Opinion ID: 2232889
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Class A Convictions for Rape and Deviate Conduct

Text: Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that the rape and criminal deviate conduct convictions were class A felonies. For rape and criminal deviate conduct to be class A felonies, the act must have been accomplished through the use of, or threat of, deadly force, [6] or committed while armed with a deadly weapon, or have resulted in serious bodily injury [7] to a person other than a defendant. Ind.Code Ann. §§ 35-42-4-1 through -2 (West Supp.1986). The appellant was not armed, nor did N.H. sustain a serious bodily injury. Thus, the evidence must support the jury's finding that the felonies were committed by the threat of deadly force. Appellant argues that the only threat of deadly force in this case occurred when he took N.H. from her home. The force he exerted during the commission of the sexual assault, appellant says, was only the force necessary to commit the crimes of rape and criminal deviate conduct. The State contends that the appellant's threat to an eight-year-old victim when he pulled her out of the window, Shut up, or I'll kill you, was sufficient to constitute the threat of deadly force for the commission of the two felonies. We agree. Appellant engaged in a continuous criminal episode, beginning when he pulled the victim out of the window and culminating with her rape. The record shows that the victim was pulled from her window and driven to a secluded area three to four miles from her house. Upon arrival, she was promptly raped. The interval of time between the threat and the actual rape was not great. The jury could reasonably have concluded that the prior threat of deadly force was still in the forefront of the victim's mind and very real to her. This case bears a resemblance to Davis v. State, 520 N.E.2d 1271 (Ind.1988). Davis abducted the victim at knife-point in a parking lot. He threatened to kill her if she did not do as he told her. Davis forced the victim into his car and drove to an isolated area. He placed the knife on the dashboard, where it remained the entire evening. He proceeded to rape her three times until she was able to escape. Id. at 1273. Davis claimed that his convictions of rape and criminal deviate conduct as class A felonies were not supported by the evidence. We held that the knife was constructively under the defendant's control, thus the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction. Id. at 1274. While Davis is distinguishable from the case at bar in that Davis was armed with a deadly weapon (which makes rape and criminal deviate conduct A felonies) and Richards was not, our Davis holding implied that the prior threats would be sufficient to constitute the threat of deadly force for the rape and criminal deviate conduct felonies. In Davis, the defendant argued that the knife remained on the dashboard all night and that he never repeated his initial threat to kill the victim. We stated that his contention would have some merit absent his initial show of deadly force. However, the evidence at trial showed that when the appellant first abducted the victim from the Great Scot parking lot he used the knife accompanied by the threats to kill her if she resisted again. Id (emphasis added). Like the appellant in Davis, Danny Richards made an initial show of deadly force threatening to kill N.H. A threat of deadly force is likely to make a greater impression on an eight-year-old child than on an adult. We have previously held that it is not necessary to exert the deadly force, rather it is sufficient if the threat of deadly force is imminent enough to cause the victim to submit to the aggressor. Pennington v. State, 523 N.E.2d 414, 415-16 (Ind.1988). A jury could have reasonably concluded that the threat to kill the victim when she was removed from her bedroom was imminent enough in her mind to cause her to submit the appellant when she was raped just a few minutes later. We, therefore, conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions as class A felonies.