Joseph Barefield v. State of Indiana ( 2013 )

Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not
Jun 20 2013, 5:46 am
be regarded as precedent or cited
before any court except for the purpose
of establishing the defense of res
judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law
of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
LISA M. JOHNSON GREGORY F. ZOELLER
Brownsburg, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
GARY R. ROM
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
JOSEPH BAREFIELD, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 49A05-1210-CR-528
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT
The Honorable Carol J. Orbison, Judge
Cause No. 49G22-1103-FB-18623
June 20, 2013
MEMORANDUM DECISION – NOT FOR PUBLICATION
BARNES, Judge
Case Summary
Joseph Barefield appeals his convictions for three counts of Class B felony sexual
misconduct with a minor. We affirm.
Issues
Barefield raises four issues, which we reorder and restate as:
I. whether the trial court properly excluded certain
evidence;
II. whether the prosecutor’s closing argument resulted in
fundamental error;
III. whether the evidence is sufficient to support his
convictions; and
IV. whether his convictions for Count II and Count III
violate double jeopardy.
Facts
In November 2010, fourteen-year-old K.T. spent the night before Thanksgiving at
her sister’s apartment in Indianapolis. Her sister lived with her boyfriend, Barefield, who
was twenty-seven. That night, while her sister was in the bedroom, Barefield began
talking to K.T. about sexual experimentation. Barefield asked K.T. to sit on his penis,
which she did while she was clothed. The two then went into the dining room, K.T. sat
on a chair, and Barefield put his penis in K.T.’s mouth. Barefield then got a condom
from the kitchen, asked K.T. to put her hands on the dining room table, pulled her pants
and underwear down, and put his penis in her vagina “[a] little bit[.]” Tr. p. 44.
Barefield told K.T. that her vagina was “too tight.” Id. He also rubbed his penis against
her anus. When K.T.’s sister came out of the bedroom, Barefield and K.T. pulled their
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pants up. Barefield went outside, and K.T. sat on the couch. K.T.’s sister went back to
the bedroom, and K.T. went with Barefield to buy cigarettes. While in the car, Barefield
told K.T. that he was not finished and that he wanted to pull over, and she told him no.
The two went back to the apartment and went to bed.
K.T., her sister, and Barefield spent Thanksgiving with family and, several days
later, K.T. reported the incident to her mother. K.T.’s mother took K.T. to a hospital, and
the incident was reported to police.
On March 21, 2011, the State charged Barefield with three counts of Class B
felony sexual misconduct with a minor, Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor,
and Class D felony child solicitation. A jury found Barefield guilty as charged. The trial
court did not enter convictions on the Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor
charge or the child solicitation charge. Barefield now appeals.
Analysis
I. Exclusion of Evidence
During K.T.’s cross-examination, defense counsel asked K.T., “[d]id you miss a
lot of school?” Tr. p. 122. The prosecutor objected, and the trial court sustained the
objection. On appeal, Barefield argues that exclusion of this evidence was legally
incorrect and violated his right to cross-examine K.T. and his right to present a defense.
In his brief, Barefield asserts, “[i]f K.T. had been permitted to answer the question, the
anticipated response would have been that she missed more than a month of school due to
her allegations against Barefield.” Appellant’s Br. p. 38. Barefield suggests that most
children would perceive a month away from school as a substantial benefit and that,
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because of the trial court’s erroneous ruling, the jury never knew K.T. gained this benefit
and was left with the false impression K.T. gained nothing by her accusations.
Barefield, however, did not make an offer of proof at trial. On appeal, Barefield
argues in a footnote that the issue is properly preserved because the substance of the
excluded testimony was presented to the trial court in a post-trial motion to modify bond.
In that motion, Barefield asserted in a footnote that, during trial, defense counsel
attempted to solicit cross-examination testimony from K.T. about her “missing more than
a month of school as a result of her making the allegations in this case despite the
complete absence of any medical reason for her to miss school.” App. p. 121. Barefield
argues that this presentation of the purported testimony serves the primary purpose of an
offer of proof because it makes the substance of the excluded evidence known to this
court.
“The purpose of an offer of proof is to convey the point of the witness’s testimony
and provide the trial judge the opportunity to reconsider the evidentiary ruling.” State v.
