The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected two separate bids Friday in a drug murder and child neglect case.
Drug murder
The appeals court rejected a bid to overturn a murder conviction in a fatal shooting during a botched drug deal.
Rahmere Dunn, 26, was sentenced to 60 years in July for the Nov. 12, 2021, death of Jediah Perry, 21, of Gary.
Perry messaged him that day after Dunn got off work to buy $140 worth of marijuana. Dunn said Perry had a gun to his head as they met in Perry’s car and tried to rob him before he shot Perry five times, according to court records.
Deputy Prosecutor Jacqueline Altpeter said it was an execution — too many shots for self-defense.
In a 3-0 decision, Appeals Judge Paul Mathias rejected Dunn’s three-part argument.
First, he wrote Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez did not abuse his discretion when he barred defense lawyer Lonnie Randolph II from asking “hypothetical questions” during jury selection.
Second, he upheld Vasquez’s decision during the trial to bar Dunn’s friend Jonathan Igras from testifying. Igras slipped into the courtroom in an afternoon for part of Dunn’s testimony.
Legal rules require a separation of witnesses so they can’t listen to what’s already been said in court.
A bailiff told Vasquez at trial there was a miscommunication with Randolph and he thought the lawyer’s only witness, a doctor, had already testified that day.
Mathias wrote Dunn’s defense was not compromised because the shooting already happened by the time Igras was involved. Dunn called him after the shooting, saying Perry tried to rob him — and later gave him both guns.
At trial, Randolph argued Igras said he sold the guns and could corroborate parts of Dunn’s testimony.
Finally, Mathias said the court was right to exclude Perry’s cousin’s prior statements to police as hearsay. The man told an investigator that Perry asked him to help him rob Dunn, but never picked him up.
The man never responded to two defense subpoenas and didn’t show for prior depositions. The man told another police officer he “did not want to testify,” Mathias wrote.
Mathias said since the police statement about getting picked up was hearsay, it was not admissible in court.
Dunn can appeal. His release date is in 2067.
Child neglect
The court rejected Marc Burnett’s bid to lower his sentence after his girlfriend’s then 2-year-old son was left with permanent brain damage while in his care.
Burnett, then 21, of Hammond got ten years in prison in October after pleading guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 3 felony.
In his appeal, Burnett asked for the rest of his sentence to be changed to three years in Lake County Community Corrections and six years on probation – arguing the sentence was too harsh, since he had no prior criminal history and it was unlikely to happen again.
At the sentencing, the child’s father, Tyler Coyle, said the boy underwent three life-saving brain surgeries, countless hours of therapy, needed round-the-clock care and needed a wheelchair or walker. His son “can’t really talk” and was back in diapers after the brain injury.
He faced another brain surgery down the line.
In a 3-0 decision, Appeals Judge Elaine Brown wrote Burnett pleaded guilty, the child had lifelong injuries and Burnett hadn’t met his “burden” to prove the sentence was “inappropriate.”
Burnett can also appeal the decision. His earlier release date is in 2032.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
mcolias@post-trib.com