Samuel L. HOBBS, Jr., Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
No. 18A05-1408-CR-394
Court of Appeals of Indiana.
Jan. 29, 2015.
983
Order Published March 2, 2015.
Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Michael Gеne Worden, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
NAJAM, Judge.
Statement of the Case
[1] Samuel L. Hobbs, Jr. appeals the trial court‘s denial of his petition to modify sentence. Hobbs raises two issues for our review, which we consolidate and restate as whether the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his petition. We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] The facts underlying Hobbs’ convictions were stated by this court in his direct appeal:
In the fall of 2003, Hobbs met L.M. at work. Early in 2004, they became romantically involved. Throughout their relationship Hobbs lived in various locations and, while he never lived with L.M., he occasionally spent the night with her. In the fall of 2004, as their relationship began to subside, Hobbs insisted he needed L.M.‘s help in overcoming his drug addiction. Hobbs did not
see L.M. between February of 2005 and June 19, 2005, although they wrote each other and spoke on the phone. On June 19, 2005, Hobbs was released from prison. Hobbs and L.M. met at St. Francis сhurch for the 9:00 a.m. service, after which L.M. drove Hobbs to cash a money order, then dropped him off at a Wendy‘s restaurant. From there, L.M. went to visit her parents. She did not see оr speak with Hobbs the rest of the day. Upon returning home, L.M. had several messages from Hobbs on her answering machine that “started out nice and seemed to end up very violent, hateful.” At 11:18 p.m., L.M. was awakened when she felt Hobbs crawling into bed with her. She told him to leave, but he refused and became physical, throwing her on her back, and eventually removing her pants and underwear, as well as his own clothing. Hobbs proceeded to put his finger in her vagina, followed by his penis. He later performed oral sex on her and penetrated her anally. L.M. fought Hobbs screaming and yelling for her neighbor, Lori Ford (Ford), all the while telling Hobbs to “stop, get off, leave me alone,” and that it “hurt.” Hobbs responded by telling her to shut up and сovering her mouth with his hands. L.M. attempted to call 911, but Hobbs took the telephone from her and threw it. L.M. found the telephone under her bed the next day.
While L.M.‘s encounter with Hobbs was happening, Ford was walking her dog underneath L.M.‘s open bedroom window. Ford heard loud, piercing screams coming from the window. Ford called 911 to report that her neighbor was being attacked, and stayed on the line with the 911 operator until the police arrived.
Officers Doug Narramore and Michael Shaffer (the Officers) responded to Ford‘s 911 call. The Officers heard cries for help coming from L.M.‘s window. The Officers also saw a man later identified as Hobbs in the window and heard him advise L.M. to tell them to leave. L.M. refused and proсeeded outside as instructed by the Officers. The Officers entered L.M.‘s home, located Hobbs, handcuffed him, and removed him from the home. Officer Rodney Frasier photographed the scene and obtained hair and blood samples from Hobbs. L.M. was taken to Ball Memorial Hospital where she underwent a physical examination, including whether there was evidence of a sexual trauma.
That same evening between 11:00 and 11:30 p.m., Clark Tudor (Clark) was at home watching a basketball game when one of the two phone lines in his house rang; his wife Faye was asleep. He said hello, twice, but there was no response, so he just listened. He heard an unfamiliar female voice crying, “You‘re hurting me,” and an equаlly unfamiliar male voice saying, “Shut up. Shut up. Be quiet.” Then, he heard the woman scream, “unlike any other scream [he]‘d ever heard in [his] life. It was a blood curdling scream.”
Clark awoke his wife. He put the call on speakerphone in the kitchen where they both listened in on the call. Faye heard someone calling for Rory, or Lori as well as multiple sсreams, after which she went into the bedroom and called 911 on their other telephone line. She believed someone was “getting raped because it was really sсreaming.” The phone call was traced by the 911 supervisor to L.M.‘s house.
On June 22, 2005, the State filed an Information charging Hobbs with Count I, burglary resulting in bodily injury, a Class A felony, Count II, rape, a Class B felony, and Count III, criminal deviate conduct, a Class B felony. On January 10 through 12, 2006, a jury trial was
[3] In his direct appeal, among other things Hobbs challеnged the appropriateness of his sentence under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B). We affirmed the trial court‘s judgment on this and all other issues. On July 19, 2007, Hobbs filed his petition for post-сonviction relief, which he later amended in July of 2010. The post-conviction court denied his petition on December 28, 2010. We affirmed the post-conviction court‘s judgment on appeal.
[4] On July 23, 2014, Hobbs filed his petition for modification of sentence pursuant to
Discussion and Decision
[5] Hobbs appeals the trial court‘s denial of his petition to modify his sentence pursuant to
[6] According to the provision of the Indiana Code relied on by Hobbs:
If more than three hundred sixty-five (365) days have elapsed since the convicted person began serving the sеntence, the court may reduce or suspend the sentence and impose a sentence that the court was authorized to impose at the time of sentencing. Thе court must incorporate its reasons in the record.
[7] Despite Hobbs’ assertions to the contrary on appeal, there is no question that the current version of
[8] Elsewhere in his appellate brief, Hobbs asserts that his convictions violate Indiana‘s prohibitions against double jeopardy because they “stemmed from the same incident and werе based upon the same facts.” Appellant‘s Br. at 11. Hobbs also argues that his sentence violates the Proportionality Clause of Indiana‘s Constitution,
[9] Affirmed.
MATHIAS, J., and BRADFORD, J., concur.