Friday, August 14, 2009

The Case Of Jason Barber Gets More Strange

In June 2008, IMPD narcotics officer Jason Barber was arrested and charged with selling a handgun to a felon and official misconduct. The case against him took a very strange twist last November when the felon, Corey Smith, recanted his story and later turned up dead under suspicious circumstances. A couple of weeks ago, word came that Barber had been charged in an unrelated crime in Hancock County for allegedly beating a McCordsville, Indiana man at the man's home in April. The Star's Bill McCleery reported this on the alleged beating of Chris Choate:

When he was arrested Thursday, Barber already was "suspended pending termination" from IMPD after an earlier arrest on charges of selling a handgun to a felon in Marion County.

"We feel there's sufficient grounds for termination even without this (Hancock County) incident," IMPD Sgt. Paul Thompson said.

The beating victim, Chris Choate, 38, described two of the assailants in the April 26 incident as wearing badges, guns and handcuffs. Detectives are working to confirm the identities of three assailants still believed to be at large, police said, and were hoping Friday to make additional arrests as soon as possible.

Hancock County Judge Terry Snow ordered Barber on Friday to have no contact with Choate and to have no firearms in his possession.

Choate picked Barber out of a six-person photographic lineup, said Maj. Joe Hunt of the Hancock County Sheriff's Department.

Detectives do not know why Barber and the other three alleged assailants would have a grudge against Choate, Hunt said. Police have theories related to the assailants' motives, but they are not divulging them pending further investigation, Hunt added.

Barber was arrested on the Hancock County charge about 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Indianapolis, Hunt said.
The case of Jason Barber took yet another strange twist today when the Star reported in an online story that the attack on Choate stemmed from another man's affections for a woman with whom Choate was involved. "The victim, Chris Choate, 38, was involved with a woman who also was romantically linked to an Indianapolis attorney, said Sgt. Jeff Rasche of the Hancock County Sheriff's Department," the Star reports. "Rasche declined to identify the Indianapolis attorney or offer details." "The prosecutor's office pulled the name of the Indianapolis attorney from court documents before filing them." Hmmm. Anybody know who this attorney might be, or why his name would be pulled from the court's file?

8 comments:

JudgeNot said...

yes.

I know said...

You might look at today's Indy Star and the biker ride. It might tell you something. Just a wild guess.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Well, I'm not a fan of you know who, I know, but I don't think he's that stupid, although I'm sure he'll have a new wife to show off to voters at the next election.

JudgeNot said...

He-whose-name-is not-mentioned is not that blatant

I know said...

JudgeNot,
Thank you for the clarity. It was just odd that it showed up in the paper like it did.

IUMarketer said...

I noticed his attorney for his gun case is different from his attorney for this case in Hancock...i wonder if it's because his attorney for the gun case is the one involved with the girl in the Hancock case.

Gary R. Welsh said...

You can't necessarily read anything into that, IU Marketer. Some criminal defense attorneys in Marion County will refer a client to another attorney from that locality when a case is brought against that client outside Marion County.

Happy happy happy! said...

Case update......Jason was acquitted of ALL charges in BOTH cases. Innocent until PROVEN guilty. Glad the truth is known. Bet it won't get the same attention it did when they arrested him and ruined his GOOD name. :)