Kerner v. State

178 N.E.3d 1215

Connor Ralland KERNER, Appellant-Defendant,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

Court of Appeals Case No. 20A-CR-2377

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

FILED October 22, 2021

Attorneys for Appellant: James H. Voyles, Jr., Jennifer Lukemeyer, Tyler D. Helmond, Voyles Vaiana Lukemeyer Baldwin & Webb, Indianapolis, Indiana

Attorneys for Appellee: Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, Ellen H. Meilaender, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana

Mathias, Judge.

[1] About one month shy of his eighteenth birthday, Connor Kerner murdered Thomas Grill (Thomas) and Molley Lanham (Molley), placed their bodies in Molley's car, set the car on fire in a remote location, attempted to cover up the crime, and took steps to permanently dispose of the charred remains. Ultimately, Kerner was convicted of two counts of murder, two counts of attempted robbery, and one count of arson. And the trial court imposed a 179-year aggregate sentence.

[2] On appeal, Kerner raises several issues for review, which we restate as the following four:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in admitting certain evidence at trial;

II. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support his convictions for attempted robbery;

III. Whether his convictions for murder and attempted robbery violate the prohibition against double jeopardy; and

IV. Whether his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of his offenses and his character.

[3] Finding a double jeopardy violation flowing from his two convictions for attempted robbery, we vacate the conviction on Count VI. We affirm in all other aspects.

Facts and Procedural History

[4] Around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 24, 2019, Thomas and Molley arrived at Thomas's brother's apartment in Schererville, Indiana. The couple was returning from Denver, Colorado, and they had with them a large quantity of liquid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cartridges. Thomas and Kerner had previous drug dealings, and they planned to meet that evening to settle a $15,000 debt Kerner owed. To settle the debt, Kerner "was supposed to give [Thomas] 37 pounds of marijuana" in exchange for 1,000 THC cartridges. Tr. Vol. III, p. 205. That night, Thomas took the cartridges and Molley drove the couple in her black Honda Civic to meet Kerner at his grandparents’ home in Hebron, Indiana. Id. at 204–05.¹ Kerner's grandparents were in New Mexico at the time. But because Kerner "had nothing for [Thomas]," id. at 214, they decided to meet the following day.

[5] The next day, Monday, February 25, Kerner left his high school—where he was a senior—around 10:15 a.m. with another student, John Silva, and Kerner drove the two of them to his grandparents’ home. Meanwhile, Molley and Thomas left for the same location, with plans to "be back by 1:00 p.m." Id. at 205. At 11:38 a.m., Thomas text messaged his brother "that he was eight minutes away." Id. at 207.

[6] Though it is not entirely clear what happened after Thomas and Molley arrived at Kerner's grandparents’ home that day, the evidence favorable to the jury's verdict reveals the following circumstances and sequence of events. On arrival, Molley stayed in the vehicle while Thomas went inside to meet with Kerner. Despite their arrangement to settle Kerner's debt, Thomas and Kerner planned to rob one another. Silva was inside the home, apparently armed with Kerner's grandfather's 9mm handgun—but outside the presence of Thomas and Kerner. And Kerner was armed with a Glock 43 handgun owned by his mother.

[7] At approximately 11:57 a.m., either inside the garage or at its interior entryway, Kerner fired six shots at Thomas, striking him at least once. Thomas fell to the ground, and Kerner told him to "[g]et the fuck up." Ex. Vol. XVII, State's Ex. 490. Thomas responded, "I don't have it." Id. Then, because Kerner "ran out of bullets" and the "motherfucker wouldn't die," Kerner grabbed a nearby wrench and beat Thomas to death. Tr. Vol. IV, p. 5. Kerner then walked to the driveway where Molley sat inside the parked vehicle. He instructed her to exit the car and follow him into the garage. There, Kerner showed her Thomas's lifeless body and said, "This is what I'm going to do if you tell anyone what I did. This is going to be you." Id. at 5–6. Molley pleaded with him to let her go, and he initially agreed. But when she turned to leave, Kerner "shot her in the head and killed her." Id. at 6; see also Tr. Vol. V, pp. 137–38; Tr. Vol. VI, p. 42.

[8] Kerner's immediate priority was to return to his home in Valparaiso—about thirty minutes from his grandparents’ home—so that he could drive his mother, Roxann, to the airport for a two-day business trip.² Silva collected several items in a bag, and he and Kerner left around 12:30 p.m. During the next several hours, Kerner drove Roxann to the airport, returned to his grandparents’ home, got his haircut, had dinner with his girlfriend, Holly Letnich, and her family, and spent time with Holly at his house.

