INDIANAPOLIS — A judge and two other men have been charged in connection with a fight and shooting outside a White Castle in downtown Indianapolis back in May.
On Friday, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry announced charges against Clark Circuit Judge Andrew Adams and two others involved in the altercation, Alfredo Vazquez and Brandon Kaiser.
Adams and Vazquez are both facing seven counts including battery and disorderly conduct. Kaiser is facing 14 counts including aggravated battery, battery, disorderly conduct and carrying a handgun without a license.
Clark Circuit Court Judges Brad Jacobs and Adams were shot and wounded in the early-morning hours of May 1 in the parking lot of a White Castle restaurant, not far from Lucas Oil Stadium. The Indiana Supreme Court says the judges were in town for a judicial conference.
Curry said a grand jury was convened to determine what charges would be filed. The same grand jury chose not to indict Jacobs in connection with the shooting and fight.
Police say the two judges had visited several downtown restaurants and bars in the hours leading up to the shooting.
Around 3 a.m., police say the group tried to enter a bar, but it was closed so they went to a nearby White Castle and Adams and Jacobs were shot after an altercation with another group.
Two men were arrested in connection with the shooting back in May, Alfredo Vazquez and Randy Kaiser, but the prosecutor declined to file charges at the time citing the need for more review and evidence.
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A release sent out by the Indiana Supreme Court Friday afternoon says the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct, has filed a motion to suspend Judge Adams with pay following his indictment.
Read the full statement from the Indiana Supreme Court below.
"On May 1 two Clark County judges (Andrew Adams and Bradley Jacobs) were shot in downtown Indianapolis. Today, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed a felony indictment against Clark County Circuit 1 Judge Adams related to the incident.
Immediately upon learning of the felony indictment of Judge Adams, the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications filed a Notice of Criminal Charges and Request for Suspension to have him suspended with pay. Indiana Admission and Discipline Rule 25(V)(A) of the Indiana Rules of Court requires that: “A judicial officer shall be suspended with pay by the Supreme Court without the necessity of action by the Commission upon the filing of an indictment or information charging the judicial officer in any court in the United States with a crime punishable as a felony under the laws of Indiana or the United States.”
The Indiana Supreme Court appointed judges pro tempore to hear cases in Clark Circuit 1 and Clark Circuit 2. The appointed judges remain on the bench."
You can watch Curry's press conference below.
