A jury trial that had been set in Starke Circuit Court last week for Jennie Carter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 9 a.m.
Carter was arrested and charged with Theft in March after she allegedly stole $7,748.40 from the Starke County Tourism Commission on June 2, 2011.
The trial for Christopher Stonebraker, a Winamac man accused of raping and battering his ex-wife, came to a close Friday in the Starke Circuit Court when the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty on both counts. Deliberation lasted roughly three hours and the verdict was returned at 7 p.m. The defense started their case Friday and called two witnesses to the stand before final arguments were heard.
The trial for Christopher Stonebraker, a Winamac man accused of raping and battering his ex-wife, came to a close Friday in the Starke Circuit Court when the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty on both counts. Deliberation lasted roughly three hours and the verdict was returned at 7 p.m. The defense started their case Friday and called two witnesses to the stand before final arguments were heard.
On Thursday, the state called nine witnesses to the stand, including two detectives, two forensic investigators from the Indiana State Police, the nurse who performed the rape exam on the victim, Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer, North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely, and Starke County dispatcher Dawn Bau, as well as the victim and a close friend.
The trial began on Wednesday in the Starke Circuit Court after a six-hour jury selection process. Stonebraker faces charges of Rape as a Class B felony and D-felony charges of Domestic Battery following his arrest in November, when police allege he raped his ex-wife and pushed her head into a wall, causing her tooth to chip. The probable cause affidavit stated that he also scratched her back in the presence of two children.
Stonebraker was found not guilty of both charges.
After a lengthy jury selection process, the trial for a Winamac man accused of raping his ex-wife began in the Starke Circuit Court yesterday. Christopher Stonebraker faces charges of Rape as a Class B felony and Domestic Battery as a Class D felony following his arrest in November.
The jury selection process ran from 9 a.m. to around 3 p.m., when the jury was finally seated. The assembled jury then heard their instructions for the case and opening statements were heard from both the defense and the state before the day came to a close.
Since being continued in late July, the jury trial in the case of Christopher Stonebraker has been set for this morning at 9 a.m. Stonebraker is charged with Rape as a Class B felony and Domestic Battery as a Class D felony following his arrest late last year.
Stonebraker was arrested on Nov. 28, 2011, and it is alleged that he raped his ex-wife and pushed her head into a wall, causing her tooth to chip. The probable cause affidavit stated that he also scratched her back in the presence of two children. Stonebraker was arrested by an officer from the Indiana State Police and taken to the Starke County Jail.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall sentenced William Baugh, 21 of Knox, last week after he pleaded guilty to a charge of Receiving Stolen Property in a plea agreement with the state.
Baugh testified that his ex-girlfriend gave him some zippo lighters to pawn at the pawn shop in Knox. Baugh also said that his ex-girlfriend had gotten them from her grandmother and it was okay for him to pawn them. According to more testimony, it was learned that the lighters were not the woman’s grandmother’s but her stepfather’s. The victim made a statement in court that the items were taken without his consent and was extremely upset that the items were stolen and pawned. He asked the pawn shop to hold those items because they were stolen and he called the police to make a report. The victim told Judge Hall that the items were sold anyway. He indicated that the lighters were a collection of his mother’s and there were over 200 of them in the collection worth $1,500. There were also some Star Wars memorabilia items that were pawned.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall presided over several plea and sentencing hearings Thursday afternoon.
James Toney appeared for his hearing. He was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance as a Class D Felony and had been incarcerated in the Starke County Jail since his arrest six months ago. He was charged after police found him in possession of one Vicadin pill in his pocket.
Two teenagers were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court yesterday for their involvement in a battery incident in May that left a man unconscious at times.
Daily James Potter and Jamal Green pleaded guilty to a charge of Theft in an incident where Potter and Green, plus two adult suspects John Potter and Brenan Sanchez, allegedly beat and kicked a Monterey man. Daily James Potter and Jamal Green stated in court that they were not involved in the battery but rather the theft of $400 in cash, a knife and prescription medication. They reached into the victim’s pockets, after he was on the ground after being battered, and took the money and a weekly pill container that contained several prescription medications.
Samuel Bradley received his sentence in the Starke Circuit Court earlier this month on a charge of Attempted Criminal Deviate Conduct as a Class B felony.
Bradley was charged with Attempted Criminal Deviate Conduct after he blocked a cell to prevent the victim, Todd Dalton, from leaving the cell while Adam Makowski and Buddy Blankenship assaulted him. According to the Starke County Sheriff’s Department’s case report, video tapes revealed that Makowski, Blankenship, and Bradley were involved in an assault against Dalton. The tapes showed that the trio had forced Dalton into the F-Block, where they tried to pull down his pants and assaulted him. Dalton said the three were trying to rape him because he refused to fight back during a prior altercation.
Bradley was found guilty in September, and was sentenced this month to 14 years in the Department of Corrections with none of that sentence suspended. Bradley may petition the court to allow him to serve the last two years of the sentence on home detention if he is accepted, but the state can object to that request.
Two individuals plead guilty to the charges against them as part of plea agreements in the Starke Circuit Court.
Joshua Barlow, 25 of Knox, pleaded guilty to an enhanced charge of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated with a Previous Conviction as a Class D felony. He admitted that on March 17 he had driven his vehicle while over the legal limit of 0.08 percent blood-alcohol concentration after he had been previous arrested and convicted on the same charge within five years.
The Starke Circuit Court yesterday afternoon heard a number of pleas and handed down sentences as several people pleaded guilty to the charges against them.
