Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1540 | April 15, 2020 Page 1 of 9

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

R. Patrick Magrath

Alcorn Sage Schwartz & Magrath, LLP

Madison, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General of Indiana

George P. Sherman

Supervising Deputy Attorney 

General 

Indianapolis, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Jason Levi Bellamy,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff.

April 15, 2020

Court of Appeals Case No.

19A-CR-1540

Appeal from the 

Jackson Circuit Court

The Honorable 

Richard W. Poynter. Judge

Trial Court Cause No.

36C01-1703-F1-1

Kirsch, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1540 | April 15, 2020 Page 2 of 9

[1] Following a jury trial, Jason Levi Bellamy (“Bellamy”) was found guilty of two 

counts of child molesting1 as Level 1 felonies and sexual misconduct with a 

minor2 as a Level 4 felony. He was sentenced to thirty-five years for each of the 

Level 1 felonies and ten years for the Level 4 felony, with the sentences ordered 

to run consecutively for an aggregate sentence of eighty years executed. 

Contending that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and 

that his sentence is inappropriate, Bellamy now appeals.

[2] We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[3] In April of 2016, thirteen-year-old D.F. began living with her great-aunt 

because her mother was being held in the Jackson County Jail. D.F. visited her 

mother at the jail on numerous occasions. On one of these occasions, she met 

Bellamy who was her mother’s boyfriend. Bellamy was in his mid-thirties at 

the time. 

[4] In May of 2016, Bellamy moved into D.F.’s great-aunt’s home, and D.F.’s 

great-aunt allowed Bellamy to stay with her for several months. He soon 

developed a sexual relationship with D.F. and had sex with her on an almost 

1

See Ind. Code § 35-42-4-3(a)(1).

2

See Ind. Code § 35-42-4-9(a)(1).
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daily basis in May and June of 2016. They continued to engage in sexual 

intercourse after D.F’s fourteenth birthday in June of 2016.

[5] D.F.’s grandfather worked at Jackson County Dispatch, which was located in 

the jail, and he frequently saw D.F. and Bellamy visiting D.F.’s mother. He 

was uncomfortable with the way in which Bellamy and D.F. sat next to each 

other in Bellamy’s truck and held hands when walking through the parking lot. 

D.F.’s great-aunt was also uncomfortable with the amount of time that D.F. 

and Bellamy spent together and how closely they would sit together on the 

couch. She confronted Bellamy about her concerns and told Bellamy that he 

was going to be D.F.’s step-father and that he should act differently toward her.

[6] In June of 2016, D.F.’s great-aunt was arrested and jailed for operating a motor 

vehicle while intoxicated. D.F. was placed in foster care where she remained 

for approximately a year. She tried to stay in contact with Bellamy while she 

was in foster care, but the rules of the facility made that difficult. In September 

of 2016, D.F. and Bellamy began communicating via Facebook, but when D.F. 

later attempted to contact Bellamy by phone and learned that he was out with 

two women from his work, she became upset.

[7] In November of 2016, D.F. attended a seminar at her school about 

inappropriate sexual contact. After the seminar, she spoke with a school 

counselor and reported what had happened with Bellamy. She later went to a 

forensic interview at a child advocacy center. Police were notified and 
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interviewed Bellamy about D.F.’s allegations. Bellamy denied the allegations 

and stated that he did not engage in any inappropriate conduct with D.F. 

[8] On March 21, 2017, the State of Indiana charged Bellamy with three counts of 

child molesting as Level 1 felonies and one count of sexual misconduct with a 

minor as a Level 4 felony. While Bellamy was incarcerated prior to his trial, he 

was incarcerated with a man named Rocky Drake (“Drake”). The police 

interviewed Drake, and he told them that Bellamy admitted to having sex with 

D.F. when she was thirteen and described it as the “best sex he has ever had.” 

Tr. Vol. II at 129.

[9] A jury trial was held, and Bellamy was found guilty of two counts of child 

molesting as Level 1 felonies and one count of sexual misconduct with a minor 

as a Level 4 felony. The trial court sentenced Bellamy to thirty-five years for 

each of the Level 1 felonies and ten years for the Level 4 felony and ordered the 

counts to run consecutively for an aggregate sentence of eighty years executed. 

