Testimony From Victim, Defendant Presented In Trial For Leesburg Man Accused Of Stalking
October 9, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Further testimony from the victim and defendant in a Kosciusko County stalking case was presented during the second day of a jury trial on Wednesday, Oct. 9.Scotty Lee Van Hawk, 52, 2906 E. Armstrong Road, Leesburg, is charged with three counts of stalking, all level 5 felonies.
Prosecutor Brad Voelz continued the state's case with testimony from the woman Van Hawk allegedly stalked in early 2023. The woman testified that Van Hawk was against the woman's two children being enrolled in school, as they had previously been homeschooled.
She said Van Hawk accused her of kidnapping the children through her decision in enrolling the children in school. The woman also testified about Van Hawk being against immunizations and doctors.
She discussed a website Van Hawk made using her parents' names, with the site including a letter the woman had in her personal diary. The woman told the jury she experienced childhood trauma and was told by Van Hawk to write down her feelings and thoughts in the diary. She also stated Van Hawk mailed postcards to neighbors with the website name printed on them.
"It destroyed me," said the woman when asked about the site's creation. "It brought up a lot of traumatic memories. I would never do this to my worst enemy."
According to the woman's testimony, in February 2021, Van Hawk attempted to swerve into the woman's vehicle and law enforcement had to get involved. She also said Van Hawk wanted her children to have personal cellphones and would put phones in the mail. During one instance, Van Hawk brought a backpack full of toys to the children's school and gave it to the school principal. The backpack also contained cellphones with SIM cards, with the woman testifying about Van Hawk using cellphones to track her and the children's location.
Voelz questioned the woman about a notice of claim filed against her on March 9, 2021. Child Protection Corp. was listed as the plaintiff in the claim, with the organization's secretary and designated employee listed as Van Hawk. The creation of Child Protection Corp. was on March 4, 2021, with the woman noting that date was her birthday.
The claim alleged the woman abused children and sought $1,500. The woman said Child Protection Corp. was Van Hawk masquerading as a company and told the jury she had to hire legal counsel in order to resolve the claim.
The claim was dismissed with prejudice, with Child Protection Corp. ordered to pay $600 to the woman.
An additional claim was filed on March 10, 2021, with Van Hawk directly filing it against the woman. With that claim, he attempted to have the woman involuntarily committed.
She further testified about Van Hawk constantly texting, calling and emailing her. He also allegedly showed up frequently at places she and her children were. The woman estimated Van Hawk had been arrested between five to 10 times for investigations involving her.
A no-contact order was issued on March 29, 2021, with the exception to the order being civil communication regarding the woman's children. She also testified that when Van Hawk was released from jail on Feb. 9, 2023, she immediately received phone calls, texts, and emails from him.
She further recalled Van Hawk using a phone number originating from North Carolina and utilizing an alias via email to contact her.
"It has frightened and terrorized my life," said the woman about Van Hawk's behavior. "He's made multiple threats and it's caused me and my children to have PTSD. Nothing has stopped him and I fear for my life every day."
In his cross-examination, Van Hawk stated false testimony was provided on the woman's behalf during the jury trial. The woman said she was unaware of that and had not been in the courtroom prior to her testimony due to a separation of witnesses.
Van Hawk also asked the woman about a fence she wanted built around a property in Culver that they owned. He claimed the woman wanted it built out of fear of one of her children being abducted. The woman disagreed and said Van Hawk wanted to build the fence.
Van Hawk attempted to present several exhibits for submission which were not authenticated and inadmissible for the trial. He was reminded multiple times by Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed to focus on asking the victim questions rather than testify before the jury.
Voelz then asked the court to terminate the cross-examination of the woman through Indiana Rule of Evidence 611. He said Van Hawk crossed the line dozens of times by badgering the victim and prioritizing his own testimony rather than cross-examining the woman.
Reed terminated cross-examination and jurors asked the woman multiple questions about Van Hawk's behavior.
She recalled specific threats allegedly committed by Van Hawk which caused her fear, including the displaying of a firearm and pushing her down stairs. The woman also said Van Hawk wanted to be on the phone with the children 24/7, constantly calling to a point where law enforcement had to speak with him.
Before a no-contact order was issued, the woman said she thought Van Hawk was the love of her life, but told the jury he became more aggressive.
"It was a very strange relationship at the end," said the woman.
After the woman finished answering juror questions, Voelz rested the state's case.
Van Hawk began his defense by providing his own testimony. He alleged that, at one point, the woman was gone for 24 days and didn't try to contact the children. He also said some of the emails sent to the woman were spam from a guardian ad litem whose account had been hacked.
Van Hawk attempted to present text messages between himself and the woman from 2017 and 2019, but was not permitted to do so due to irrelevance.
He testified that he never threatened or injured anyone before, and had never given anyone reason to fear injury or death. Van Hawk also alleged the woman assaulted him during a manic episode and that the children saw photographs of his injuries.
Throughout his testimony, he stated multiple times there were various parts of the woman's testimony that were untrue.
At one point, he was found to be in violation of a motion in limine after attempting to submit an email thread as evidence. Van Hawk also tried to use his decision to proceed with his case without an attorney and an order scheduling a jury trial in his case as evidence, which were ruled inadmissible by the court.
After about two hours of testimony, Reed said he would terminate Van Hawk's cross-examination if he continued to not present evidence related to the underlying charges. He also asked Van Hawk to not disrupt court proceedings with information he knows he is not allowed to discuss.
The trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. Reed will allow Van Hawk one more hour to present any further evidence, but noted his cross-examination will be terminated if his disregard of the court's rulings continues.
