Brown v. State
| Docket Number | 22A-CR-01241 |
| Decision Date | 26 October 2023 |
| Parties | Jason Dane Brown, Appellant-Defendant, v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Appeal from the Marion Superior Court The Honorable Mark Stoner Judge Trial Court Cause No. 49D32-1708-MR-028177
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Ann M. Sutton Marion County Public Defender Agency Indianapolis, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Theodore E. Rokita Indiana Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana Tyler Banks Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana Courtney Staton Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana
[¶ 1] Jason Dane Brown appeals his conviction of murder.[1] He presents two issues for our review, which we expand and restate as:
Facts and Procedural History[2]
[¶ 2] On July 27, 2017, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Brown and Hassan London were in a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on Madison Avenue in Indianapolis. Brown, who was driving, made a sudden lane change, swerved to the right, overcorrected, and ran into the curb. Upon impact with the curb, the vehicle bounced off the curb, slid across the road, hit the median strip between the north and south lanes of Madison Avenue, and then started to roll. The vehicle "[e]nded up on the front lawn [of a house] upside down[.]" (Tr. Vol. VI at 126.) After the car came to a stop in the front lawn, London exited the car, seemingly uninjured, though he was "disoriented." (Id. at 97.) There was extensive damage to the property where the car stopped, and the property owner asked London, "what were you thinking?" to which London replied, "we were just getting high and driving fast." (Id. at 101-2.) The property owner noticed Brown was still in the vehicle, upside down, and suspended by his seatbelt. The property owner called 911.
[¶ 3] Shortly after the crash, Michele Strack, a nurse passing by, approached the overturned vehicle to render aid and observed Brown suspended upside down in the vehicle. He appeared to be unconscious. Strack felt for a pulse and lifted Brown's chin to ensure he was breathing. Another nurse who was passing by at the time of the accident, Angela Cook, also stopped to help. Cook did not observe any injuries on Brown but did not move him because he may have sustained a neck injury. She noticed Brown was "reaching for things, or fidgeting with things" on the roof of the vehicle that had fallen out of his pockets. (Id. at 213.)
[¶ 4] Shortly thereafter, Major Charles Bowman of the Homecroft Police Department and Lieutenant Allan of the Southport Police Department responded to a report of a car accident on Madison Avenue in Indianapolis. When they arrived, Lieutenant Allan got down on his knees and crawled toward the passenger side of the vehicle. He spoke to Brown, who was still agitated and fidgety. Lieutenant Allan asked Brown if he knew what happened and if he knew what day it was. Brown mumbled in response and gave Lieutenant Allan his driver's license. Brown continued to move around.
Lieutenant Allan asked him to stop moving around and explained that medical personnel were worried about a neck injury. Brown told Lieutenant Allan his name was "Jason." (State's Ex. 148 at 0:42.)
[¶ 5] Lieutenant Allan continued to try to calm Brown and reminded him to stay still while medical personnel were determining Brown's condition. Suddenly, Brown yelled "fuck you" and said "give me the fucking gun." (Id. at 1:09 -:11.) Lieutenant Allan backed out of the car and told Brown to stop. Brown again yelled profanities at Lieutenant Allan and began touching his own clothing. Lieutenant Allan looked back into the car and yelled, "he's trying to grab something out of his pocket." (Id. at 1:20.) Lieutenant Allan told Brown to stop. Brown pulled a firearm from the back of his waistband, lifted the firearm, and shot Lieutenant Allan until the firearm ran out of ammunition.
[¶ 6] Officer Kevin Conjelko of the Johnson County Sheriff's Department was off duty, but stopped at the scene when he passed by shortly after the accident occurred. While helping others on scene, Officer Conjelko heard gunfire. He immediately dropped to his knees, pointed his firearm at Brown, and shot six rounds in Brown's direction. Officer Conjelko returned to his vehicle, reloaded his gun, and fired two more shots toward Brown. Chief John Ryan of the Homecroft Police Department, who was also on the scene, fired two shots toward Brown as well.
