A sentencing hearing held Wednesday morning for a man found guilty by a jury on charges of criminal recklessness and invasion of privacy was continued in Starke Circuit Court.
Jan Dollahan, Jr. faced a jury in a trial on the charges in April. The jury took less than an hour to deliver the verdicts. Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff previously stated that he presented testimony from the two victims, who lived next door to Dollahan. They said that Dollahan yelled obscenities at them, and then fired several rounds from two different weapons. They added that they were home with their two children when it happened in May of 2016.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Kim Hall stated that he had two items of concern with the closing statements during the trial. He asked both Prosecutor Bourff and Defense Attorney Matthew Patrick to reference case law in a future hearing that deals with appealing to the jury’s emotions rather than relying on the evidence when weighing a decision.
Judge Hall noted that there were a lack of objections from either side of the court during the course of the trial which he said is uncommon.
Dollahan did get a chance to make a statement during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing along with his wife and mother. They asked for leniency. They revealed that jail time would be difficult for the family as Dollahan’s wife provides for the family and wouldn’t be able to keep her job if he was in jail in order to take care of their eight-year-old and four-year-old children. They have since moved from their Knox home to be away from the discord between them and the neighbors.
One of the victims also spoke of finding peace since the trial and urged the family to do something with the dogs that were left at the residence as they appear to be malnourished.
The court rescheduled the sentencing hearing for Tuesday, June 26 at 2:30 p.m. CT in Starke Circuit Court.
