Child molestation case heard in law school

Judges from the Indiana Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Monday in the IU School of Law in a case regarding two counts of child molestation in Mishler v. State of Indiana.

This was a part of the “Appeals on Wheels” program, which brings some of the state’s appellate hearings to places in Indiana for educational purposes.

The case, which was on appeal from a trial court in Elkhart County, sought to answer whether the admission of specific evidence violated the defendant’s right to cross-examine the victim.

In the original case, Paul Mishler was sentenced to 100 years after he was convicted of two counts of molesting his fiancée’s 10-year-old daughter, with whom he lived.

Mishler’s lawyer, Juan Garcia, Jr., argued Monday the admission of a video-tape interview of the victim and school officials violated his client’s right to cross-examine the victim and failed to meet the tests for admissibility under the Protected Persons Statute.

Arguing for the state, Deputy Attorney General Joby Jerrells told the judges the pre-trial statements were admissible under the Protected Persons Statute, and Mishler was allowed to cross-examine the victim on two other occasions.

The disputed statements were given pre-trial in an interview conducted by school officials, a child protective services representative and a forensic interviewer.

Garcia mentioned possible inconsistencies in the victim’s statements. Also the victim did not report the acts of molestation until about a month after the second incident. Garcia claimed these two factors make her testimony questionable.

Garcia also argued the sentence length of 50 years per charge, the maximum sentence under the law, was excessive given his client’s relatively clean criminal background.

Garcia asked the judges to consider reducing the sentence to about 30 years for each count. The minimum sentence for this offence is 20 years.

A ruling on cases is usually not given until about 30 days after the arguments.
After both lawyers presented their cases, the judges adjourned the court and took time to answer questions from attendees, many of whom were law students.

Chief Judge John G. Baker – one of the three judges who heard the case – is an adjunct professor at the School of Law, and many of the attendees were his students.

Students and Monroe County officials watched the arguments in the Moot Court Room. Arguments are normally heard at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, but this program is used to educate people – many law students – about the judicial and appellate process.