Preview:

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

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: JOHN P. WILSON Greenwood, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: STEVE CARTER Attorney General of Indiana CYNTHIA L. PLOUGHE Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
JEREMIAH JONAS WALLS, Appellant-Defendant, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee-Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 41A01-0803-CR-123

APPEAL FROM THE JOHNSON CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable K. Mark Loyd, Judge Cause No. 41C01-0708-FD-202

December 18, 2008 MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BARNES, Judge

Case Summary Jeremiah Walls appeals his conviction for Class D felony domestic battery. We affirm. Issue Walls raises two issues on appeal, which we consolidate and restate as whether there is sufficient evidence to sustain his conviction. Facts Walls and R.P. lived together with their three children, ages five, three, and two, in Bargersville. On August 19, 2007, the two had been arguing all day and Walls repeatedly referred to R.P. as a "slut" and a "whore." Tr. p. 114. The couple had a few drinks during the late morning and early afternoon. Later that afternoon, Walls left for a few hours to drink more at a local bar. He returned from the bar that evening with chicken wings for the family's dinner. As the family began eating, Walls continued calling R.P. inappropriate names and she told him he needed to stop. R.P. thought that Walls looked angry and suspected he was about to "lean up to hit me" so she took a dinner plate and hit him over the head with it. Id. at 119. The plate shattered. R.P. left the house, with her three children in tow. She went out to the family's van and began situating the children. As R.P. was buckling in one child, Walls came out to the van. He asked where she was going and she told him she was going to buy some toilet paper and get out of there because they both needed to "cool off." Id. at 123. R.P. turned toward Walls and he struck her in the left eye. Her eye area was red and swollen by the time the police arrived and photographed her. 2

The State charged Walls with Class D felony domestic battery. A jury convicted him on January 8, 2008. This appeal followed. Analysis Walls contends that the State presented insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction for Class D domestic battery. When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction, we will not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses. Staton v. State, 853 N.E.2d 470, 474 (Ind. 2006). We must look to the evidence most favorable to the conviction together with all reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence. Id. We will affirm a conviction 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. In order to prove Class D felony domestic battery, the State was required to prove that Walls knowingly or intentionally touched R.P., who had a child in common with Walls, in a rude, insolent, or angry manner that resulted in bodily injury, and that Walls committed the offense in the presence of a child, knowing the child was present and could see or hear the offense. See Ind. Code

Download Jeremiah Jonas Walls v. State of Indiana.pdf

Indiana Law