The Indianapolis Bar Association (“IndyBar”) has learned of recent public statements attacking the Marion County criminal justice system generally, and the Honorable Mark D. Stoner specifically. These statements come in the wake of Judge Stoner’s sentencing of Elliahs Dorsey (“Dorsey”), the individual charged in the April 2020 shooting death of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (“IMPD”) Officer Breann Leath. Officer Leath was tragically shot to death after responding to a call regarding a disturbance between a male and a female. Dorsey went to trial by jury in February 2024 and was found Guilty but Mentally Ill of multiple charges surrounding the shooting of Officer Leath and a civilian. After he was recently sentenced, some issued misleading statements that have mischaracterized the facts of the case as well as the sentence pronounced by Judge Stoner. Everyday citizens consuming local media coverage of this sentencing have been grossly misinformed of the facts of this judicial proceeding and what the result truly means.
After hours of deliberation, Dorsey’s jury acquitted him of Murder. The jury found Dorsey Guilty but Mentally Ill of lesser included offenses. After Dorsey’s sentence was pronounced, some made statements that either implied or outright erroneously stated that Judge Stoner inappropriately sentenced Dorsey to far less than the maximum sentence in the killing of Officer Leath. Some made remarks in the local media that dangerous offenders can shoot anyone and simply say they have a mental health problem, and they will receive a “sweetheart” sentence. This rhetoric is dangerous, and it is false. All six of the doctors serving as expert witnesses in this case agreed that Dorsey was experiencing an episode of psychosis when he fired shots in April 2020. The disagreement among the expert witness doctors was only as to what caused the episode.
For the killing of Officer Leath, the Court was limited to only a six-year sentence based on what the jury found Dorsey guilty of. When judges sentence offenders convicted of crimes, they are limited by the statutory sentencing ranges for the crime. When deciding on the appropriate sentence, judges are required to start in the middle of that range and then consider specific statutory factors, called mitigating and aggravating factors, when deciding whether to impose a harsher sentence or a lighter sentence. The sentence Judge Stoner imposed on Dorsey for the count of Reckless Homicide was nine months shy of the maximum sentence allowed under the law. There is no statutory aggravator to enable judges to impose a harsher sentence on Reckless Homicide when the victim is a police officer who is killed in the line of duty.
When Judge Stoner sentenced Dorsey specifically for the killing of Officer Leath, he was confined to the sentencing parameters of a Level 5 felony, namely: one to six years. Judge Stoner sentenced Dorsey to five and one-third years, nine months shy of the maximum sentence. Dorsey’s total sentence for the crimes he committed in April 2020 was 45 years and 118 days, 30 years of which is to be executed in prison followed by 15 years of probation where the Court will monitor Dorsey’s behavior and mental health condition. Should Dorsey not abide by the conditions of his mental health probation, he could be sent back to prison to serve the remainder of his 15-year term of probation.
We celebrate and encourage individuals to express their right to free speech. We believe in the importance of civil discourse as it relates to our justice system and are adamant that it is vital for individuals to be able to express their concerns as to the work being done in our criminal justice system. It is also important for the public to know that judges are not allowed to participate in this discourse. Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 1.2 requires judges to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.” As such, judges and their staff are prohibited from making any public statements that “might reasonably be expected to affect the outcome or impair the fairness of a matter pending or impending in any court, or many any nonpublic statement that might substantially interfere with a fair trial or hearing.”
Given the judiciary’s inability to respond to the misperceptions that have been presented by individuals in local media airings and articles, IndyBar has an obligation to this community to issue a meaningful response that accurately depicts the facts as determined by the jury and the law as it is written. The statements made and then aired or published by local media takes advantage of our community’s well-placed desire to ensure that crimes against police officers are taken seriously. However, these statements mischaracterize the facts and law as it relates to the Dorsey case. At best, these statements are ignorant of the law at issue, and include incomplete or false narratives. At worst, they blatantly twist facts to further their own agendas. The result is the same: a grave disservice to the citizens of Indianapolis.
There is no doubt that the shooting death of Officer Leath is a senseless tragedy. It is understandable that officers and citizens are aggrieved by the fact that the shooter was not sentenced to a much longer period of incarceration. However, misrepresenting the facts and the law to cast blame on a specific judge and the courts at large is misplaced. If reckless homicide of a police officer should carry with it a harsher sentence than the maximum of six years it currently carries, we have a responsibility to inform our legislators on this issue and to advocate for changes to the law. Only in uniting to better protect our community at large are we able to affect positive change.
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