INDIANAPOLIS — A Marion County judge has released the full video of a brawl in which two Southern Indiana judges were wounded in a shooting outside a Downtown White Castle restaurant in 2019.
The video was evidence in a grand jury and had been under seal for three years. The seal lifted because the last defendant facing criminal charges associated with the fight was found guilty last week.
The video shows Clark County Circuit judges Brad Jacobs and Andrew Adams fighting with two other men in the fast food restaurant's parking lot about 3:30 a.m. May 1, 2019.
Marion Superior Court Judge Shatrese Flowers released the video to WRTV on Thursday, eight days after a jury found Brandon Kaiser, the gunman, guilty of aggravated battery and other crimes for his role in the incident.
Jacobs and Adams were in Indianapolis to attend a judicial conference. According to testimony in Kaiser's trial, they had been drinking heavily with other judges at several Downtown restaurants and bars when they stopped at the White Castle, 55 W. South St., about 3:30 a.m. May 1, 2019.
Jacobs and Adams and Crawford County Judge Sabrina Bell were in the fast food restaurant's parking lot when two men drove by in an SUV. One of the men yelled something and Bell "extended her middle finger to the occupants of the SUV," according to court documents.
The men in the SUV, Kaiser and his nephew Alfredo Vazquez, parked and approached the judges, video shows. The four can be seen grappling and throwing punches. The fight ended when Kaiser pulled a handgun and shot Adams and Jacobs. Both survived their wounds.
Kaiser and Vazquez climb into the SUV and drove away, the video shows.
Watch the video:
On Sept. 21, a Marion County jury convicted Kaiser, 44, of seven felonies and one misdemeanor in connection with the fight and shootings. The most serious offenses, two counts of aggravated battery, each carry a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison. Kaiser, who claimed he fired the shots in self defense, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 21.
Vazquez pleaded guilty to battery in November 2019. A judge sentenced him to six months home detention and a year of probation. Vazquez completed his sentence and was discharged from probation in December 2020, records show.
Adams pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in September 2019. He was handed a suspended sentenced of one year in jail and prosecutors dismissed six other charges, records show.
Jacobs and Bell did not face criminal charges. All three judges were disciplined by the Indiana Supreme Court. Jacobs and Bell served 30-day suspensions. Adams served a 60-day suspension.
Jacobs still holds his seat on the Clark County bench but Adams and Bell are no longer judges.
More: Man convicted of aggravated battery, more stemming from 2019 White Castle shooting | Man charged with shooting two judges outside Indy White Castle claims it was self defense | Female judge flipped off men before fight that ended with two judges shot outside Indy White Castle | Judge involved in 2019 White Castle shooting drops out of reelection race: Crawford Co. GOP
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
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