INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Bar Association is doing something it rarely ever does. It is weighing into the public debate over a Marion County judge’s controversial sentencing of Elliahs Dorsey, the man who shot and killed IMPD Ofc. Breann Leath in 2020.
"There's no doubt that the death of Ofc. Leath is a senseless tragedy," said David J. Duncan, president of the Indianapolis Bar Association. "It's unfortunate, and I share the frustration that there are not greater protections for our police officers in the sentencing guidelines."
A jury found Dorsey guilty but mentally ill for the shooting back in April 2020.
Leath was responding to a domestic disturbance call when Dorsey shot through the door, killing her. Dorsey then shot at his girlfriend as she ran out of the apartment.
He was sentenced to 25 years for his girlfriend's attempted murder.
When it came to the reckless homicide charge for killing Leath, he was sentenced to, essentially, "time served."
Judge Mark Stoner’s sentencing decision was met with outrage from police, community leaders and the public.
But Duncan said frustration should not be aimed at the judge in the case, but instead at the need for sentencing reform.
"The judge has to make a ruling within those sentencing guidelines," Duncan said. "They start in the middle, and they consider what's known as aggravating and mitigating circumstances."
The bar association says the sentence imposed for the count of "reckless homicide" was "nine months shy of the maximum allowed under the law."
"They didn't have a factor that they could've increased that sentence beyond the six-year maximum," Duncan said.
When asked if he could understand the outrage that Dorsey was sentenced to more time for attempting to kill his girlfriend – who survived – than for killing Leath, a police officer, Duncan said he did.
"I certainly can understand the frustration, but I don't think that broad-sweeping comments that condense this issue down into soundbites is a service to our public," Ducan said.
Duncan said it should instead involve a longer community conversation between everyone – police, judges, lawmakers and city leaders – about how to reform sentencing guidelines, especially when it comes to the killing of a police officer.
"I think the Dorsey situation is just one case. It's a symptom of a larger issue, and we would support addressing the real issues that the FOP and others have with the sentencing guidelines," Duncan said.
But Duncan said he disagrees with public calls to remove the judge – or any judge – from office.
"I think that attacking the judiciary individually, at large, calling for the public to vote out all of the judges that are up for retention, it's not constructive," Duncan said. "It doesn't lead to informing the public about the actual facts and issues, and it doesn't inform a decision that helps cure the issue."
Duncan said the bar association supports "any and all efforts to propose pursue amendments to the sentencing guidelines that would protect our officers."