Lonzo Jackson, 21 of Knox, pleaded guilty to a Class C felony charge of Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with Intent to Manufacture Within 1000 Feet of a School. He admitted that on Nov. 26, he was in possession of lithium batteries and pseudoephedrine at his grandmother’s house, which is located near a church with preschool services. Jackson will serve six years on home detention through Community Corrections followed by two years of probation. He can also request an early release from his sentence if Community Corrections recommends it.
The jury came back with its verdict in the case against Ryan Taylor, a man charged with Arson after setting his mother’s car on fire with a flare in an attempt to destroy the vehicle.
The final arguments were heard yesterday morning, first from the state, then from the defense. The defense claimed Taylor was the rightful owner of the vehicle, having both possession and control of the vehicle after he said his mother gave it to him because she was moving to Florida; the state refutes that, saying his mother was still the legal owner to whom the vehicle was registered, and consequently, Taylor had no right to destroy it.
The jury trial for Ryan Taylor is well underway in Starke Circuit Court, and the final arguments are expected to be heard this morning at 11 a.m. The case will then go to the jury for a verdict. The state rested its case yesterday after a recess, and arguments on directed verdict were heard. The jury also heard the case from the defense.
Taylor is charged with Arson after he allegedly lit a car on fire, destroying it. The state claims the car rightfully belonged to Taylor’s mother and he had no right to destroy the vehicle, but the defense says Taylor was the actual owner, having both possession and control of the vehicle, so it was his right to do with the vehicle what he pleased.
The trial is expected to come to a close today.
The jury trial for Ryan Taylor began yesterday morning in the Starke Circuit Court with opening statements from both the state and the defense. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to a charge of Arson after he allegedly lit a car on fire, destroying it. The state claims the car rightfully belonged to Taylor’s mother and he had no right to destroy the vehicle, but the defense says Taylor was the actual owner, having both possession and control of the vehicle, so it was his right to do with the vehicle what he pleased.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ryan said Taylor was seen driving a white pickup truck in rural Starke County by a witness who had driven past him on the road. The witness then stumbled upon a burning vehicle and reported it to police, but by the time emergency crews could arrive, the fire had entirely destroyed the vehicle. When police went to the home of the woman to whom the vehicle was registered, they found Taylor at the home with a package of three flares in his pickup truck.
Aaron Armes of Knox appeared in the Starke Circuit Court last week for a plea hearing. An agreement was reached between Armes and the state and has been filed in court. A plea and sentencing hearing for Armes has been set for Oct. 18 at 9:30 a.m.
Armes faces two cases in the court, including one case charging him with Theft as a Class D felony, Possession of Methamphetamine as a Class D felony, and Possession of Paraphernalia as a Class A misdemeanor. His second and latest case stems from his arrest in January when he turned himself in to police. Armes was wanted by police after authorities conducted a search at a camper on 200 South in Knox and found items associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine.
A Knox man appeared in the Starke Circuit Court this week for his sentencing hearing, but the state withdrew the plea agreement after he racked up a number of new charges.
Fifty-one-year-old Lolus Johnson was arrested in March for allegedly stealing a pair of sandals from Dollar General. When police found him and patted him down, they allegedly found a marijuana cigarette and other controlled substances. He was arrested and faces charges of Theft, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Marijuana.
A Starke County inmate who escaped from home detention was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning.
Robert Spencer pleaded guilty to Escape, a Class B Felony, and Criminal Mischief, a Class D Felony, in a plea agreement with the State. He also committed a probation violation. He admitted that he was on home detention and cut off his ankle monitor and fled. Starke County Community Corrections staff convinced him to turn himself in and he did.
A sentence was handed down to 40-year-old Bryan Timm in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning after he pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the State on a charge of Battery Causing Serious Bodily Injury, a Class C Felony.
Timm explained to Judge Kim Hall that he and the victim in this case, his wife, have been going to marital counseling and are working on their issues in order to exist as a family for their children. He was arrested on Feb. 9 after an argument with his wife. The argument escalated to the point where he grabbed a hold of her hand and twisted it and broke a bone in her hand. The State said in open court that the victim is still undergoing physical therapy.
Two Starke County residents were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to methamphetamine-related charges.
Kristen Webb and Joseph Givens pleaded guilty to charges of Possession of Methamphetamine and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. They were ordered to serve three years for the charge of Possession of Methamphetamine which will be served on home detention. On the charge of Maintaining a Common Nuisance, the pair were sentenced to three years in the Department of Corrections with all of that sentence suspended to be served on probation. They were ordered to pay court costs and a drug interdiction fee of $250. If they successfully complete probation, they can petition the court for modification for misdemeanor treatment.
Webb and Givens were arrested after an incident on Nov. 23, 2011 when Knox City Police officers executed a search warrant at a home on Portland Street and drug activity was present.
Disregard for following rules of the court was a key factor during Christopher Gross’ sentencing hearing Wednesday morning in Starke Circuit Court.
Gross pleaded guilty to a Class D Felony count of Possession of a Controlled Substance in a plea agreement with the State. As Judge Kim Hall reviewed his court file, Hall noted that Gross was negligent in paying child support and Gross had previously violated terms of his pre-trial release to serve home detention. Gross told the court that he couldn’t afford the house arrest fee, but Judge Hall saw in his record that Gross reportedly was found to be under the influence of alcohol which is a probation violation. His record also showed that he was previously arrested for Operating a Vehicle with a Controlled Substance in the Body.
