State Court Denies Todd’s Appeal
By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews
Rodriguez S. Todd
WARSAW — The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed convictions and sentences against Rodriguez Todd, who raped a woman in Warsaw over 20 years ago.
During a three-day jury trial in September 2022, Todd, 53, was found guilty of rape and kidnapping, both Class A felonies. He was sentenced in October 2022 to 40 years in the Indiana Department of Correction on each charge, with both counts to run consecutively.
Todd is currently serving his 80-year sentence at the Indiana State Prison, with an estimated release date of Sept. 13, 2062.
In his appeal, Todd argued the trial court erred in denying Todd’s motion to dismiss the case due to delays within court proceedings, and also argued the sentence he received was inappropriate.
A 14-page memorandum decision filed by the Court of Appeals on March 30 ruled Todd’s sentence was appropriate and that the trial court did not err by denying Todd’s motion to dismiss the case.
Todd argued his case should have been dismissed based on Criminal Rule 4. In Indiana, this rule declares an individual accused of a crime has to be released on their own recognizance if they are incarcerated without a trial for a period exceeding six months from the date they were charged or arrested. Two delays in Todd’s case between Nov. 15, 2021, through Feb. 7, 2022, were attributed to Todd by the trial court.
In regards to Criminal Rule 4, the Court of Appeals ruled the trial court’s record clearly states Todd took action which delayed the proceedings. A statement from Todd’s counsel in court states Todd requested a belated pretrial conference in the case as additional time was needed to resolve discovery issues and conduct depositions.
“Todd took an action that caused a delay in the proceedings and resulted in a later trial date,” read the Court’s memorandum decision. “We therefore cannot say that the court erred when it denied Todd’s motion for discharge.”
With consecutive sentencing on Todd’s charges, the Court of Appeals ruled Todd misconstrued the court’s record on aggravators and mitigators within his case. The trial court identified Todd’s criminal history and a prior probation violation as two aggravators.
“Either aggravator on its own would have been sufficient for the court to impose consecutive sentences,” read the decision.
The memorandum decision further states Todd’s 80-year sentence was appropriate due to the nature of the offenses. The presumptive sentence for a Class A felony in 1999 was 30 years, with the court permitted to add up to 20 years for aggravating factors or subtract up to 10 years for mitigating factors. At Todd’s sentencing, the trial court listed two aggravators and found no mitigators.
“Todd has not presented compelling evidence portraying the nature of the offenses in a positive light,” read the decision. “We therefore cannot say that Todd’s sentence is inappropriate in light of his character.”
The Case
On Nov. 23, 1999, a woman from Logansport said she was kidnapped by a black man with fake facial hair at a gas station in Warsaw, in the area of Center and Detroit Streets. The man took the woman to a wooded area, raped her twice and left the scene.
The case remained cold until April 2019, when Indiana State Police were notified that a Combined DNA Index System search resulted in a computer match between Todd and a portion of the DNA profile entered earlier in the investigation.
The collected DNA profile was at least one trillion times more likely if it originated from the woman and Todd than if it originated from the woman and an unknown person.
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