Appeals court upholds convictions in stabbing and child molestation cases

The Indiana Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the appeal of a Chicago woman who said her conviction for stabbing her sister’s boyfriend in the heart was too harsh.

Tamika Graves, who was 43 at the time sentenced in May After pleading guilty to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, a Level 5 felony. He was sentenced to four years in prison and two years of supervised release.

Indiana Appellate Judge Mark Bailey wrote in a 3-0 decision that the law gives judges wide leeway. He stated that Graves had a criminal history and violated probation by stabbing the man.

“Graves argued with the landlord about music, waited for him to return to his apartment, and then stabbed him in the chest, inflicting a near-fatal wound,” Bailey wrote. Instead of calling for help, Graves went to the sink, washed the knife, and left the apartment. Smith remained in the hospital for about a month. He was intubated for ten days and required multiple surgeries to insert a plate into his chest and rods next to his ribcage. “He needs medication to improve his heart function for the rest of his life.”

“Nothing we know about the nature of the crime warrants a lesser sentence,” he wrote.

Sentence for child molestation upheld

Aaron Seidel of Hobart, then 39 years old sentenced to 12 years in prison and will be sentenced to an additional four years of probation in March for inappropriately touching a girl when she was 10 years old.

He has been convicted twice of Level 4 child molestation.

He argued in his appeal that Judge Gina Jones should not have used the girl’s age as an aggravating factor to give him a higher sentence. He argued that his age was already taken into account in the charges.

In a 3-0 decision, Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Mark Bailey also rejected it.

Even if they granted the appeal, Seidel had two prior felony convictions, violated probation, and was an adult in the child’s life. Bailey wrote that Jones could also use those factors for an aggravated sentence.