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The jury in a trial for a Warsaw man accused of allegedly injuring a woman started its deliberations during the late afternoon hours Thursday.
Kayn Justin Dilley, 43, of 1605 E. Clark St., Warsaw, is charged with domestic battery by means of a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony; and criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, a level 6 felony.
In the state of Indiana, a level 5 felony is punishable by one to six years in prison, with an advisory sentence of three years.
The state's case is being presented by Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton. Dilley's legal counsel is attorney John Barrett.
Affidavit of
Probable Cause
On May 30, Warsaw Police Department officers responded to a report of a woman being dragged by a vehicle while her arms were stuck in one of its windows.
According to court documents, the woman said she and Dilley had an argument. While the woman reached through the front passenger window of a vehicle to retrieve her items, Dilley rolled up the window, trapping the woman's arms. Dilley then reversed the vehicle while the woman was still trapped, and then accelerated forward, causing the woman to fall facedown onto the pavement.
The woman estimated Dilley drove with her pinned in the vehicle for approximately 50 yards. Dilley allegedly told the woman to get out of the vehicle, and the woman told him to roll down the window to release her.
Emergency medical services provided treatment to the woman for road rash on her leg and swollen wrists.
One witness said they saw Dilley's vehicle speed off. A second witness saw the woman get up from the pavement and scream as the vehicle spun its tires and left.
Trial Proceedings
Six men and six women were seated on the jury in Kosciusko Superior Court III around 11 a.m., with Judge Chad Miner presiding.
In his opening statement to the jury, Hampton detailed facts listed in the affidavit of probable cause, stating the woman became stuck in the vehicle and was then dragged. He told the jury Dilley's actions were illegal and that he acted recklessly through the operation of his vehicle.
Barrett said he and Hampton disagreed on the presented evidence, stating Dilley was "ambushed" by the woman when he showed up at her location to give her a ride.
"His goal was to get away from someone acting irrationally," said Barrett. "Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you have to act immediately. Intent is everything in a case like this."
He asked the jury to think of this as a "fight or flight incident" and to assign a flight response by finding Dilley not guilty.
A 911 call of the incident was the first presented evidence to the jury by Hampton. The male caller said he saw a vehicle take off while a woman's arms were stuck inside the vehicle and that neighbors were checking on her.
The state's first witness was the woman, who said she was at a friend's house in Warsaw when she contacted Dilley and asked for a ride. She testified that Dilley agreed to do so and came to pick her up. The woman said she and Dilley were laughing and talking while getting ready to leave when Dilley allegedly made a comment and his demeanor changed. She could not recall what the comment was but said his change in manner resulted in her removing her belongings from his vehicle.
When the woman returned to the vehicle to grab her cell phone and a card from the front seat, she said Dilley grabbed the phone away from her and began reversing the vehicle while rolling the passenger side window up. She then said Dilley drove too fast for her to keep up, causing her to be dragged across the ground. The woman told the jury Dilley did not check on her and left the area; she said she was "scraped and banged up" after the incident.
Hampton asked the woman if she had spoken to Dilley since the incident. She testified that she had and that Dilley never apologized for what happened.
In cross-examination, Barrett asked the woman if both of her arms were rolled up by the window. She said it was just her left arm, as her right hand was on the window. The woman also said she "probably yelled" at Dilley but didn't hit him.
Through re-direct by Hampton, the woman said her cell phone had belonged to Dilley several days prior to the incident. He gave her the phone to keep after throwing her old cell phone into a river.
The state's second witness was Ashton Tackett, a neighbor. He testified that he heard a vehicle quickly accelerate and tires squeal twice. Tackett then went to investigate after hearing a woman yell for help. He said he witnessed the vehicle accelerate past and the woman on the ground, leading him to pull out his cell phone in case he needed to document anything for law enforcement purposes.
Tackett said prior to leaving, Dilley parked at a nearby office, gave him a money card belonging to the woman and asked him to give it to her. He then left the area.
Officer Ever Gutierrez Franco, with the Goshen Police Department, was Hampton's final witness. Franco worked as a patrolman with the Warsaw Police Department during the incident. In his testimony, Franco said he was the first officer to arrive at the scene and spoke with the woman, who told him Dilley trapped her in a vehicle's window.
He told the jury that the woman was breathing roughly and appeared to be in pain, which led him to call medical personnel, who transported the woman to a nearby hospital. Injuries on the woman's limbs were submitted as evidence to the jury.
The defense's sole witness was Paul Conley, Dilley's employer. Conley said he previously owned Dilley's vehicle but sold it to Dilley about a couple years ago. He told the jury that due to the vehicle's safety features, it was impossible for a person to get trapped in its windows. Conley was asked by one of Dilley's relatives to make a video demonstrating a person could not get stuck. He testified that he came back into possession of the vehicle following Dilley's arrest. This video was submitted as evidence to the jury, with the video showing two different angles of windows automatically going down when sensing pressure from a hand or arm, even if the window switch is being held for the window to go up.
In his closing argument, Hampton asked the jury to focus on the elements of each charge Dilley faced and to determine his intent through the actions he took.
"This car moved so rapidly it's considered a deadly weapon," said Hampton. "The case is so serious that residents came out to help, Ashton Tackett ran across lanes to help identify the vehicle, because the car was running that fast."
Barrett argued the woman was the one acting recklessly that day, asking the jury if they found her testimony "compelling, credible or consistent."
"If you don't believe her arms got stuck, don't you have to question every bit of her testimony?" asked Barrett. "Did Kayn and his vehicle touch her, or did she touch the vehicle? This is like trying to put a round peg in a square hole of elements. If you see more than one possibility, you have to give Kayn the benefit of the doubt."
Through his final statement to the jury, Hampton described the incident as "baiting" where Dilley kept pulling the woman into the vehicle by withholding her cell phone from her.
"It's a bully attitude," said Hampton. "He purposefully did this to hurt (the woman.) He's a bully."