Bellamy now appeals.

Discussion and Decision

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

[10] When we review the sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction, we do not 

reweigh the evidence or assess the credibility of the witnesses. Lehman v. State,

55 N.E.3d 863, 868 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016), trans. denied. We consider only the 

evidence most favorable to the verdict and the reasonable inferences that can be 

drawn from that evidence. Fuentes v. State, 10 N.E.3d 68, 75 (Ind. Ct. App. 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1540 | April 15, 2020 Page 5 of 9

2014), trans. denied. We also consider conflicting evidence in the light most 

favorable to the trial court’s ruling. Oster v. State, 992 N.E.2d 871, 875 (Ind. Ct. 

App. 2013), trans. denied. We will not disturb the verdict if there is substantial 

evidence of probative value to support it. Fuentes, 10 N.E.3d at 75. We will 

affirm unless no reasonable factfinder could find the elements of the crime 

proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Delagrange v. State, 5 N.E.3d 354, 356 (Ind. 

2014). A conviction can be sustained on only the uncorroborated testimony of 

a single witness, even when that witness is the victim. Dalton v. State, 56 N.E.3d 

644, 648 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016), trans. denied.

[11] Bellamy argues that the State presented insufficient evidence to support his 

convictions. He specifically contends that his conviction was based on the 

inherently incredible and dubious testimony of D.F. “The incredible dubiosity 

rule provides that a court may impinge on the jury’s responsibility to judge 

witness credibility only when confronted with inherently improbable testimony 

or coerced, equivocal, wholly uncorroborated testimony of incredible 

dubiosity.” Carter v. State, 31 N.E.3d 17, 30-31 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (citing Love 

v. State, 761 N.E.2d 806, 810 (Ind. 2002)), trans. denied. The rule only applies 

“where a sole witness presents inherently contradictory testimony which is 

equivocal or the result of coercion and there is a complete lack of circumstantial 

evidence of the appellant’s guilt.” Moore v. State, 27 N.E.3d 749, 755 (Ind. 2015). 

This rule is only applied rarely and the standard to be applied is whether the 

testimony is so incredibly dubious or inherently improbable that no reasonable 

person could believe it. Carter, 31 N.E.3d at 31. The rule applies only when a 
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witness contradicts herself or himself in a single statement or while testifying 

and does not apply to conflicts between multiple statements. Id. “Cases where 

we have found testimony inherently improbable have involved situations either 

where the facts as alleged ‘could not have happened as described by the victim 

and be consistent with the laws of nature or human experience,’ or where the 

witness was so equivocal about the act charged that her uncorroborated and 

coerced testimony ‘was riddled with doubt about its trustworthiness.’” Id.

(quoting Watkins v. State, 571 N.E.2d 1262, 1265 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991), aff’d in 

relevant part, 575 N.E.2d 624 (Ind. 1991)).

[12] Bellamy asserts that the rule of incredible dubiosity applies because D.F.’s 

testimony was incredible and inherently unreliable in that she could not 

remember certain details of their encounters, the lack of physical evidence on 

the couch where D.F. claimed many of the molestations occurred, and the 

absence of physical trauma to D.F. However, there are no inconsistencies in 

the testimony of D.F. She consistently testified about the molestations 

perpetrated by Bellamy, and her description of Bellamy’s molestations of her 

were not inconsistent with the laws of nature or human experience. 

Additionally, there was no indication that D.F.’s testimony was coerced or 

equivocal about the fact that Bellamy had molested her. As to Bellamy’s 

contention that there was no physical evidence on the couch, the lack of such 

evidence could be the result of a number of different possibilities which Bellamy 

fails to negate. Regarding the lack of physical injuries experienced by D.F., 

Bellamy does not identify any evidence or authority indicating that a victim in 
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D.F.’s circumstances would usually experience injuries. We, therefore, 

conclude that Bellamy’s reliance on the incredible dubiosity rule fails. 

