FOR PUBLICATION

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

VICTORIA L. BAILEY GREGORY F. ZOELLER

Marion County Public Defender Agency Attorney General of Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

IAN McLEAN

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

BRIAN KENDRICK, )

)

Appellant-Defendant, )

)

vs. ) No. 49A05-1206-CR-314

)

STATE OF INDIANA, )

)

Appellee-Plaintiff. )

APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT

The Honorable Kurt Eisgruber, Judge

Cause No. 49G01-0806-FA-151081

January 31, 2013

OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION

MAY, Judge
2

Brian Kendrick appeals his sentence on remand for Class A felony attempted murder,1

Class B felony robbery,2and Class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license.3 

He contends the trial court erred when, after we vacated his two convictions of Class C 

felony feticide,4it again sentenced Kendrick to fifty-three years. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

We stated the facts underlying Kendrick’s convictionsin our opinion deciding his first 

direct appeal:

On the evening of April 21, 2008, Kendrick and Aaron Stewart came to 

Aaron Little’s garage on the west side of Indianapolis for haircuts. Charles 

Petty, Little’s best friend, was also present. The four men hung out for about 

an hour. During that time, Stewart and/or Kendrick made references to 

wanting to rob a bank. Kendrick had a black backpack with him with a Calico 

semi-automatic pistol inside, an uncommon gun that he had gotten from 

Stewart several months prior.

Stewart and Kendrick left that evening in Kendrick’s blue Trailblazer. 

They agreed to commit a robbery together the following morning. Little was 

also apparently in on the robbery at some point. A number of phone calls were 

made early the next morning between Little and Stewart and Stewart and 

Kendrick. When Stewart and Kendrick arrived at Little’s house that morning, 

Little refused to participate in the robbery, but he agreed to get a car for them 

to use. The three men drove together to a gas station where Little met one of 

his girlfriends, Twaunya Taylor, at about 7:45 to borrow her black Sebring. 

After he dropped Taylor off at work, Little met Stewart and Kendrick back at 

his house. Kendrick took possession of the Sebring, and Stewart drove his 

Trailblazer.

On their way to the bank on the east side, Stewart and Kendrick stopped 

in a parking lot to solidify their plan for the robbery. The plan was for Stewart 

to park on the street and wait in his Trailblazer during the robbery. He was 

instructed to block (with his vehicle) anyone pursuing Kendrick, who was 

going to flee in the Sebring.

 

1

Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1 (murder); Ind. Code § 35-41-5-1 (attempt).

2

Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1.

3

Ind. Code § 35-47-2-1.

4

Ind. Code § 35-42-1-6.
3

That morning, Katherine Shuffield was working as a teller at the 

Huntington Bank at 21st and Post Road in Indianapolis. There were three 

other employees present and one patron as Kendrick entered the bank armed 

with a Calico handgun. He wore a face mask, gloves, and dark clothing to 

avoid being identified. Kendrick ordered the patron to the floor. Then he 

attempted to open the gate to the teller area. When he could not open it, he 

jumped over Shuffield’s counter. As the obviously-pregnant Shuffield backed 

away, Kendrick pointed his gun and shot her in the abdomen. Shuffield fell to 

the floor screaming for someone to help her and her twin babies.

Without responding to Shuffield’s pleas for help, Kendrick moved onto 

the next two tellers, taking the contents of their cash drawers. He then jumped 

back over the counter and on his way out fired a shot in the direction of the 

patron still lying on the floor. Neither the patron nor any of the bank 

employees were able to identify the shooter.

Upon fleeing the bank, Kendrick ran to the Sebring and drove away, 

and Stewart drove the Trailblazer. They met at an abandoned house. When 

Stewart learned that Kendrick had shot someone, he went to his cousin's house 

to get new clothing for Kendrick. In the meantime, Kendrick opened the bag 

only to find that a dye-pack had exploded. Kendrick and Stewart eventually 

went together in the Trailblazer to Stewart’s cousin’s home.

