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INDIANAPOLIS – The jurors who will determine the fate of a man charged in the death of an IMPD officer debated for about 10 hours before being sent home.
Around 2:30 a.m. Friday, the court announced the jury would adjourn without a verdict in the case against Elliahs Dorsey. He’s accused of killing IMPD Officer Breann Leath in 2020.
Police responded to Wellington Square Apartments on April 9, 2020, after a woman called for help in removing Dorsey from her apartment because of his erratic behavior. The caller never informed dispatchers that Dorsey was armed.
He fired shots through the door, killing Leath. Dorsey claimed he feared for his life and thought the woman called for people to come and kill him.
Dorsey’s mental state and mental health have been at the center of the trial, with the defense calling psychiatric experts who testified Dorsey was in the midst of a psychotic episode and was unable to understand that firing through the door was a wrongful act.
During the proceedings, seven doctors spoke about Dorsey’s deteriorating mental condition, paranoia and break from reality. Contributing factors, they said, included his history as a football player, deteriorating personal relationships, failures at employment and college and stress from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The defense argued Dorsey was insane at the time of the shooting. He acknowledged pulling the trigger and expressed remorse in the aftermath.
Prosecutors argued Dorsey knew the difference between right and wrong and pounded home that point during closing arguments—that in order for Dorsey to be insane, the defense had to prove that he understood the “wrongfulness of his actions.”
The defense and prosecution presented closing arguments Thursday after seven days of testimony.
After receiving instructions from Judge Mark Stoner, jurors began deliberations at 4:10 p.m. They worked into the evening and overnight until the court announced they would break around 2:30 a.m. Friday.
After getting time to rest and gather their thoughts, jurors will reconvene at 1 p.m. on Friday. They have multiple options for the verdict, which is a primary reason why deliberations have taken so long.
The options run the gamut from straight up guilty and not guilty determinations to verdicts inclusive of Dorsey’s mental health, such as guilty but mentally ill and not responsible due to insanity.
He’s charged with murder, criminal confinement, battery and four counts of attempted murder. The jury can also consider the lesser offense of reckless homicide instead of murder and criminal recklessness for the attempted murder charges.
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