[13] Furthermore, the incredible dubiosity rule also does not apply because D.F.’s 

testimony was not completely uncorroborated. See Moore, 27 N.E.3d at 755 

(stating that testimony of multiple witnesses alone precludes the application of 

the incredible dubiosity rule). D.F.’s testimony was corroborated by Drake, 

Bellamy’s fellow inmate, who testified that Bellamy had stated that he had sex 

with the thirteen-year-old daughter of his girlfriend. Tr. Vol. II at 129. 

Although Bellamy claims that Drake’s testimony should not be credited for 

various reasons, it is for the trier of fact to resolve conflicts in the evidence and 

to decide which witnesses to believe or disbelieve. Moore, 27 N.E.3d at 758. 

Therefore, because D.F.’s testimony was not completely uncorroborated, 

Bellamy’s claim that the incredible dubiosity rule precludes his convictions fails, 

and we affirm his convictions. 

II. Inappropriate Sentence

[14] Bellamy also contends that his eighty-year aggregate sentence is inappropriate. 

Pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), this court “may revise a sentence 

authorized by statute if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, the 

[c]ourt finds that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the 

offense and the character of the offender.” The principal role of an appellate 

court’s sentence review is to leaven the outliers, not achieve a perceived correct 

sentence. Harbet v. State, 51 N.E.3d 267, 278 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016). We 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-1540 | April 15, 2020 Page 8 of 9

independently examine the nature of Bellamy’s offense and his character under 

Appellate Rule 7(B) with substantial deference to the trial court’s sentence. 

Satterfield v. State, 33 N.E.3d 344, 355 (Ind. 2015). “In conducting our review, 

we do not look to see whether the defendant’s sentence is appropriate or if 

another sentence might be more appropriate; rather, the test is whether the 

sentence is ‘inappropriate.’” Barker v. State, 994 N.E.2d 306, 315 (Ind. Ct. App. 

2013), trans. denied. Whether a sentence is inappropriate ultimately depends 

upon “the culpability of the defendant, the severity of the crime, the damage 

done to others, and a myriad of other factors that come to light in a given case.” 

Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1224 (Ind. 2008). The defendant has the 

burden of persuading the appellate court that his sentence is inappropriate and 

should be revised. Kayser v. State, 131 N.E.3d 717, 723 (Ind Ct. App. 2019). 

[15] Here, Bellamy was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of eighty years. As this 

court has recognized, the nature of the offense is found in the details and 

circumstances of the commission of the offense and the defendant’s 

participation. Perry v. State, 78 N.E.3d 1, 13 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017). In looking at 

the nature of Bellamy’s offenses, the evidence showed that, over the course of 

several months, he repeatedly engaged in acts of sexual intercourse with a girl 

who was only thirteen years old when he began and continued to do so after 

she turned fourteen years old. Bellamy’s actions were especially egregious 

because D.F. was at a particularly vulnerable time in her life as her mother and 

great-aunt were incarcerated, and she was estranged from her father. Further, 

Bellamy held a position of trust with D.F., and he abused that trust. “D.F. did 
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not have the care and attention of adults in her family,” Appellant’s Br. at 15, 

and Bellamy stepped into this void and took advantage of this to molest D.F.

on a regular basis. We do not find Bellamy’s sentence to be inappropriate in 

light of the nature of the offense. 

[16] The character of the offender is found in what we learn of the offender’s life and 

conduct. Perry, 78 N.E.3d at 13. When considering the character of the 

offender, one relevant fact is the defendant’s criminal history. Johnson v. State, 

986 N.E.2d 852, 857 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013). The evidence showed that Bellamy 

has an extensive history of criminal activity. He was convicted of reckless 

driving in 1999; disorderly conduct and public intoxication in 2001; operating a 

motor vehicle while intoxicated in 2003; criminal trespass in 2004; driving 

while suspended in 2005; disorderly conduct and public intoxication in 2006; 

resisting law enforcement in 2008; possession of marijuana as a Class D felony

in 2012; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated in 2016. Bellamy’s criminal 

history consists of approximately a dozen prior convictions before he 

committed the present offenses and shows a continuous pattern of failing to 

abide by the law. We, therefore, conclude that his sentence is not inappropriate 

in light of the nature of the offense and his character.

[17] Affirmed.

Bailey, J., and Mathias, J., concur.