[9] At Kerner's house that evening, Holly could "tell that something had been bothering" him, and so she asked what was wrong. Tr. Vol. III, p. 244. Kerner eventually admitted that "he had done something really bad." Id. He elaborated that, "around noon" at his grandparents’ house, "he had killed someone and that he had killed an innocent girl." Id. at 244–45; Tr. Vol. IV, p. 34. Kerner identified the deceased "as Thomas Grill and Molley Lanham"—individuals that Holly did not know. Tr. Vol. III, p. 245. Kerner then informed Holly that "he was going to go back after [she] had left and clean some things up." Id. Upon hearing Kerner's confession, Holly "didn't believe him"; she left around midnight "unsure that it was real" and "slightly afraid." Id. at 245–46.

[10] After Holly left, Kerner drove to a local Walmart and purchased several items, including bottles of fire-starter fluid, two propane tanks, packs of towels, rubber cleaning gloves, a paint brush, wall spackle, and various cleaning supplies. From there, Kerner went to his grandparents’ house, where he spent the next several hours cleaning the crime scene, putting Thomas's and Molley's bodies into the Honda Civic, driving the vehicle into a wooded area about two miles away, setting the vehicle on fire, and walking back to his grandparents’ house.

[11] The following day, Tuesday, February 26, Kerner did not go to school. When Roxann chastised him via text message about the unexcused absence, he responded, "I understand but you don't know about last night and that's what matters. Say no more [and] I'll explain when you get home." Ex. Vol. XV at 90. Roxann asked if she could call Kerner to which he replied, "Absolutely not. Can't talk about it." Id. at 91. Later that morning, Kerner went to a local hardware store, where he purchased spray paint, muriatic acid, and an adhesive remover. He then drove to his grandparents’ house and continued his attempt to remove all evidence of the previous day's events. Kerner left around 2:30 p.m., about ninety minutes before his grandparents returned home from their trip.

[12] Upon arriving home, Kerner's grandfather, Gerald Dye, realized that his 9mm handgun, which he had left "in the garage in its case," was missing. Tr. Vol. V, p. 204. Because he and Kerner had previously used the firearm together, Gerald called his grandson "to see if he had [the] 9mm." Id. at 231. When Kerner confirmed he had the gun, Gerald went to pick it up. Kerner told his grandfather that he had planned to "do some target shooting." Id. Gerald, however, found this explanation "[u]nusual," as Kerner had never shot the firearm by himself. Id. at 198; Tr. Vol. VI, p. 7.

[13] Meanwhile, Thomas's and Molley's families learned that the two were missing and took steps to locate them. Thomas's mother, Patricia Grill, discovered that the couple had planned to meet Kerner the previous day. So, Patricia traveled with two of her sons and one of Molley's sisters to the Valparaiso Police Department, where they "tried to talk to a detective."³ Tr. Vol. III, p. 177. They "also drove and looked for Thomas and Molley throughout" the surrounding county. Id.

[14] After having no success, Patricia located Roxann's Facebook profile and sent her the following message: "My son Thomas and his girlfriend Molley were supposed to meet your son Connor Monday at 12:00 p.m. They haven't been seen since. Wondering if Connor knows anything [ ] that could help us. Please and thank you we are desperate." Ex. Vol. XV at 99. Roxann forwarded the message to Kerner and asked, "Who is Thomas??" Id. Kerner explained to his mom, through an encrypted messaging system, that he was supposed to meet Thomas for a drug deal, but that Thomas "said he was going to Illinois first instead and that was the last [Kerner] heard from him." Id. at 103. Later that night, Holly "screen-shotted" a missing person's report from Instagram and sent it to Kerner, asking, "What is this?" Tr. Vol. III, p. 249. Kerner responded, "Jesus." Id.

[15] The next morning, Wednesday, February 27, Kerner met with Silva and informed him that "[e]veryone thinks [Thomas] went missing in ... Illinois." Ex. Vol. XVII, State's Ex. 489. Silva handed Kerner the bag of items that he had removed from the crime scene and told Kerner, "I know I'm not tripping, because I know and you know I didn't pull the trigger. I didn't shoot ‘em or nothing. I didn't do none of that. I just helped you clean it." Id. Kerner responded, "Yeah." Id. And the two parted ways.

[16] Also that morning, after learning of Thomas's and Kerner's planned meet-up, a police officer investigating the missing person's report called Kerner. He told the officer the same story he had given Roxann the previous night: "[Thomas] had told me that instead of coming at 11:30, he was, like, hey, I got to run out to Illinois real quick, so I will be back in like six hours." Ex. Vol. XIII at 50. Kerner also relayed this version of events to Patricia when she contacted him later...