After several frantic phone calls from Stewart, Little came later that 

morning to pick up the Sebring on the east side. While Stewart and Little 

drove from Stewart’s cousin’s home to the abandoned house, Stewart filled 

Little in on what had happened. After returning the Sebring to his girlfriend’s 

garage, Little went to Petty’s house. He watched the news coverage of the 

robbery and told Petty about the robbery and his involvement.

Shuffield was seriously injured as a result of the shooting. After two 

days of surgeries, she began having contractions such that the babies had to be 

delivered. They were only about twenty-two-weeks gestation. The first twin 

was stillborn and the second survived only a few hours after delivery.

Leads for the crime were running cold, so at the end of May the bank 

offered a reward. As a result, Petty provided information to police in early 

June and gave specific details not previously released to the media. Stewart 

and Kendrick were subsequently arrested, and upon his arrest, Stewart gave a 

statement to police implicating himself and Kendrick.

On June 23, 2008, the State charged Kendrick with class A felony 

attempted murder, class A felony robbery, two counts of class C felony 

feticide, and one class A misdemeanor weapons charge. Kendrick’s five-day 

jury trial commenced on January 25, 2010. Among others, Little, Petty, and 

Stewart testified against Kendrick. The theory of the defense was that 

Kendrick had been set up and was not involved in the robbery. The jury 

ultimately found Kendrick guilty as charged. The trial court entered judgments 
4

of conviction accordingly, except it reduced the robbery conviction to a class B 

felony to avoid double jeopardy. At the sentencing hearing on February 12, 

2010, the trial court sentenced Kendrick to consecutive sentences of thirty 

years for attempted murder, fourteen years for robbery, four years for each 

feticide conviction, and one year on the handgun conviction. In all, Kendrick 

received an aggregate sentence of fifty-three years in prison.

Kendrick v. State, 947 N.E.2d 509, 512-13 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), reh’g denied, trans. denied, 

cert. denied 132 S.Ct. 1752 (footnotes omitted).

We reversed Kendrick’s two Class C felony feticide convictions on the basis of double 

jeopardy, and remanded for resentencing. We directed the trial court that it may “now 

consider the victim’s pregnancy and the termination thereof in crafting Kendrick’s sentence 

for attempted murder. On remand, however, the court may not impose an aggregate sentence 

in excess of fifty-three years, as that would raise a presumption of vindictiveness.” Id. at 

514-15.

On remand, the trial court resentenced Kendrick to thirty-eight years for Class A 

felony attempted murder, fourteen years for Class B felony robbery, and one year for Class A 

misdemeanor possession of a handgun without a license. The trial court ordered the 

sentences served consecutively, for an aggregate sentence of fifty-three years.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

When resentencing, a trial court may not “impose a more severe penalty than that 

originally imposed unless the court includes in the record of the sentencing hearing a 

statement of the court’s reasons for selecting the sentences that it imposes which includes 

reliance upon identifiable conduct on the part of the petitioner that occurred after the 
5

imposition of the original sentence.” Ind. Post-Conviction Rule 1(10)(b). Kendrick argues 

the trial court erred when, on resentencing, it increased his sentence for Class A attempted 

murder by eight years. We disagree.

On appeal of a sentence, our court “should focus on the forest – the aggregate 

sentence – rather than the trees – consecutive or concurrent, number of counts, or length of 

the sentence on any individual count.” Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1225 (Ind. 

2008). While Kendrick’s sentence for Class A felony attempted murder increased from thirty 

years to thirty-eight years, his aggregate sentence, fifty-three years, did not change. 

Therefore, the trial court did not impermissibly increase Kendrick’s sentence. See Hicks v. 

State, 729 N.E.2d 144, 147 (Ind. 2000) (affirming resentencing of defendant when 

enhancement increased sentence for murder but aggregate sentence remained the same). We 

accordingly affirm.

Affirmed.

ROBB, C.J., and PYLE, J., concur.