US: Court declines to unseal video in shooting of Indiana judges

A man charged with shooting and wounding two judges during a fight outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant lost a bid to have surveillance video and other evidence unsealed.

Marion Superior Criminal Court Judge Shatrese Flowers on Wednesday denied Brandon Kaiser’s motion to dismiss a protective order that sealed testimony and evidence presented last year to a grand jury.

Kaiser, 42, faces four felony counts of aggravated battery and other charges in the May 1, 2019, shooting of Clark County judges Andrew Adams and Brad Jacobs following a fight outside a White Castle restaurant. His trial is scheduled for June 15.

Kaiser’s attorneys argued in a February court filing that he had acted in self-defense after the two southern Indiana judges approached him “in a hostile manner,” slammed him to the ground, choked him, beat him and kicked him in the head.

Adams, who admitted to kicking Kaiser, pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor count of battery but avoided jail time.

The restaurant’s surveillance video of the encounter has not been released publicly, although some still images were entered into evidence as exhibits by Kaiser’s defense attorneys, who signed Tuesday’s motion seeking the unsealing of the testimony and evidence, The Indiana Lawyer reported.

Their motion states that the protective order “results in an extreme injustice to the Defendant by limiting the Defendant’s ability to conduct (an) independent investigation into the incident, obtain witnesses in his favor, and prepare his defense.”

Marion County prosecutors opposed the request, stating in a court filing that the protective order doesn’t prevent Kaiser’s counsel from investigating and speaking to witnesses. Prosecutors also argued that transcripts and exhibits from the grand jury proceedings have already been provided to Kaiser’s attorneys.