MEMORANDUM DECISION

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

Kevin Wild

Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Gregory F. Zoeller

Attorney General of Indiana

George P. Sherman

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Michael Parrish,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff

November 17, 2016

Court of Appeals Case No.

49A05-1604-CR-794

Appeal from the Marion Superior 

Court

The Honorable Kurt M. Eisgruber, 

Judge

Trial Court Cause No.

49G01-1403-FA-11089

Crone, Judge.

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Case Summary

[1] Michael Parrish appeals his convictions for class A felony burglary and two

counts of class B felony criminal deviate conduct following a bench trial. He 

argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. Concluding 

that the evidence is sufficient, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] One morning in February 2014, D.K.P. was at her home alone asleep in bed, 

when she heard a knock on the door. D.K.P. got up to answer the door and 

saw Parrish standing outside wearing a black snowsuit. She said, “Hi,” and 

“the next thing [she knew she] was pushed up against the wall with a knife to 

[her] throat.” Tr. at 9. Parrish told her that if she screamed, he would kill her. 

Parrish grabbed D.K.P. by the hair and made her walk with him into each 

room in the house to make sure that no one else was there. Parrish continued 

to hold the knife, but D.K.P. was not always aware of where the knife was and 

did not always feel it touching her body. Id. at 46. When they were finished

looking in the bedrooms, he stopped her near a television and rubbed her in the 

“vaginal area” over the sweatpants that she was wearing. Id. at 12. He pushed 

his fingers into her vagina and asked her if she “had a tight pussy.” Id. at 13.

[3] D.K.P heard Parrish talking on a phone and telling someone they could come 

inside. Still holding D.K.P. by the hair, Parrish directed her to her bedroom. 

When he discovered that she had two dogs, he became angry. He released 

D.K.P. so that she could put one of her dogs into a bedroom closet. The other 

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dog hid under a couch. Parrish continued to hold D.K.P. while he and an 

accomplice looked through the drawers of the nightstands, and Parrish made 

D.K.P. give him the money from her wallet. Parrish took D.K.P. to another 

bedroom, bent her over, and pushed her head to the floor. He pulled down her 

pants and placed his fingers inside her vagina. He also inserted something into 

her anus. Then he tied her up with a cord, kicked her in the ribs a couple times, 

and punched her in the face. He left, and D.K.P. heard the sound of people 

running out of the house. One of Parrish’s accomplices saw Parrish stick his 

finger under another accomplice’s nose and heard him make “a reference to the 

woman’s smell.” Id. at 85.

[4] Eventually, D.K.P. was able to escape and call 911 from a neighbor’s home. 

Many of D.K.P.’s possessions were gone, including her large screen television, 

phone, iPad, two cameras, guns, laptops, a radio, and various tools. D.K.P. 

went to the hospital. She had suffered “some cuts” along “her breast area,”

“bumps on the back of her head,” “ a black eye,” and bruising on the side of her 

face. Id. at 38. A medical exam showed that she had three injuries to her 

“female genital area” and three fissures to her anus. Id. at 163.

[5] The State charged Parrish with one count of class A felony burglary, two counts 

of class B felony robbery, two counts of class B felony criminal confinement, 

one count of class C felony battery, one count of class A misdemeanor battery, 

one count of class C felony intimidation, and three counts of class A felony 

criminal deviate conduct. Following a bench trial, the trial court found Parrish 

guilty on all counts and entered judgment of conviction for class A felony 

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burglary, class C felony robbery, two counts of class B felony criminal 

confinement, two counts of class A misdemeanor battery, one count of class D 

felony sexual battery, and two counts of class B felony criminal deviate 

conduct. The trial court vacated one count of class B felony robbery and the 

count for class C felony intimidation. The trial court sentenced Parrish to an 

aggregate term of sixty years. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

[6] Parrish challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for 

class A felony burglary and two counts of class B felony criminal deviate 

conduct. In reviewing a claim of insufficient evidence, we do not reweigh the 

evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses, and we consider only the 

evidence that supports the judgment and the reasonable inferences arising 

therefrom. Bailey v. State, 907 N.E.2d 1003, 1005 (Ind. 2009). “We will affirm 

if there is substantial evidence of probative value such that a reasonable trier of 

fact could have concluded the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable 

doubt.” Id.

Section 1 – Sufficient evidence supports Parrish’s burglary 

conviction.

