INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis police union is calling for Marion County Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner to resign. Officers are outraged and calling for judicial reform after the sentence given to the man who shot and killed IMPD Ofc. Breann Leath.
What started as a death penalty case ended Thursday with a sentence of time served for Elliahs Dorsey, which was a little less than four years for the reckless homicide of a police officer.
"Time served? That not only was a slap in our face, but that was you stomped on us and rubbed it in the ground like she literally wasn't there,” said Jennifer Leath, Breann’s mother. “That's not OK. That's not fair."
Dorsey received an additional 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his girlfriend, to be followed by 15 years of mental health probation. But the total sentence was far less than the maximum 63-year prison sentence prosecutors asked for.
Dorsey was found guilty but mentally ill on six charges for the April 9, 2020, shooting. Breann Leath and three other officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at Dorsey's girlfriend's apartment. Dorsey shot through the door right after officers knocked. He then shot his girlfriend as she ran out of the apartment. She survived but has significant permanent intestinal injuries.
Indianapolis FOP President Rick Snyder scribbled the sentencing math on a whiteboard at a news conference Friday afternoon. He said with good time served, Dorsey's sentence is 28 1/2 years lighter than it could have been.
"This is a travesty of justice,” Snyder said. “It dilutes the sanctity of life, the life of Ofc. Leath, the life of a domestic violence victim and the lives of other officers involved.”
Indy FOP is calling for Stoner to step down from the bench.
“The actions of Judge Mark Stoner have clearly conveyed a most disturbing message to violent offenders throughout Marion County,” Snyder said. “That is that they can shoot at anyone, including officers, kill an officer, attempt to kill a domestic partner and simply say they have a mental health problem – of which there's no agreement on a diagnosis that can be reached – and they will receive a lenient sweetheart sentence in Indianapolis."
Indy FOP called for four additional judicial reforms in Marion County:
- They want the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court to form a civilian committee to review the Marion County court system.
- They want a meeting with the governor to explore additional resources and executive actions.
- They want the Indianapolis mayor and City-County Council to set up a commission to look at criminal justice outcomes in memory of Leath and domestic violence victims.
- They want the state to review the current policy of judges not being elected in Marion County. Judges are appointed, reviewed and approved by an unelected body. Marion County residents vote whether to retain a judge every 10 years.
Stoner said he cannot comment on the criticism of his sentence or the call for him to resign. But he said the judicial system allows for appeals of his decisions. Stoner explained his reasoning for the sentence from the bench Thursday.
"If I gave him the maximum sentence, I would have actually 10 years, I think, less control over him than what I've done here,” Stoner said. “If he takes his medication, and if he goes back to being a law-abiding citizen, which he was for 31 years, then I will have had longer control and protected the community longer this way than if I had given the maximum sentence.”
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey is also concerned about the message the sentence sends to his officers.
"Now I have to go to my officers and keep encouraging them to go out and put themselves on the line in front of it for our community, knowing in the back of their mind that someone that tries to kill them, and in fact does kill one of them, may not be punished to the full extent of the law,” Bailey said. “So, it is disappointing. But we have to keep moving."