IMPD Cop Who Shot Girlfriend In The Face Sentenced To Two Years Of Home Detention

It's just another example of why there is no equal treatment under the law when it comes to enforcement of criminal laws in the state of Indiana. Justin Beaton, a violent, drunken IMPD officer who shot his girlfriend in the face last year and then lied to police about the cause of her injuries, received a sentence of just two years of home detention. Good time credit will shave a third of that time off.

Marion County prosecutors originally charged Beaton with attempted murder and obstruction of justice, among other charges. In a plea deal, the charges were dropped to a single count of criminal recklessness, a low-level felony charge, after Beaton's girlfriend became an uncooperative witness. Marion Superior Court Judge Lisa Borges suspended two years of the four years of community corrections she ordered Beaton to serve. Beaton is required to serve one year of probation.

Beaton's sentence is just a little more harsh than the one year of home detention former Secretary of State Charlie White was ordered to serve by a Hamilton County judge after the Supreme Court upheld convictions against him for vote fraud and theft, legal rulings which cannot be squared with anything but the most tortured interpretation of Indiana law. Also contrast Beaton's sentence with that of Augustus Mendenhall, who was overcharged and convicted of attempted murder for beating up State Rep. Ed. DeLaney after DeLaney exploited the court system for his well-heeled client, the mob-tied DeBartolo Group, for years to destroy the legitimate business Mendenhall's father operated. Mendenhall received a 30-year sentence. Mendenhall never even fired a gun at his victim. I mention Mendenhall's case because he had the same criminal defense attorney as Beaton--Jack Crawford.