Manford F. Girten Jr. v. State of Indiana ( 2019 )

FILED
OPINION ON REHEARING Nov 21 2019, 9:48 am
CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Bruce W. Graham Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Graham Law Firm P.C. Attorney General of Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
J.T. Whitehead
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Manford F. Girten Jr., November 21, 2019
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
18A-CR-2252
v. Appeal from the Tippecanoe
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Steven P. Meyer,
Appellee-Plaintiff Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
79D02-1802-F3-4
May, Judge.
[1] We decided Girten’s appeal on August 16, 2019. Girten v. State, No. 19A-CR-
2252, slip op. (Ind. Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2019). In that decision, we reversed one
conviction based on the continuous crime doctrine. Id. at 6. In its petition for
rehearing, the State argues the continuous crime doctrine is inapplicable in this
situation, and in support it cites Hines v. State, 30 N.E.3d 1216 (Ind. 2015).
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion on Rehearing 18A-CR-2252 | November 21, 2019 Page 1 of 6
“The continuous crime doctrine is a rule of statutory construction and common
law limited to situations where a defendant has been charged multiple times
with the same offense.” Id. at 1219. Because we applied the continuous crime
doctrine to Girten’s convictions of rape and strangulation, the State appears
correct that we improperly applied that doctrine to vacate Girten’s conviction of
strangulation.
[2] However, our misapplication of the continuous crime doctrine does not require
us to modify the outcome of Girten’s appeal because the strangulation
conviction would have needed to be vacated under the actual evidence test used
for Double Jeopardy analysis. In Hines, despite finding the continuous crime
doctrine did not apply, our Indiana Supreme Court applied the actual evidence
test to determine Hines’ right to be free from double jeopardy was violated. Id.
at 1225. The same reasoning applies to this case.
[3] The relevant facts were provided in the memorandum decision:
E.A. and Girten were watching a show when Girten tried to
place E.A.’s hand on his genitals. When she pulled back, Girten
pinched her arm, leaving it feeling weak and tingly. Girten told
E.A. he could paralyze her arm.
E.A. went to the bedroom and stood at the foot of her bed.
Girten came up behind her and pushed her onto the bed. Girten
pulled off E.A.’s pants and underwear as she was trying to
escape. As E.A. tried to crawl away, Girten flipped E.A. over
onto her back. E.A. begged for Girten to stop and give back her
underwear. Girten told her to “shut up.” Girten told E.A. he
would return her underwear if she stopped begging him to stop.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion on Rehearing 18A-CR-2252 | November 21, 2019 Page 2 of 6
E.A. became silent, but instead of returning her underwear,
Girten moved his face toward her genitals. Girten put his hand
around E.A.’s throat and used his thumb to make it hard for her
to breathe. When Girten let go of E.A.’s throat, he used his hand
to keep E.A. from talking.
During all of this, Girten managed to undress. Girten took his
penis and put the tip in her vagina and anus, alternating between
them. Girten told E.A. he could use either his penis or his
tongue. Girten forced E.A.’s legs apart. E.A. told Girten to stop
and continued to resist. Girten put his face towards E.A.’s
genitals and inserted his tongue into her vagina. E.A. continued
to struggle and to beg Girten to stop. Girten then stuck his
fingers in her vagina. When Girten stopped, E.A. curled into the
fetal position. Girten amusingly told E.A.: “You say you don’t
want it, but I can tell that you’re wet.” E.A. told Girten she did
not want it.
Girten’s demeanor became angry, and he pulled E.A. across the
bed, forced himself between E.A.’s legs, and inserted his penis
into her vagina. At the same time, he began to interrogate E.A.
about Austermann. E.A. told Girten if he did not stop she would
scream. Girten stopped, and E.A. ran out of the room wrapped
in a blanket.
Girten, slip op. at 1-2 (internal record citations omitted).
[4] Two offenses are the “same offense” in violation of Indiana’s Double Jeopardy
Clause if, with respect to either the statutory elements of the challenged crimes
or the actual evidence used to convict, the essential elements of one challenged
offense also establish the essential elements of another challenged offense.