Wilson, 836 N.E.2d 407, 409 (Ind. 2005). “Equally important, it preserves the issue for
review by the appellate court.” Id. “To accomplish these two purposes, an offer of proof
must be sufficiently specific to allow the trial court to determine whether the evidence is
admissible and to allow an appellate court to review the correctness of the trial court’s
ruling and whether any error was prejudicial.” Id.Because the purported offer of proof was not made until after trial in a motion to
modify bond, the trial court was not given an opportunity to rule on the admissibility of
the excluded testimony in the context it was offered at trial. The offer of proof was
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untimely, and this issue is waived. See Dowdell v. State, 720 N.E.2d 1146, 1150 (Ind.
1999).
II. Prosecutorial Misconduct
Barefield argues that several statements made by the prosecutor during closing
argument rose to the level of prosecutorial misconduct. As Barefield acknowledges, he
did not object to the comments, and his claims are only reviewable for fundamental error.
Specifically:
If a defendant properly raises and preserves the issue
of prosecutorial misconduct, then the reviewing court
determines (1) whether the prosecutor engaged in
misconduct, and if so, (2) whether the misconduct, under all
of the circumstances, placed the defendant in a position of
grave peril to which he or she would not have been subjected.
Where a claim of prosecutorial misconduct has not been
properly preserved, our standard for review is different from
that of a properly preserved claim. More specifically, the
defendant must establish not only the grounds for the
misconduct but also the additional grounds for fundamental
error. Fundamental error is an extremely narrow exception
that allows a defendant to avoid waiver of an issue. It is error
that makes “a fair trial impossible or constitute[s] clearly
blatant violations of basic and elementary principles of due
process . . . present[ing] an undeniable and substantial
potential for harm.”
Coleman v. State, 946 N.E.2d 1160, 1166-67 (Ind. 2011) (alteration in original) (citation
omitted).
A. Facts Not in Evidence
During closing argument, the prosecutor stated, “he then tells her to get up and put
her hands on the table. So this is not something that a 14-year-old child would do unless
she was being told by someone who is grown and has done these sorts of things before . .
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. .” Tr. p. 211. According to Barefield, the prosecutor was asking the jury to infer that
K.T. was sexually inexperienced, which was contrary to K.T.’s own testimony. In
support of this argument, Barefield relies on K.T.’s testimony that Barefield told her he
knew she was not a virgin and that he told K.T. that her sister told him K.T. was not a
virgin. See id. at 40, 76. This testimony, however, establishes only that Barefield
believed K.T. was not a virgin. It does not establish, as Barefield argues, “that K.T. was
familiar with sexual acts.” Appellant’s Br. p. 28. Barefield has not shown that this
comment is an improper reference to facts not in evidence.
B. Future Crimes
Barefield contends that the prosecutor improperly suggested that he would commit
future crimes if he was not convicted. The prosecutor stated, “You know he’s going to
wait for another opportunity. That’s going to come next, right? So good thing she finally
tells before she gets back over there.” Tr. p. 215. Taken in context, however, this line of
argument was based on the ongoing nature of the relationship between K.T. and
Barefield. The prosecutor was suggesting that K.T. was not inclined to report the
incident because she did not want to hurt her sister and that Barefield had continued
access to K.T. Further, this line of argument is consistent with the evidence that, while in
the car with K.T. shortly after committing the offenses, Barefield propositioned K.T.
again. When taken in context, we do not believe that the prosecutor was urging to the
jury to convict Barefield because of his propensity to commit future crimes. Even if it
was improper to suggest that Barefield might have committed another offense if K.T. had
6
not reported the incident, we do not believe this brief comment amounted to fundamental
error.1
C. Reference to Jerry Sandusky
Barefield also objects to the prosecutor’s argument that the crimes could have
occurred even while K.T.’s sister was in the other room. The prosecutor stated, “And the
other sister is in the room there. Jerry Sandusky was molesting children down in his
basement. Jerry Sandusky was molesting children in a gym, in a shower.” Id. at 215-
216. As the State points out, these two references were part of the prosecutor’s twenty-
two page closing argument and were not a central theme of the argument, and Barefield
agrees that Sandusky was not a central theme of the State’s closing argument. Further,
the jury was instructed that the attorneys’ unsworn statements were not evidence and that
the verdict should be based on the law and the facts, not sympathy or prejudice. “[A]
trial court’s jury instructions are presumed to cure any improper statements made during
trial.” Guy v. State, 755 N.E.2d 248, 258 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001), trans. denied. Under
these circumstances, these references did not constitute fundamental error.