[7] To convict Parrish of class A felony burglary, the State was required to prove 

beyond a reasonable doubt that he, while armed with a deadly weapon, broke 

and entered D.K.P.’s home with the intent to commit theft, resulting in bodily 

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injury. See Appellant’s App. at 51; Ind. Code § 35-43-2-1. Parrish’s sole 

argument is that the State failed to prove the element of breaking and entering. 

[8] “‘Using even the slightest force to gain unauthorized entry satisfies the breaking 

element of the crime.’” Hall v. State, 870 N.E.2d 449, 462-63 (Ind. Ct. App. 

2007) (quoting Davis v. State, 770 N.E.2d 319, 322 (Ind. 2002)), trans. denied. As 

another panel of this Court has noted,

While our Indiana Supreme Court has held “[s]ome physical 

movement of a structural impediment is necessary to support a 

finding of breaking,” Smith v. State, 535 N.E.2d 117, 118 (Ind.

1989), it has also held the use of physical force against a victim to 

gain entry into a residence was sufficient to prove the element of 

“breaking” independent of “conclusive” evidence force was used 

to open the residence’s door. Dew v. State, 439 N.E.2d 624, 625 

(Ind. 1982).

Jenkins v. State, 34 N.E.3d 258, 261-62 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015), trans. denied.

[9] Here, D.K.P testified that she opened the door and said, “Hi,” and then Parrish 

immediately pushed her out of the doorway, pushed her against a wall inside 

the house, and held a knife to her throat. This is sufficient evidence to establish 

the breaking and entering element of burglary. See Anderson v. State, 37 N.E.3d 

972, 975 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (concluding that even when victim voluntarily 

opens door, rushing that person to gain unauthorized entry into a dwelling is

sufficient evidence of breaking element), trans. denied; Jenkins, 34 N.E.3d at 262 

(concluding that evidence showing that when victim opened door to his 

apartment, Jenkins pushed another man aside, entered the apartment, and hit 

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victim on the head with a bottle and Jenkins’s companion hit victim with a 

pistol was sufficient to prove breaking element). Parrish’s argument is merely a 

request to reweigh evidence and judge witness credibility, which we must 

decline. See Bailey, 907 N.E.2d at 1005.

Section 2 – Sufficient evidence supports Parrish’s criminal 

deviate conduct convictions.

[10] To convict Parrish of class B felony criminal deviate conduct, the State was 

required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Parrish knowingly or 

intentionally compelled D.K.P. by force or imminent threat of force to perform 

or submit to deviate sexual conduct. See Ind. Code § 35-42-4-2(a). The 

definition of “deviate sexual conduct” includes an act involving the penetration 

of the sex organ or anus of a person by an object. Ind. Code § 35-31.5-2-94.

[11] Parrish contends that the evidence is insufficient to prove that he committed 

deviate sexual conduct. He concedes that D.K.P.’s “testimony appears to 

provide more than an inference to support” his convictions, but he asserts that

“such an inference is not reasonable in this case, and the mere fact she said it 

happened is not sufficient evidence to overcome a practical and physical 

impossibility.” Appellant’s Br. at 17. Specifically, Parrish argues that because

he was holding her by the hair and holding the knife the whole time, he did not 

have a free hand available to commit the offenses. We disagree.

[12] First, D.K.P.’s testimony alone is sufficient to support Parrish’s convictions. 

See Johnson v. State, 837 N.E.2d 209, 214 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005) (“The 

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uncorroborated testimony of the victim is sufficient to sustain a criminal 

conviction.”), trans. denied (2006). Second, D.K.P.’s testimony is corroborated 

by other evidence. One of Parrish’s accomplices testified that after they left the 

house, Parrish placed his fingers under someone’s nose and made “a reference 

to the woman’s smell.” Tr. at 85. Also, the medical exam showed that D.K.P. 

had three injuries to her “female genital area” and three fissures to her anus. Id. 

at 163.

[13] Finally, Parrish undercuts his own impossibility argument by asserting that he 

“put his hands in her pants prior to leaving the house only because he thought 

she was trying to hide something in them, and he did it to get the item which he 

stated was a plastic sleeve of pictures and cards.” Appellant’s Br. at 15. If 

Parrish was able to do this, then it was not impossible for him to commit the 

offenses. Simply put, it is not impossible that Parrish secured the knife for short 

periods of time while he was holding D.K.P.’s hair. His argument again is an 

invitation to reweigh evidence and judge witness credibility, which we must 

decline. See Bailey, 907 N.E.2d at 1005.

[14] Based on the foregoing, we affirm Parrish’s convictions.

[15] Affirmed.

Kirsch, J., and May, J., concur.

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