Appeals Court Upholds Kosciusko Sentencing
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By John DeGroff-
The case, State of Indiana v. Shawn Lester Hattery, 38, of 26 EMS 29 Lane, Warsaw, was tried by Dan Hampton in Warsaw slightly more than a year ago. The case resulted from an incident that happened on the evening of Oct. 4, 2005.
A Warsaw woman identified only as A.B. in court documents, was then 21, single and living alone. She was awakened that evening by someone heavy straddling her. That someone was Hattery, who told the woman he only wanted to steal a few things then leave. However, what followed over the course of several hours was confinement and rape.
After Hattery left, the woman was able to free herself and seek emergency medical treatment. The attending doctor used a rape kit and DNA samples were taken.
The case was unsolved for several years until DNA was obtained from Hattery while he was incarcerated on another charge. His DNA matched that of the sample taken from the 2005 case.
On Sept. 30, 2008, Hattery was charged with Class D felony obstruction of justice, Class D felony theft, Class A felony burglary, Class C felony battery, Class A felony attempted criminal deviant conduct, two counts of Class A felony deviant conduct, three counts each of Class A felony rape, Class D felony criminal confinement, Class D sexual battery and Class D felony strangulation. The strangulation charge was dropped before trial. The sentences were to run concurrently, except with respect to the sentences for burglary, criminal deviant conduct and rape. This resulted in the aggregate sentence of 200 years.
Hattery has a criminal history that begins with two juvenile delinquency charges for what would be a Class C burglary if committed by an adult, an adult conviction for Class B felony burglary and various theft and substance abuse charges.
The crime from 2005 was regarded as a "worst case scenario," and during his trial Dec. 1, 2009, Hattery at no time showed any compassion for his victim or remorse for his actions. Hattery, through his attorneys, did appeal the sentence as being inappropriate.
"The Court of Appeals in reviewing cases makes a determination on whether the trial was properly followed by the Indiana Rules of Evidence and Indiana Rules of Procedure," said Dan Hampton, Kosciusko County prosecuting attorney. "The Court of Appeals can modify the sentence if the Court of Appeals finds that the sentence is inappropriate for the crime convicted. Therefore, the court may affirm or reverse all or portions of the trial.
"In our case, with the Indiana Court of Appeals affirming the trial court in all respects, the Indiana Court of Appeals is basically saying that the trial was conducted fairly and in accordance with the laws of the State of Indiana. Also, the Indiana Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the sentence imposed by Judge Huffer and that 200 years was an appropriate sentence.
"My office, in representing the safety concerns of Kosciusko County citizens and the victim, is obviously very happy with this decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals," Hampton said.[[In-content Ad]]
The case, State of Indiana v. Shawn Lester Hattery, 38, of 26 EMS 29 Lane, Warsaw, was tried by Dan Hampton in Warsaw slightly more than a year ago. The case resulted from an incident that happened on the evening of Oct. 4, 2005.
A Warsaw woman identified only as A.B. in court documents, was then 21, single and living alone. She was awakened that evening by someone heavy straddling her. That someone was Hattery, who told the woman he only wanted to steal a few things then leave. However, what followed over the course of several hours was confinement and rape.
After Hattery left, the woman was able to free herself and seek emergency medical treatment. The attending doctor used a rape kit and DNA samples were taken.
The case was unsolved for several years until DNA was obtained from Hattery while he was incarcerated on another charge. His DNA matched that of the sample taken from the 2005 case.
On Sept. 30, 2008, Hattery was charged with Class D felony obstruction of justice, Class D felony theft, Class A felony burglary, Class C felony battery, Class A felony attempted criminal deviant conduct, two counts of Class A felony deviant conduct, three counts each of Class A felony rape, Class D felony criminal confinement, Class D sexual battery and Class D felony strangulation. The strangulation charge was dropped before trial. The sentences were to run concurrently, except with respect to the sentences for burglary, criminal deviant conduct and rape. This resulted in the aggregate sentence of 200 years.
Hattery has a criminal history that begins with two juvenile delinquency charges for what would be a Class C burglary if committed by an adult, an adult conviction for Class B felony burglary and various theft and substance abuse charges.
The crime from 2005 was regarded as a "worst case scenario," and during his trial Dec. 1, 2009, Hattery at no time showed any compassion for his victim or remorse for his actions. Hattery, through his attorneys, did appeal the sentence as being inappropriate.
"The Court of Appeals in reviewing cases makes a determination on whether the trial was properly followed by the Indiana Rules of Evidence and Indiana Rules of Procedure," said Dan Hampton, Kosciusko County prosecuting attorney. "The Court of Appeals can modify the sentence if the Court of Appeals finds that the sentence is inappropriate for the crime convicted. Therefore, the court may affirm or reverse all or portions of the trial.
"In our case, with the Indiana Court of Appeals affirming the trial court in all respects, the Indiana Court of Appeals is basically saying that the trial was conducted fairly and in accordance with the laws of the State of Indiana. Also, the Indiana Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the sentence imposed by Judge Huffer and that 200 years was an appropriate sentence.
"My office, in representing the safety concerns of Kosciusko County citizens and the victim, is obviously very happy with this decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals," Hampton said.[[In-content Ad]]
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