D. Misstatement of the Law
Barefield contends that the prosecutor misstated the law when she argued, “[w]e
talked about this in jury selection the uncorroborated testimony of a single eyewitness
and if you belief [sic] her testimony, then he’s guilty.” Tr. p. 216. The prosecutor went
on to explain why there was no reason to disbelieve K.T.’s testimony. In context, the
1
As part of this argument, Barefield objects to the prosecutor’s argument that the jury not “walk”
Barefield because K.T. was not the perfect victim, did not tell right away, and because there was not DNA
evidence. Tr. p. 225. We fail to see how this implies Barefield will commit future crimes.
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prosecutor was explaining that K.T. was a credible witness and that her testimony alone
could support a guilty verdict. Even if it was a misstatement of the law, the jury was
instructed on the burden of proof, and Barefield does not challenge the manner in which
the jury was instructed. Because a trial court’s jury instructions are presumed to cure any
improper statements made during trial, Barefield has not shown fundamental error. See
Guy, 755 N.E.2d at 258.
E. Misstatement of the Evidence
Barefield argues that, in a calculated effort to mislead the jury, the prosecutor
misstated K.T.’s testimony. On direct examination, K.T. testified that, after Barefield put
his penis in her mouth, she got something in her mouth and she “spit it out and wiped it
on [her] shirt.” Tr. p. 43. When asked, “what did you wipe on your shirt; your mouth or
what was in your mouth?”, K.T. answered, “[w]hat was in my mouth.” Id. On cross-
examination, K.T. clarified that she spit onto the floor and wiped her mouth on her shirt.
See id. at 93-94, 96. There was extensive testimony about K.T. spitting on the floor.
In her rebuttal, the prosecutor discussed K.T.’s cross-examination testimony about
spitting and wiping her mouth as follows:
And then she tells you, and this is important, an
important detail, after she was drilled for an hour and twenty
minutes by defense counsel she still tells you, I spit it on the
floor. If it’s a science fiction tale, and in science fiction tales
you get to decide the facts yourself, if you’re telling a lie, you
decide the facts that you’re going to tell to make your story
better. Why does she say she spit anything out at all? Why
doesn’t she just say she swallowed it so there’s an excuse for
no evidence to be there?
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But what did she say: I spit it on the floor and then I
rubbed my mouth on my shirt. And when he asked her, why
did you do that, her exact words: It was a reaction.
She didn’t say, I wiped what was in my mouth on my
shirt. She was wearing a capped-sleeved short shirt. Tr. p.
230.
This argument accurately reflected K.T.’s cross-examination testimony and, even when
considering K.T.’s direct examination testimony, there is no indication that this argument
was calculated effort to mislead the jury in light of the entirety of K.T.’s extensive
testimony on this point.
F. Failure to Testify
Barefield also argues that the prosecutor implicitly commented on his failure to
testify when she referenced K.T.’s testimony about Barefield telling her that he and a
friend experimented with each other sexually so they would not get their feelings hurt.
The prosecutor stated:
[K.T.] told you that he told her a story about him and a friend
as a teenager. Isn’t that something that could be refuted?
Why make that up, why make that up? She didn’t have to say
that she was talking—she didn’t have to say that he talked
about anything personal to him. It would have been much
easier to say that he just came out and said, hey, [K.T.], I
want to do some sexual things with you. But she told you the
details of information that was personal to him, that she
would not know about, had he not said those things to her.
Id. at 228. Barefield argues that, because the only way to refute this story was for him to
testify, the prosecutor was improperly inviting the jury to draw an inference from his
failure to testify. See Moore v. State, 669 N.E.2d 733, 739 (Ind. 1996) (“The Fifth
Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination is violated when a
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prosecutor makes a statement that is subject to reasonable interpretation by a jury as an
invitation to draw an adverse inference from a defendant’s silence.”).
We disagree that this statement would be reasonably interpreted by a jury as an
invitation to draw an adverse inference from Barefield’s silence. Instead, in context, the
prosecutor was trying to show that K.T.’s testimony was credible because of the details it
included and that, if K.T. was making up the allegations, she would not have included
unnecessary details that could have exposed her as a being untruthful. This argument is
unavailing.
G. Hearsay
During her testimony, K.T. testified that she told her boyfriend and a friend about
the incident soon after it happened. In his closing argument, defense counsel questioned
why the State did not call K.T.’s boyfriend and friend to testify about what K.T. told
them. In her rebuttal, the prosecutor asserted:
Throughout this trial, you have heard an objection to hearsay.
