Jesse James Hess, Appellant-Defendant v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff (2026)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Case Summary

[1] On the morning of August 21, 2020, Jesse James Hess and two others brutally beat Dwayne French in the head with a baseball bat during a robbery. French died twelve days later as a result of his injuries and complications arising from his injuries. Hess was subsequently charged with, and convicted of, felony murder. Hess contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction. Concluding otherwise, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On the morning of August 21, 2020, Hess and two others waited for French to exit his Terre Haute home, beat him with a baseball bat, and took his wallet. Hess carried the baseball bat to and from the robbery. Hess was in possession of French's wallet after the robbery and split the money from the wallet with his accomplices. As a result of the attack, the side of French's face and the back of his head were “crushed.” Tr. Vol. III pp. 71, 72. French suffered at least four injuries to his head, including at least three fractures to his skull. French was transported to a hospital in Indianapolis, where he died twelve days later.

[3] Dr. John Cavanaugh, a forensic pathologist with the Marion County Coroner's Office, completed an autopsy on French. Dr. Cavanaugh concluded that French's cause of death was “[m]ultiple blunt force traumatic injuries of the head” and his manner of death was “[h]omicide.” Ex. Vol. VI p. 99. Dr. Cavanaugh explained that while the mechanism of French's death was pneumonia, the pneumonia had been caused by French's head injuries. Dr. Cavanaugh opined that French's pneumonia was secondary to the head injuries, describing the causes as a domino effect where “[w]hen one domino knocks over the next, next over the next, next over the next. [The pneumonia] would have been the last domino with the blunt force injuries being the first domino.” Tr. Vol. IV pp. 205–06.

[4] On August 8, 2022, the State charged Hess with felony murder, Level 2 felony robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, Level 3 felony armed robbery, Level 3 felony aggravated battery, and Level 5 felony battery by means of a deadly weapon. Following a four-day jury trial, the jury found Hess guilty of all but the Level 3 felony armed-robbery charge. On September 11, 2025, the trial court entered judgment of conviction for felony murder, vacated Hess's convictions on the remaining counts, and sentenced Hess to fifty-five years, with fifty years executed in the Department of Correction and five years suspended to probation.

Discussion and Decision

[5] When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, appellate courts must consider only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict. It is the fact-finder's role, not that of appellate courts, to assess witness credibility and weigh the evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to support a conviction. To preserve this structure, when appellate courts are confronted with conflicting evidence, they must consider it most favorably to the trial court's ruling. Appellate courts affirm the conviction unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. It is therefore not necessary that the evidence overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. The evidence is sufficient if an inference may reasonably be drawn from it to support the verdict.

Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146–47 (Ind. 2007) (internal brackets, citations, emphasis, and quotations omitted). Stated differently, in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, “we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences most favorable to the convictions, neither reweighing evidence nor reassessing witness credibility” and “affirm the judgment unless no reasonable factfinder could find the defendant guilty.” Griffith v. State, 59 N.E.3d 947, 958 (Ind. 2016).

[6] “A person who ․ kills another human being while committing or attempting to commit ․ robbery ․ commits murder, a felony.” Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1(2). “In Indiana, the State need not prove that the defendant's acts were the sole cause of death, only that the acts contributed, whether mediately or immediately, to the victim's death.” Sheckles v. State, 684 N.E.2d 201, 205 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997), trans. denied. The term “mediately” means “exhibiting indirect causation, connection, or relation[.]” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1402 (Phillip Babcock Gove et al. eds., G. & C. Merriam Company 1964). Indiana case law

comports with the view that a person who commits or attempts to commit one of the offenses designated in the felony-murder statute is criminally responsible for a homicide which results from the act of one who was not a participant in the original criminal activity. Where the accused reasonably should have been foreseen that the commission of or attempt to commit the contemplated felony would likely create a situation which would expose another to the danger of death at the hands of a nonparticipant in the felony, and where death in fact occurs as was foreseeable, the creation of such a dangerous situation is an intermediary, secondary, or medium in effecting or bringing about the death of the victim. There, the situation is a mediate contribution to the victim's killing.

Sheckles, 684 N.E.2d at 205. In challenging his conviction, Hess does not dispute that he participated in the robbery, arguing only that the evidence is insufficient to prove that his actions had mediately or immediately contributed to French's death. We disagree.

[7] The evidence at trial demonstrated that Dr. Cavanaugh concluded that French's cause of death was “[m]ultiple blunt force traumatic injuries of the head” and his manner of death was “[h]omicide.” Ex. Vol. VI p. 99. Dr. Cavanaugh explained that while the mechanism of French's death was pneumonia, the pneumonia had been caused by French's head injuries. Dr. Cavanaugh opined that French's pneumonia was secondary to the head injuries, describing the causes as a domino effect where “[w]hen one domino knocks over the next, next over the next, next over the next. [The pneumonia] would have been the last domino with the blunt force injuries being the first domino.” Tr. Vol. IV pp. 205–06. Dr. Cavanaugh further explained that after a traumatic injury,

[w]hat happens then is the body breaks down. These additional problems occur.․ So essentially he's coming down with pneumonia due to the brain injury and again, bedridden, intubated, and all this other stuff is occurring because of the head injury. It didn't just happen to him walking down the street. He never would have had that pulmonary disorder without the injury. And yet the injury of the head was to the head, not the lungs. So essentially this is the body giving out due to the injury. But these are non-specific lethal consequences. Use some dark medical humor, what we call a train wreck. Doesn't matter which car comes off the track first, the whole train's gone. So all his organs are breaking down at this point.

Tr. Vol. IV pp. 189–90. Dr. Cavanaugh's testimony is sufficient to prove that Hess's act of beating French in the head with a baseball bat had mediately, if not immediately, contributed to French's death.

[8] Furthermore, to the extent that Hess argues that the State failed to prove that French's death had been foreseeable, we conclude that the jury could reasonably infer that Hess had known or, at the very least, should have known that the traumatic head injuries he inflicted on French with the baseball bat could have led to French's death. Hess's claim to the contrary amounts to nothing more than an invitation for this court to reweigh the evidence, which we will not do. See Griffith, 59 N.E.3d at 958.

[9] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Bradford, Judge.

Pyle, J., and Kenworthy, J., concur.