Wednesday, October 07, 2015

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


IMPD Officer Justin Beaton (Photo Courtesy: IMPD)
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.

6 comments:

Sir Hailstone said...

If he hasn't resigned or terminated from IMPD at least he'll have to go find a new job with the felony conviction.

Anonymous said...

Someone needs to ask Ed Delaney just why he agreed to meet Gus Mendenhall in the first place?

Anonymous said...

Beaton will be working for the Street Dept. as a foreman or Code Enforcement inspector or some such governmental job. Protecting his pension
is what this is mostly about.

The Judge certainly could have declined to
accept the Prosecutor's plea. And Crawford
certainly did his job well.




Anonymous said...

Judges in Marion County are just as much to blame for the corruption and crime in our city. Maybe they weren't taught in law school that they can reject please deals.

Anonymous said...

Anyone notice how silent out Deputy Mayor Olgin Williams, Mr. Peace on the Streets, has been about all the murders in the city?

One would naturally think he would care, but he remains silent.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least of Chuck Brewer would retain him if he were elected mayor and that is why Mr. Brewer would not receive my vote.

Josh said...

This makes me wonder what the convict has on others that allowed him to skate on the charge?