Kimberly Hitchens will be sentenced Tuesday, April 26th, at 11:15 a.m. CT in Starke Circuit Court. She faces a charge of Assisting a Criminal, a Class D Felony.
Right before she was to stand trial, on April 8th, the State of Indiana dropped two charges she was facing from events surrounding a police shootout at Bass Lake in February 2010. Those included: Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery and Possession/Manufacturing of a Destructive Device.
The courtroom was full of family and friends of John Brooke as the jury returned to the courtroom with their verdict. The judge read their decision, his face calm, revealing nothing. As he began reading the verdict aloud, family members burst into tears while Brooke remained calm and collected, even in the face of the seriousness of the charges.
The jury found Brooke guilty of six of the seven counts against him: Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery, Intimidation, Possession and Manufacturing of a Destructive Device, Resisting Law Enforcement, Unlawful Use of Body Armor, and Assisting a Criminal. The jury found him not guilty of the count of Possession of a Destructive Device.
The trial of John Brooke continued Wednesday morning in Starke Circuit Court. The Prosecution called its first witness of the day to the stand: Starke County Detective Ron Lawson. Lawson testified that he had been called to a shooting incident on Summerholme Drive at Bass Lake and received a briefing from officers on the scene. He also said that he had interviewed John Brooke on three separate interviews to correct or understand discrepancies between interviews with Brooke, Michael Drogosz, and Kimberly Hitchens, who were also involved in the incident.
The trial of John Brooke, who was reportedly involved in an incident at Bass Lake in February of 2010, begins today in Starke Circuit Court. Brooke is facing seven charges against him. The trial begins at 9:00 a.m. in Judge Kim Hall’s courtroom. A jury of eight men and four women was seated on Friday.
Brooke was supposed to be on trial with Kimberly Hitchens but in a surprise development, Hitchens had charges of Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery and Possession/Manufacturing of a Destructive Device dismissed by the State of Indiana. She plead guilty to one charge of Aiding and Assisting a Criminal, a Class D felony. A sentencing hearing has not been set at this time.
The combined trial of Kimberly Hitchens and John Brooke is expected to begin with jury selection on Friday, April 8th at 9:00 a.m. in Starke Circuit Court.
According to court documents, on February 15th, 2010, Starke County officers went to a home at Bass Lake to serve an arrest warrant to Michael Drogosz, who allegedly planned an ambush on police when they served him the warrant. Kimberly Hitchens told police that Drogosz was not at the residence when they appeared. Drogosz was at the residence and in possession of assault rifles and incendiary devices and he did open fire on police with an assault weapon. An accomplice, James Reed, reportedly called John Brooke to come to the residence. He appeared carrying an assault rifle and wearing body armor.
Kimberly Hitchens appeared in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning for a plea hearing. Hitchens was reportedly involved in events surrounding the Bass Lake shooting incident with Starke County police that also involved Michael Drogosz and John Brooke. She has been charged with Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery, two counts of Possession/Manufacturing of a Destructive Device (aiding), and Assisting a Criminal.
A special Prosecutor has been named for the joined trial of Kimberly Hitchens and John Brooke in Starke Circuit Court. Howard County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Michael Krebes, has been appointed to represent the State of Indiana. The request for a special Prosecutor was made by Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff as Bourff had previous consultations regarding representation of the defendants.
The trial scheduled for this February has been postponed allowing the Special Prosecutor time to prepare for trial.
A special Prosecutor will be called in for the trial of Kimberly Hitchens and John Brooke. Hitchens appeared before Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall on Friday where the defense requested a special Prosecutor for the proceedings due to a conflict of interest. Judge Hall granted the request. The special Prosecutor has not yet been named.
Judge Hall also granted a request that would combine Hitchens’ trial with John Brooke. Hitchens trial was to begin this month. The combined trial will begin Monday, February 21st.
John Brooke, a suspect in events surrounding a shootout at Bass Lake in February, and his attorney, Dale Allen, told Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall Monday afternoon that they have failed to come to a satisfactory plea agreement with the court so they will move forward to trial.
The trial will begin on Monday, February 21st, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. CT and will last the week. Allen said there could be up to 50 witnesses called to take the stand. A final status hearing will be held on January 26th to ensure all paperwork is prepared for trial.