[¶ 7] When the gunfire stopped, Strack observed a person "down in the grass . . . someone laying on their back." (Tr. Vol. V at 65.) She said, "we've got someone down" and officers went to the person on the ground. (Id.) One of the officers said, "Allan is down." (Id.) Officer Conjelko attempted to speak to Lieutenant Allan, who was unresponsive. Officer Conjelko then rolled Lieutenant Allan over and "just saw massive trauma everywhere." (Id. at 140.) He saw "multiple entry wounds, exit wounds . . . [that were] no longer bleeding." (Id.) Shortly thereafter, medical personnel took Lieutenant Allan to the hospital. Lieutenant Allan died later that day from gunshot wounds to his right forearm, right upper arm, right knee, right lateral chest, right lower abdomen, right buttock, central lower abdomen, left forearm, left side, and left medial thigh. The autopsy indicated the shot through the left side was likely fatal because it struck Lieutenant Allan's heart.
[¶ 8] After medical personnel removed Lieutenant Allan from the scene, Officer Christopher Hemphill of the Homecroft Police Department arrived in response to the Code One[3] radio call. He learned from another officer, who still had his gun drawn, that Brown shot Lieutenant Allan. Officer Hemphill looked inside the vehicle where he saw Brown and the gun, which had "the slide locked back."[4] (Tr. Vol. VI at 29.)
[¶ 9] Officer Hemphill approached Brown, who was still hanging by his seatbelt in the overturned vehicle. He told Brown he was going to remove him from the vehicle so Brown needed to put his hands outside the car. He then told Brown (Id.) Brown complied with Officer Hemphill's directions. Officer Hemphill cut the seatbelt. Another officer dragged Brown toward the back of the car, searched him, handcuffed him, and then allowed medics to treat him.
[¶ 10] Paramedics transported Brown in an ambulance to Eskenazi Hospital. En route, Brown began to "moan and groan and talk." (Id. at 62.) He was able to give paramedics his name and indicated he "knew what happened." (Id.) At some point after Brown arrived at the hospital, medical personnel took a blood sample and a urine sample as part of his care. Brown sustained gunshot wounds to his left forearm, right neck, right cheek, nose, and the top of his head.
[¶ 11] The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department assigned Detective Mark Prater to investigate the case. He immediately applied for and was granted search warrants for Brown's vehicle, the crime scene, and Brown's clothing. In the vehicle, Officer Christine Hagan of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, who was assisting Detective Prater with the investigation, found eighteen spent bullet cartridges along with a nine-millimeter handgun with the "slide . . . in the locked back position . . . [and there] was no unfired cartridge in the chamber, and the magazine was empty." (Tr. Vol. V at 212.) She also Court found a "potential quart-size Ziplock [sic] baggy [sic] that contained smaller bags with possible marijuana in them" and a scale in the vehicle. (Id. at 211.)
[¶ 12] Detective Prater did not request a blood sample at the time of his initial investigation because "[t]here was no information that would warrant us getting a blood draw at that time." (Tr. Vol. VI at 147.) However, after consulting with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, "the decision was made to try to obtain a blood sample" from Brown on the day of the crime. (Id.) On August 15, 2017, after obtaining a search warrant for Brown's blood sample, Detective Prater attempted to obtain the blood sample taken from Brown at Eskenazi Hospital shortly after the crime. A representative of Eskenazi Hospital indicated the blood sample had been destroyed, but Brown's urine sample, which was collected at about the same time, was still available. After obtaining an additional search warrant for the urine sample, Detective Prater collected the urine sample on August 15, 2017, and sent it to a laboratory for analysis. Brown's urine sample tested positive for THC; cocaine; two different types of "spice," a synthetic cannabinoid; and hydromorphone, which was likely present because of the opioid pain medication Brown was given in the hospital.
[¶ 13] On August 1, 2017, the State charged Brown with murder and Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana.[5] On September 28, 2017, the State filed notice of its intent to pursue the death penalty. On May 24 2021, Brown filed a motion to exclude the results of the toxicology report. He argued toxicology results from a urinalysis are not relevant under Indiana Evidence Rule 401 "because impairment or intoxication cannot be inferred from the results of a urine screen." (App. Vol. IX at 131.) Additionally, Brown asserted the results should be...
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