And you have heard both sides say you can only testify to
personal knowledge. You can’t say what someone else has
said and you heard the judge sustain those objections. So
[K.T.’s boyfriend] couldn’t tell you what [K.T.] told him
because of the Rules of Evidence. [K.T.’s friend] couldn’t do
that….
Tr. p. 232.
Barefield contends that this argument was misleading and inaccurate because not
all out-of-court statements are subject to exclusion, and he suggests that these witnesses
could have testified to K.T.’s prior consistent statements to rebut the allegation of recent
fabrication. See Lovitt v. State, 915 N.E.2d 1040, 1043 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009) (analyzing
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Ind. Evidence Rule 801(d)(1)(B)). Even if the prosecutor’s assessment of the
admissibility of K.T.’s boyfriend’s and friend’s testimony was not accurate,
“[p]rosecutors are entitled to respond to allegations and inferences raised by the defense
even if the prosecutor’s response would otherwise be objectionable.” Dumas v. State,
803 N.E.2d 1113, 1118 (Ind. 2004). Because this assessment of the admissibility of the
testimony was in response to defense counsel’s argument, Barefield has not established
that this argument amounted to fundamental error.
H. Comments about Defense Counsel
Barefield argues that the prosecutor made “disparaging and inappropriate
comments about defense counsel’s legitimate challenges to K.T.’s credibility.”
Appellant’s Br. p. 33. Barefield references the prosecutor’s suggestion that it is not fair
to ask children to report sex offenses and then call them liars when they do and the
suggestion that defense counsel put K.T. on trial. In making these arguments, it is clear
the prosecutor was addressing Barefield’s theory of the case—that K.T. had fabricated
the allegations. Although the prosecutor attempted to refute the allegation that K.T. was
lying, she did not personally attack defense counsel or otherwise make disparaging
remarks about him. This argument fails.
I. Cumulative Error
Barefield argues that the cumulative effect of the prosecutor’s inappropriate
comments resulted in fundamental error. We disagree. K.T.’s testimony regarding the
offenses was unequivocal. To the extent the prosecutor’s various arguments amounted to
misconduct, if at all, they, either individually or collectively, were relatively minor in the
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context in which they were offered and did not make a fair trial impossible or constitute
clearly blatant violations of basic and elementary principles of due process.
III. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Barefield argues there is insufficient evidence to support his convictions. When
reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we neither reweigh the evidence
nor assess the credibility of witnesses. Bailey v. State, 979 N.E.2d 133, 135 (Ind. 2012).
We view the evidence—even if conflicting—and all reasonable inferences drawn from it
in a light most favorable to the conviction and affirm if there is substantial evidence of
probative value supporting each element of the crime from which a reasonable trier of
fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.Barefield argues that K.T.’s uncorroborated testimony is not reliable enough to
support a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In making this argument,
Barefield relies on a dissenting opinion suggesting “that it is time to consider whether we
should require corroborating evidence when these type of offenses are supported only by
the testimony of a single witness.” Leyva v. State, 971 N.E.2d 699, 705 (Ind. Ct. App.
2012), (Baker, J., dissenting), trans. denied. As our supreme court has recently restated,
however, “[a] conviction can be sustained on only the uncorroborated testimony of a
single witness, even when that witness is the victim.” Bailey, 979 N.E.2d at 135; see also
Hoglund v. State, 962 N.E.2d 1230, 1238 (Ind. 2012) (“The testimony of a sole child
witness is sufficient to sustain a conviction for molestation.”). Despite Barefield’s
challenge to his conviction resting on K.T.’s uncorroborated testimony alone, our
supreme court’s precedent is binding until it is changed by our supreme court or
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legislative enactment. Culbertson v. State, 929 N.E.2d 900, 906 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010),
trans. denied.
K.T. unequivocally testified that Barefield put his penis in her mouth, in her
vagina, and against her anus. This testimony is sufficient to support the Class B felony
sexual misconduct with a minor convictions. See Ind. Code § 35-42-4-9(a)(1) (defining
Class B felony sexual misconduct with a minor a person at least twenty-one years of age
who, with a child at least fourteen years of age but less than sixteen years of age,
performs or submits to sexual intercourse or deviate sexual conduct). Barefield’s various
challenges to K.T.’s credibility include that he would not jeopardize his relationship with
K.T.’s sister,2 that K.T.’s sister would have seen him committing the offense when she
came out of the bedroom, that K.T. could have awoken her sister or used her phone to
call for help, that K.T. would not have voluntarily gotten in the car with Barefield after he
committed the offenses, and that there is no physical, medical, or scientific evidence to
corroborate her testimony. These arguments, however, were made at trial and were
available for the jury’s consideration when assessing K.T.’s credibility. We cannot and
will not reweigh the evidence or reassess a witness’s credibility. The evidence is
sufficient to support the convictions.
