Newland McElfresh v. State of Indiana

DAVID, Justice.

While Newland McElfresh was in jail awaiting his guilty plea hearing, he wrote an intimidating and coercive letter to the mother of the child victim who was the subject of the child molestation charges McElfresh was intending to plead guilty to. The letter and the surrounding circumstances provided sufficient evidence to support a conviction for attempted ob struction of justice. A reasonable trier of fact could have concluded that McElfresh’s intent in sending the letter was an attempt to influence the child into changing her prior allegations against him before the court…