Joseph Quail was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Tuesday, June 4 after being found guilty of several charges in a jury trial held in mid-May.
A 12-member jury found Quail guilty on all counts to be considered by the jury including a Level 5 Felony count of criminal recklessness, a Level 6 Felony count of criminal recklessness, a Class A misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy, a Class A misdemeanor count of criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor count of criminal trespass, and a Class B misdemeanor count of criminal recklessness.
Testimony and evidence presented during the trial indicated that Quail fired a firearm into the victim’s car causing damage while parked at her house in the overnight hours and also violated an active protective order in an incident April 11, 2023.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Starke County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Poulos, Defense Attorney Alex Hoover and Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall discussed the charges for which Quail was found guilty. They found that several counts fall under the Level 5 Felony count of criminal recklessness with same evidence and run the risk of double jeopardy so Judge Hall did not enter a judgment of conviction on those counts. He considered the Level 5 Felony count of criminal recklessness and the Class A misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy.
The victim made a statement where she indicated that she continued to be terrified of Quail and was worried about her welfare and the welfare of her family.
Judge Hall noted that there were about 10 letters of support of his character and community standing included in the pre-sentence investigation report collected by Starke County Court Services. He took time to read each of those letters in his chambers before handing down a sentence.
In his statement, Quail apologized to the victim and to his family and told the court that he would prove that he would work on himself and continue to support his family and his son if he was allowed to serve his entire sentence on probation – the recommendation that his attorney provided the court.
Judge Hall noted the mitigating factors and aggravating factors when determining Quail’s sentence. Judge Hall said Quail has a limited misdemeanor criminal history and has a lot of support of family and friends. He successfully served over 300 days with electronic monitoring through Starke County Court Services with no violations through the conclusion of the trial. Aggravating factors include the nature of the crime, the potential harm, the violation of a protective order, property damage, and discharge of a firearm.
In the end, Judge Hall sentenced Quail to five years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with the last two years of the sentence to be served on electronic monitoring through Starke County Court Services on the count of criminal recklessness. On the count of invasion of privacy, Quail was sentenced to six months to be served in the Starke County Justice Center. Those sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time.
Quail was also ordered to pay $1,200 in restitution.
Quail has the right to appeal his sentence. He told Judge Hall that he will communicate with him his wishes to move forward with that decision.
