Shayla Bowling v. State of Indiana, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 481

Shayla Bowling was charged after an early-morning fight with C.C.; police found C.C. with visible injuries and both were arrested.
Bowling had an ongoing two-year romantic relationship with C.C.; they had intermittently cohabited (once 4–5 months) and had recently been living in a barn together.
Bowling had a prior Whitley County guilty plea (Nov. 2011) to domestic battery of C.C. and invasion of privacy; Vigo County issued a no-contact/protective order against her in July 2011.
In May 2012 Bowling was found with C.C. in violation of the protective order; subsequent charges in Whitley County led to jury convictions for class A misdemeanor domestic battery and invasion of privacy.
Bowling admitted prior convictions, elevating the offenses to class D felonies and admitted habitual-offender status; she was sentenced to three years for domestic battery (plus enhancement).
On appeal Bowling challenged only whether a person legally married to one person can, as a matter of law, be “living as if a spouse” with a third party for purposes of the domestic battery statute.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a person legally married to one person can be
"living as if a spouse" with another, triggering domestic battery liability	State: statute applies to relationships that are domestic in character regardless of other legal marriages	Bowling: legal marriage to another person precludes being "living as if a spouse" with a third party; applying the statute to extramarital partners improperly broadens it	Court: Legal marriage to a third party does not as a matter of law bar application; focus is on the relationship with the victim and statutory factors; Bowling’s argument fails

Nicoson v. State, 938 N.E.2d 660 (Ind. 2010) (standard of statutory interpretation reviewed de novo)
Williams v. State, 798 N.E.2d 457 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (domestic battery covers ongoing/cohabiting intimate relationships; factors for "living as if a spouse")