Keeler to serve original sentence
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer

The family of 19-year-old Adam Lavon, who was killed in a July 4, 2003, crash on SR29 in eastern Carroll County, is displeased with the criminal justice system in Carroll County.

After being arrested in July 2003 on a warrant for seven counts of B, C and D felonies resulting from the crash, all alcohol related, Nicholas Keeler was convicted in 2004 in a plea agreement. He was represented by court appointed attorney Patrick Manahan and pled guilty to one count of causing death when operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class B felony. Lavon's parents, Joel and Katie, opposed the plea agreement offered and agreed to by then county prosecutor Rob Ives.

Keeler was sentenced Feb. 5, 2004, to 15 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with two years suspended on supervised probation and 10 years at DOC by Carroll Circuit Court Judge Joseph Carey. Three years were to be served at the Liberty Hall Work Release Program - Community Educational Center.

Carey's sentencing order stated, "If the defendant's entitlement to serve in said program is deemed null and void, then he shall serve the balance of his sentence as prescribed by the DOC."

The court denied a defense motion to modify Keeler's sentence Feb. 14, 2005.

Lafayette attorney Brian Dekker entered an appearance on behalf of Keeler Sept. 15, 2005. He filed a motion for sentence modification and requested a special judge be appointed Jan. 23, 2006. (Carey had retired and local attorney Donald Currie was appointed to replace him until the end of his term.) Dekker's modification request was denied by Senior Judge Robert W. Roth.

Manahan, listed on court records as counsel for defense, filed a petition for clarification of the sentencing order May 17 of this year. The Liberty Hall program became unavailable to Keeler Jan. 31, 2007, because it was changed to serve a femaleonly population.

The same records indicate a letter about the case was sent to Currie from Carey and received May 10.

That letter became a point of contention in the most recent court hearing, held the morning of July 2. The Lavons are upset that the two judges and the defense attorney seem to have had communication about the case without the knowledge of the county prosecutor prior to the hearing.

The first paragraph of the letter from the former judge reads, "Dear Judge Currie, I have received a letter from Pat Manahan regarding the sentencing order which I entered in the above-referenced matter. Pat has indicated that you would like to know my thoughts on the original intent of the sentencing order as it relates to work release." Carey said in the final paragraph that the defendant "should be permitted to serve the last three years of his executed sentence in an alternative work release program in keeping with the intent of the Court's sentencing order."

A copy of the letter was sent to Manahan, but not to Carroll County Prosecutor Tricia Thompson or the victim's family.

A hearing for clarification was scheduled in Currie's court for June 27. Court records indicate that Currie declared at that time he had no jurisdiction in the case because Roth had been appointed in 2006.

However, Manahan requested the letter sent by Carey to Currie be "taken into consideration" by Roth at the July 2 hearing.

"It is our belief that Judge Carey had in mind a program of transition back into society," Manahan told the court.

However, Thompson objected in court on the record to consideration of the letter because she had no knowledge Manahan communicated with either judge about the case prior to the hearing date.

"I would object to this court considering Judge Carey's letter," she told Roth. "That letter was obtained inappropriately. The letter makes it clear that Judge Carey or Judge Currie and Mr. Manahan had a conversation without the state (Thompson's office). Mr. Manahan then sent a copy of the letter to Judge Carey without sending a copy to the state and then Judge Carey communicated with a judge who's not part of this case, again without sending a copy to the state."

"The state was not a party to any of those proceedings. I do not know what materials were provided to Judge Carey for him to write that letter," she added. "Furthermore, even if that was the judge's intent at the time, it was not put into the order. So to change the order and the letters of the order is a modification and so the state would be opposed to that."

Thompson said Keeler had not been in alcohol-related counseling for two years and he would have had to qualify for the program to which he was sentenced.

Manahan replied that his client was unable to take advantage of counseling in prison because DOC was counting his executed time incorrectly and did not offer the service to Keeler. He provided no rebuttal about the letter. Katie Lavon said Friday she was "shocked and saddened about that letter."

"It appears a decision was made between the three of them (Manahan, Currie and Carey) before the clarification motion was ever filed," she added.

Lavon agreed the motion was a modification request rather than a clarification. She said she would not support a modification of the sentence. She said although Keeler has earned an associate's degree while in prison, her son would have graduated from a four-year program this year and been a productive member of society.

"It feels like we've been victimized again," she concluded.

When asked for a response on

Monday, Thompson said, "I was surprised I was not included in that communication, since this is an ongoing case."

Roth overruled "any change from the sentence as entered" in a written order filed July 2.

"I was pleased with the judge's decision," Thompson concluded. "I objected to any modification of the sentencing order."