IV. Double Jeopardy
Barefield argues that his convictions for Count II and Count III violate Article 1,
Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution as set forth in Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 322
This argument is based largely on citations to transcripts of post-trial proceedings, including the
sentencing hearing and a hearing on a no-contact order. This evidence is not relevant to our consideration
of the sufficiency of the evidence presented to the jury at trial.
13
(Ind. 1999). “To show that two challenged offenses constitute the same offense under the
actual evidence test, ‘a defendant must demonstrate a reasonable possibility that the
evidentiary facts used by the fact-finder to establish the essential elements of one offense
may also have been used to establish the essential elements of a second challenged
offense.’” Spivey v. State, 761 N.E.2d 831, 832 (Ind. 2002) (quoting Richardson, 717
N.E.2d at 53). Application of the actual evidence test requires us to identify the essential
elements of each of the challenged crimes and to evaluate the evidence from the jury’s
perspective, considering where relevant the jury instructions, argument of counsel, and
other factors that may have guided the jury’s determination. Id. Under the Richardson
actual evidence test, the Indiana Double Jeopardy Clause is not violated when the
evidentiary facts establishing the essential elements of one offense also establish only one
or even several, but not all, of the essential elements of a second offense. Id. at 833.
Count III was based on Barefield engaging in sexual intercourse with K.T. Sexual
intercourse is defined as, “an act that includes any penetration of the female sex organ by
the male sex organ.” I.C. § 35-31.5-2-302. Count II was based on Barefield performing
deviate sexual conduct involving his penis and K.T.’s anus. Deviate sexual conduct is
defined in part as an act involving a sex organ of one person and the mouth or anus of
another person. I.C. § 35-31.5-2-94. Barefield claims there is a reasonable probability
that the jury relied on the same evidence to find Barefield guilty of Counts II and III. We
disagree.
K.T. testified that Barefield tried to put his penis in her vagina but could not
because “it was too tight.” Tr. p. 44. She stated that his penis went inside her vagina “[a]
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little bit[.]” Id. She also testified that Barefield did not try to put his penis anywhere else
but did “rub it against [her] anus.” Id. She described it as the outside of her anus. She
said that Barefield tried to put his penis in her vagina for five minutes and that he stopped
when her sister came out. On cross-examination K.T. again testified to the intercourse
and, when asked if anything else happened, she stated, “He kind of wiped—like he kind
of wiped his penis on my anus.” Id. at 103-04. She then reconfirmed this testimony and
stated that this happened when her sister came out of the bedroom. During closing
argument, the prosecutor clearly distinguished between the two offenses and the jury
instructions defined each count separately by referring to sexual deviate conduct
involving the Barefield’s sex organ and K.T.’s anus in Count II and to sexual intercourse
in Count III.
Based on K.T.’s testimony, the closing arguments, and the manner in which the
jury was instructed, a clear distinction was made between Count II and Count III. There
is not a reasonable possibility the jury relied on the same evidence to find Barefield guilty
of Counts II and III.
Barefield also appears to argue that common law double jeopardy principles
prohibit multiple convictions for acts committed within moments of each other as part of
one incident. See Watkins v. State, 575 N.E.2d 624, 625 (Ind. 1991). Assuming this line
of cases is based on common law double jeopardy principles and is still valid after
15
Richardson,3 K.T.’s testimony described two distinct acts—the slight penetration of her
vagina and the wiping of his penis against her anus. Barefield has not established that
common law double jeopardy principles were violated.
Conclusion
There is sufficient evidence to support the convictions. Barefield has not
established that any alleged prosecutorial misconduct resulted in fundamental error,
either individually or collectively. Barefield waived any error based on the exclusion of
K.T.’s testimony about missing school because he did not make a timely offer of proof.
Barefield has not established that his convictions violate constitutional or common law
double jeopardy principles. We affirm.
Affirmed.
NAJAM, J., and BAILEY, J., concur.
3
Barefield cites a line of cases decided before Richardson, which rely on the rationale in Ellis v. State,
528 N.E.2d 60 (Ind. 1988) and Hansford v. State, 490 N.E.2d 1083 (Ind. 1986). Richardson, however,
expressly superceded Ellis and Hansford. See Richardson, 717 N.E.2d 49 at n.36.
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