Further testimony from the victim and defendant in a Kosciusko County stalking case was presented during the second day of a jury trial on Wednesday, Oct. 9.Scotty Lee Van Hawk, 52, 2906 E. Armstrong Road, Leesburg, is charged with three counts of stalking, all level 5 felonies.
Prosecutor Brad Voelz continued the state's case with testimony from the woman Van Hawk allegedly stalked in early 2023. The woman testified that Van Hawk was against the woman's two children being enrolled in school, as they had previously been homeschooled.
She said Van Hawk accused her of kidnapping the children through her decision in enrolling the children in school. The woman also testified about Van Hawk being against immunizations and doctors.
She discussed a website Van Hawk made using her parents' names, with the site including a letter the woman had in her personal diary. The woman told the jury she experienced childhood trauma and was told by Van Hawk to write down her feelings and thoughts in the diary. She also stated Van Hawk mailed postcards to neighbors with the website name printed on them.
"It destroyed me," said the woman when asked about the site's creation. "It brought up a lot of traumatic memories. I would never do this to my worst enemy."
According to the woman's testimony, in February 2021, Van Hawk attempted to swerve into the woman's vehicle and law enforcement had to get involved. She also said Van Hawk wanted her children to have personal cellphones and would put phones in the mail. During one instance, Van Hawk brought a backpack full of toys to the children's school and gave it to the school principal. The backpack also contained cellphones with SIM cards, with the woman testifying about Van Hawk using cellphones to track her and the children's location.
Voelz questioned the woman about a notice of claim filed against her on March 9, 2021. Child Protection Corp. was listed as the plaintiff in the claim, with the organization's secretary and designated employee listed as Van Hawk. The creation of Child Protection Corp. was on March 4, 2021, with the woman noting that date was her birthday.
The claim alleged the woman abused children and sought $1,500. The woman said Child Protection Corp. was Van Hawk masquerading as a company and told the jury she had to hire legal counsel in order to resolve the claim.
The claim was dismissed with prejudice, with Child Protection Corp. ordered to pay $600 to the woman.
An additional claim was filed on March 10, 2021, with Van Hawk directly filing it against the woman. With that claim, he attempted to have the woman involuntarily committed.
She further testified about Van Hawk constantly texting, calling and emailing her. He also allegedly showed up frequently at places she and her children were. The woman estimated Van Hawk had been arrested between five to 10 times for investigations involving her.
A no-contact order was issued on March 29, 2021, with the exception to the order being civil communication regarding the woman's children. She also testified that when Van Hawk was released from jail on Feb. 9, 2023, she immediately received phone calls, texts, and emails from him.
She further recalled Van Hawk using a phone number originating from North Carolina and utilizing an alias via email to contact her.
"It has frightened and terrorized my life," said the woman about Van Hawk's behavior. "He's made multiple threats and it's caused me and my children to have PTSD. Nothing has stopped him and I fear for my life every day."
In his cross-examination, Van Hawk stated false testimony was provided on the woman's behalf during the jury trial. The woman said she was unaware of that and had not been in the courtroom prior to her testimony due to a separation of witnesses.
Van Hawk also asked the woman about a fence she wanted built around a property in Culver that they owned. He claimed the woman wanted it built out of fear of one of her children being abducted. The woman disagreed and said Van Hawk wanted to build the fence.
Van Hawk attempted to present several exhibits for submission which were not authenticated and inadmissible for the trial. He was reminded multiple times by Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed to focus on asking the victim questions rather than testify before the jury.
Voelz then asked the court to terminate the cross-examination of the woman through Indiana Rule of Evidence 611. He said Van Hawk crossed the line dozens of times by badgering the victim and prioritizing his own testimony rather than cross-examining the woman.
Reed terminated cross-examination and jurors asked the woman multiple questions about Van Hawk's behavior.
She recalled specific threats allegedly committed by Van Hawk which caused her fear, including the displaying of a firearm and pushing her down stairs. The woman also said Van Hawk wanted to be on the phone with the children 24/7, constantly calling to a point where law enforcement had to speak with him.
Before a no-contact order was issued, the woman said she thought Van Hawk was the love of her life, but told the jury he became more aggressive.
"It was a very strange relationship at the end," said the woman.
After the woman finished answering juror questions, Voelz rested the state's case.
Van Hawk began his defense by providing his own testimony. He alleged that, at one point, the woman was gone for 24 days and didn't try to contact the children. He also said some of the emails sent to the woman were spam from a guardian ad litem whose account had been hacked.
Van Hawk attempted to present text messages between himself and the woman from 2017 and 2019, but was not permitted to do so due to irrelevance.
He testified that he never threatened or injured anyone before, and had never given anyone reason to fear injury or death. Van Hawk also alleged the woman assaulted him during a manic episode and that the children saw photographs of his injuries.
Throughout his testimony, he stated multiple times there were various parts of the woman's testimony that were untrue.
At one point, he was found to be in violation of a motion in limine after attempting to submit an email thread as evidence. Van Hawk also tried to use his decision to proceed with his case without an attorney and an order scheduling a jury trial in his case as evidence, which were ruled inadmissible by the court.
After about two hours of testimony, Reed said he would terminate Van Hawk's cross-examination if he continued to not present evidence related to the underlying charges. He also asked Van Hawk to not disrupt court proceedings with information he knows he is not allowed to discuss.
The trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. Reed will allow Van Hawk one more hour to present any further evidence, but noted his cross-examination will be terminated if his disregard of the court's rulings continues.