, they had colluded to frame Aragon.
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attentiveness, poor eyesight, or even bad memory. Jarrell v. State, 852 N.E.2d
1022, 1027 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006).
[16] Other than his speculation that, had he been able to depose A.L. without J.A.
present A.L. would have testified differently, Aragon has not shown that he was
denied his right to present evidence in his defense to show that A.L. had lied or
that J.A. had improperly influenced A.L. Neither has he shown that he was
denied his right to effectively cross-examine A.L. or any other witness regarding
A.L.’s alleged fabrication of the incident. Indeed, at trial, Aragon cross-
examined A.L. while J.A. was not present in the courtroom. And Aragon does
not allege that the trial court prevented him from asking certain questions of
A.L. or J.A. or from calling witnesses in his defense. Aragon’s Sixth
Amendment claims are without merit.
Issue Three: Videotaped Statement
[17] Aragon next contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted
into evidence the videotaped statement A.L. gave to law enforcement after
Aragon’s arrest. Aragon maintains that the trial court erred when it admitted
A.L.’s statement because it did not first make specific findings of fact and
conclusions of law and because the State did not timely notify him of its intent
to introduce the statement into evidence. We address each contention in turn.
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
[18] For the first time on appeal, Aragon argues that the trial court was required to
make “specific findings of fact and conclusions of law” in support of its
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determination that A.L.’s videotaped statement was admissible under the
Protected Person Statute, Indiana Code Section 35-37-4-6. Appellant’s Br. at
37. He asserts that, without such findings and conclusions, we must reverse his
conviction. However, because Aragon did not object to the admission of the
videotaped statement on that ground when the trial court ruled on its
admissibility, the issue is waived. See Coomer v. State, 575 N.E.2d 683, 685 (Ind.
Ct. App. 1991). In any event, because A.L.’s videotaped statement was merely
cumulative of her testimony at trial, any error in its admission was harmless.
See Willis v. State, 776 N.E.2d 965, 967 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).
Untimely Notice of Intent to Use at Trial
[19] Aragon also asserts that, because Indiana Code Section 35-37-4-6(g) required
that the State give him at least ten days’ notice of its intent to introduce into
evidence A.L.’s videotaped statement, “prejudice should be presumed” due to
the State’s untimely disclosure only seven days before trial. Appellant’s Br. at
39. Aragon maintains that he was prejudiced in that he was “denied an
adequate opportunity to object to the reliability of the videotaped statement.”
Id. We cannot agree.
[20] Generally, the proper remedy for a discovery violation is a continuance. Berry
v. State, 715 N.E.2d 864, 866 (Ind. 1999). If a continuance would have cured
the harm that arose by the discovery violation, failure to request one results in
waiver. Alcantar v. State, 70 N.E.3d 353, 356 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016). Here, when
the parties argued this issue to the trial court, the court mentioned that Aragon
could request a continuance, but Aragon did not do so. Rather, Aragon
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acknowledged the trial court’s discretion in admitting the statement and asked
that he be given an opportunity “to put on very brief testimony from some
witnesses to address the issue of reliability before the Court decides.” Tr. Vol. 2
at 90. The trial court agreed to allow Aragon to challenge the statement’s
reliability by calling witnesses. Because Aragon did not request a continuance,
the issue is waived. Alcantar, 70 N.E.3d at 356.
[21] Waiver notwithstanding, the State asserts, and Aragon does not deny, that he
had a copy of the videotaped statement for more than two years before trial and
that the State had been “pretty up front” about its plan to use the statement at
trial for some time.3 Id. at 82. Aragon has not demonstrated that the admission
of the videotaped statement was error, let alone reversible error. And, again,
because the statement was merely cumulative of A.L.’s trial testimony, any
error was harmless.
Issue Four: Sufficiency of the Evidence—Criminal Confinement
[22] Finally, Aragon contends that the State presented insufficient evidence to
support his criminal confinement conviction. In reviewing the sufficiency of
the evidence, we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences most
favorable to the conviction, neither reweighing the evidence nor reassessing
witness credibility. Griffith v. State, 59 N.E.3d 947, 958 (Ind. 2016). We will
3
Nothing in the statute indicates that such notice be made in writing.
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affirm the judgment unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the defendant
guilty. Id.
[23] To prove criminal confinement, as a Level 5 felony, the State was required to
show that Aragon knowingly or intentionally confined A.L., who was under
the age of fourteen and who was not Aragon’s child, without her consent. I.C.
§ 35-42-3-3. “Confine” means to substantially interfere with a person’s liberty.
I.C. § 35-42-3-1.
[24] Aragon first asks us to consider six factors in our review of the sufficiency of the
evidence, namely: the degree to which A.L.’s movement was restricted; the
duration of confinement; whether Aragon made repeated efforts to restrict
A.L.’s liberty; whether he moved A.L. a significant distance; the amount of
force used in the confinement; and whether A.L. experienced pain. But
Aragon’s argument amounts to a request that we reweigh the evidence, which
we will not do. As the State points out, there is no Indiana case law that
prescribes application of a six-factor test to determine the sufficiency of
evidence to support a criminal confinement conviction.
[25] The State presented evidence that Aragon had forcibly moved A.L. from the
living room to his bedroom, against her will, and he had prevented her attempt
to leave the bedroom when he tried to pull her pants down. That evidence is
sufficient to support his conviction. See, e.g., McDonald v. State, 511 N.E.2d
1066, 1068 (Ind. 1987) (holding evidence sufficient to support criminal
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confinement conviction where defendant sat on an officer’s chest, pinning him
to the floor for a “matter of seconds”).
[26] Still, Aragon points out that, to be convicted of criminal confinement as a Level
5 felony, as charged, the evidence had to show that A.L. was under the age of
fourteen and was not his child. He maintains that, because he was J.A.’s
boyfriend, bought things for the family, played with A.L., and drove A.L. to
school, he “acted in the place of A.L.’s father,” which is sufficient to show that
A.L. was his child for purposes of the alleged criminal confinement.
Appellant’s Br. at 44. We reject Aragon’s invitation to “interpret th[e]
ambiguous language [of the statute] broadly to protect both parents and those
acting in loco parentis.” Id. There is nothing ambiguous about the plain
meaning of “the confining person’s child” as used in the statute, and there is no
dispute that Aragon is not A.L.’s father. Accordingly, we hold that the State
presented sufficient evidence to support Aragon’s criminal confinement
conviction.
[27] Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.
Crone, J., and Pyle, J., concur.
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