MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Dec 21 2016, 8:34 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
the defense of res judicata, collateral Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Jane H. Conley Gregory F. Zoeller
Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Monika Prekopa Talbot
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Keith Cobbs, December 21, 2016
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
49A02-1606-CR-1446
v. Appeal from the Marion Superior
Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Barbara Crawford,
Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
49G09-1506-F6-20053
Altice, Judge.
Case Summary
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[1] Keith Cobbs appeals his conviction for criminal recklessness as a Level 6
felony. He raises one issue for our review: whether the State presented
sufficient evidence to rebut his claim of self-defense.
[2] We affirm.
Facts & Procedural History
[3] On June 9, 2015, several individuals, including Teddy Weems, were socializing
in Robert Ogletree’s backyard while Ogletree worked on a vehicle in his
driveway. Cobbs, who lived across the street, came to join them. As he entered
through the gate, Cobbs made a statement to the group that apparently angered
Weems, and the two began cursing at each other. Weems got up from his chair
on the porch, removed his glasses, and threw a coffee cup to the ground. The
two then began tussling and scratching each other’s faces in the driveway.
Weems quickly pinned Cobbs to the ground and held him there for about a
minute. Choosing not to hit Cobbs, Weems then told Cobbs to “let it go.”
Transcript at 64. Weems got off of Cobbs upon Ogletree’s request and began to
walk back to the group, believing the fight was over.
[4] As Weems walked away, Cobbs rose from the ground and grabbed a nearby
crowbar. He struck Weems, who was unarmed, in the back of the head
multiple times with the metal bar causing pain and lacerations. Cobbs also hit
Weems’s right wrist when Weems tried to block the blows to his head. After
the police responded, Weems was taken to the hospital where he received
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twenty-eight staples to the back of his head, as well as stitches on his wrist.
Cobbs was arrested.
[5] At the conclusion of the trial on May 4, 2016, the jury rejected Cobbs’s self-
defense claim and found him guilty of Level 6 felony criminal recklessness for
striking Weems with the metal crowbar. The jury, however, found him not
guilty of Class A misdemeanor battery, which was based on the scratching of
Weems’s face during the initial confrontation. On June 8, 2016, the trial court
sentenced Cobbs to 90 days in the Marion County Jail followed by 365 days of
home detention with GPS monitoring and 365 days on probation.
Discussion & Decision
[6] The standard for reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of evidence to rebut a
claim of self-defense is the same standard used for any claim of insufficient
evidence. Wilson v. State, 770 N.E.2d 799, 801 (Ind. 2002). We neither reweigh
the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses. Id. If there is sufficient
evidence of probative value to support the conclusion of the trier of fact, the
judgment will not be disturbed. Id.
[7] To prevail on his self-defense claim, Cobbs must show that he: (1) was in a
place where he had a right to be; (2) acted without fault; and (3) was in
reasonable fear or apprehension of bodily harm. Henson v. State, 786 N.E.2d
274, 277 (Ind. 2003); see also Ind. Code. § 35-41-3-2. A person who provokes,
instigates, or participates willingly in the violence does not act without fault for
the purposes of self-defense. Shoultz v. State, 995 N.E.2d 647, 660 (Ind. Ct. App.
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2013), trans. denied. A mutual combatant, whether or not the initial aggressor,
must declare an armistice before he may claim self-defense. Wilson, 770 N.E.2d
at 801.
[8] When self-defense is raised and finds support in the evidence, the State bears
the burden of negating at least one of the necessary elements. Id. at 800. The
State may meet its burden by offering evidence directly rebutting the defense, by
affirmatively showing that the defendant did not act in self-defense, or by
relying on the sufficiency of the evidence from its case-in-chief. Miller v. State,
720 N.E.2d 696, 700 (Ind. 1999). If a defendant is convicted despite his self-
defense claim, we will reverse only if no reasonable person could say that self-
defense was negated beyond a reasonable doubt. Wilson, 770 N.E.2d at 801.
[9] In arguing that he acted in self-defense by striking Weems multiple times with
the metal crowbar, Cobbs relies on his own self-serving testimony and ignores
contrary testimony provided by Weems and Ogletree. As set forth above, we
will not reweigh the evidence or judge witness credibility on appeal. Wilson,
770 N.E.2d at 801. The facts most favorable to the verdict reveal that Cobbs
engaged in mutual combat with Weems. The initial scuffle ended in Weems’s
favor after he pinned Cobbs to the ground. Weems then indicated that the fight
was over, released Cobbs, and began to walk away. Instead of retreating as
well, Cobbs obtained a metal crowbar and struck Weems multiple times on the
back of the head. The record is clear that at no time did Cobbs withdraw from
the encounter, which he was required to do as a precondition for a self-defense
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claim. See id. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to
rebut Cobbs’s self-defense claim.
[10] Judgment affirmed.
[11] Riley, J. and Crone, J., concur.
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