Spivey v. State, 761 N.E.2d 831, 832 (Ind. 2002). “When two convictions are
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion on Rehearing 18A-CR-2252 | November 21, 2019 Page 3 of 6
found to contravene double jeopardy principles, a reviewing court may remedy
the violation by reducing either conviction to a less serious form of the same
offense if doing so will eliminate the violation. If it will not, one of the
convictions must be vacated.” Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32, 54 (Ind.
1999), holding modified by Garrett v. State, 992 N.E.2d 710 (Ind. 2013)
(modification as to cases involving hung jury or acquittal).
[5] We review de novo whether a defendant’s convictions violate this provision.
Spears v. State, 735 N.E.2d 1161, 1166 (Ind. 2000), reh’g denied. The actual
evidence test requires us to “determine whether each challenged offense was
established by separate and distinct facts.” Richardson, 717 N.E.2d at 54. To
determine what facts were used to convict, we consider the charging
information, the final jury instructions, the evidence, and the arguments of
counsel. Davis v. State, 770 N.E.2d 319, 324 (Ind. 2002), reh’g denied.
[6] The elements of Level 3 felony rape as charged against Girten are: (1) Girten;
(2) knowingly or intentionally; (3) had sexual intercourse; (4) with E.A.; (5)
while E.A. was compelled by force or imminent threat of force. See Ind. Code §
35-42-4-1(a)(1). The elements of Level 6 felony strangulation as charged
against Girten are: (1) Girten; (2) in a rude, angry, or insolent manner; (3)
knowingly or intentionally; (4) applied pressure to the throat or neck of E.A.;
(5) and/or obstructed the nose or mouth of E.A.; (6) in a manner that impeded
the normal breathing or the blood circulation of E.A. See Ind. Code § 35-42-2-9(c)(1)(2).
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion on Rehearing 18A-CR-2252 | November 21, 2019 Page 4 of 6
[7] During closing argument, when discussing the evidence as it applies to
strangulation, the prosecutor explained to the jury that E.A. and Girten were in
a struggle on the bed. Specifically, the State’s attorney said:
So what was going on at the time when he did this, when he put
the pressure on her throat, when he covered her mouth and nose?
Well, E.A. told you he was angry in the bedroom, she was
struggling with him on the bed, and that he kept telling her to shut
up.
(Tr. Vol. III at 184) (emphasis added). Later on, the State’s attorney discussed
the elements of rape. When discussing whether E.A. was compelled by force or
imminent threat of force, the State said:
When she was compelled by force or imminent threat of force.
Well, what do we know? Well, she told you that she didn’t want
to do any of this. She did not consent to any of the acts in the
bedroom, but this is more than just the lack of consent. You
have to have more to prove force or imminent threat of force.
What did she tell you? That he held her down on the bed, that she
struggled. She tried to resist, that she tried to “clench down there”
were her words so he couldn’t insert his penis, couldn’t do
anything, that he was applying force into - on her vaginal
opening and also her anal opening. And I want you to remember
her demeanor when she was telling you this, when she was on
the stand retelling you all about that night and what happened.
(Id. at 189) (emphasis added). In that part of his argument, the prosecutor used
the evidence of the struggle on the bed to prove the force required for the rape.
Because the strangulation occurred during that same struggle on the bed, the
jury reasonably could have relied on the strangulation as evidence that E.A.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion on Rehearing 18A-CR-2252 | November 21, 2019 Page 5 of 6
was forced to have intercourse. Therefore, Girten’s simultaneous conviction of
both crimes violates the actual evidence test.
[8] While the State is correct about our misapplication of the continuous crime
doctrine, Girten’s strangulation conviction nevertheless should have been
vacated on double jeopardy grounds. We affirm our earlier opinion in all other
respects.
Mathias, J., and Brown, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion on Rehearing 18A-CR-2252 | November 21, 2019 Page 6 of 6