Geraldine R. Jones v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
48A02-1601-CR-130
| Ind. Ct. App. | Mar 30, 2017Background
- In April 2015, Geraldine R. Jones (posing as a DCS worker) persuaded Samantha Fleming in Madison County to get into Jones’s car and accompany her to Gary, taking Fleming’s baby with them.
- Fleming’s family later received a text from Fleming’s phone; Fleming was reported missing and investigators linked Jones to the disappearance via phone records.
- Gary/ Lake County officers searched Jones’s relative’s home and found Fleming’s decomposing body in a closet; evidence suggested cleaning supplies and items used to transport a body.
- The State charged Jones in Madison County with murder and kidnappings; the murder was alleged to have occurred in Lake County.
- Jones moved to transfer venue, arguing Madison County was improper because the murder occurred in Lake County and the State had not proved kidnapping occurred there via force, fraud, or enticement.
- The trial court denied the motion after evidentiary hearings; the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the kidnapping and murder were an "integrally related" single chain of events so venue was proper in either county.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether there was sufficient evidence to establish venue in Madison County | State: if crimes form a single chain of events, venue may be in any county where part occurred | Jones: insufficient evidence that kidnapping and murder were a single, continuous event; venue should be Lake County where murder occurred | Venue proper in Madison County — State proved by preponderance that kidnapping and murder were integrally related and constituted a single chain of events |
Key Cases Cited
- Neff v. State, 915 N.E.2d 1026 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009) (explains burden to establish venue by preponderance and standard of review)
- Davis v. State, 520 N.E.2d 1271 (Ind. 1988) (holds when an offense commences in one county and continues into another, prosecution may be in any involved county)
- Kuchel v. State, 501 N.E.2d 1045 (Ind. 1986) (venue in any county involved in a continuing offense)
- Floyd v. State, 503 N.E.2d 390 (Ind. 1987) (upholds venue in either county where abduction occurred or where sexual assault occurred when crimes are related)
- Abran v. State, 825 N.E.2d 384 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005) (defines "single chain of events" as crimes that are integrally related or where one thing led to another)
- French v. State, 362 N.E.2d 834 (Ind. 1977) (abduction in one county and later murder in another were integrally related for venue)
- Archer v. State, 7 N.E. 225 (Ind. 1886) (early precedent that kidnapping enabling later murder makes the events requisite and related)
- Bryant v. State, 41 N.E.3d 1031 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (circumstantial evidence may satisfy venue burden)
- Morris v. State, 409 N.E.2d 608 (Ind. 1980) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence for venue)
- Wurster v. State, 715 N.E.2d 341 (Ind. 1999) (clarifies pretrial challenge to venue is a motion to transfer, not dismiss)