April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Town marshal sentenced to jail time, probation
Circuit Judge Stephen Heimann handed down the sentence Thursday, ending a nearly three-year-long court case that began on Memorial Day weekend in 2012.
Bailey took the stand in his own defense Thursday, arguing that he still did not believe he committed the crimes he has been convicted of, but he trusted the system and stood ready to take whatever sentence the court handed down. Three prominent Hope residents also took the stand as character witnesses, supporting Bailey.
A jury found Bailey guilty on Jan. 28th of official misconduct, a Class D felony, and false informing, a Class A misdemeanor. But Heimann elected to only sentence Bailey on the felony charge. The judge said that the facts of the incident surrounding the misdemeanor false informing charge were already included in the felony conviction.
Heimann sentenced Bailey to 30 days in jail, crediting him for one day already served, but because of one-for-one sentence reduction, Bailey will only serve 14 days. After that time is served, Bailey will serve a suspended 17 month sentence with the Indiana Department of Corrections that will put Bailey on probation. Bailey must also pay his accuser $967 in reimbursement. And Bailey was prohibited from owning a firearm, explosives or any other dangerous devices.
A pre-sentence investigation found no aggravating factors in Bailey's case and five possible mitigating factors including:
- The circumstances are unlikely to occur again.
- The victim facilitated the events that occurred.
- No history of prior criminal activity.
- The likelihood that Bailey would respond positively to punishment.
- Bailey's character indicated he was unlikely to commit a crime again.
Bailey faced six months to three years in prison on the felony. Heimann explained that if the mitigating factors offset aggravating circumstances, then Bailey must be sentenced to the lower end of the sentence, while if there were overwhelming aggravating factors, Bailey would receive the higher sentence.
However, special prosecutor Cynthia Crispin argued that the violation of the public trust placed in Bailey was a major aggravating factor and Heimann agreed.
"You have a duty to everyone and you violated that trust," Heimann said.
"This is a significant violation of trust, sir, and a substantial aggravating circumstance."
Heimann also struck down several of the mitigating circumstances as implausible. The judge said that the circumstances are unlikely to occur again because Bailey will no longer be in law enforcement not because of any action by Bailey, that the victim's actions did not, in fact, serve as an instigation for the crime and that there was no way to tell if Bailey would commit a crime again.
Further, Heimann chastised the former marshal for not admitting his actions, despite his conviction on the charges.
The case started in 2012 when Bailey and Anthony Paul of Hope got into a confrontation at Paul's home over Paul's child custody issues on the Friday night of Memorial Day weekend. The next morning, Paul showed up at Bailey's house on Schaefer Lake to complain about his treatment. There was a disagreement and Bailey called authorities, saying that Paul had threatened his life. Paul was arrested a short distance later by state police and sheriff's deputies on intimidation charges.
But unbeknownst to Bailey, Paul was carrying a digital recorder in his pocket and that recording showed no threats being made by Paul.
During the trial, prosecution witnesses confirmed the authenticity of the recording, while an expert witness hired by Bailey explained how he thought such a recording could be faked without detection.
Heimann said Thursday that in retrospect, he would not have certified Bailey's witness as an expert and questioned the expert's testimony.
"That was a sham," Heimann said. "There is no question you are guilty of this, in the juror's minds or in my mind."
Three Hope residents spoke as character witnesses on behalf of Bailey:
- Dr. John Harker, dentist and member of the school board.
- Warner Michener, former Hauser principal
- Tim Shoaf, former Hope Town Council member.
Harker spoke of Bailey's compassion as a police officer and his dedication to the children in the school district, saying that if the children needed somebody to be tough, Bailey was tough, but if they needed someone to show understanding, he was understanding.
"Randy Bailey has been an upstanding member of the community," Harker said.
Michener said that Bailey had assisted the school by investigating some disgusting cases of child abuse, neglect and sexual abuse.
"I can say, with no reservations, that Randy Bailey is a good man, a good person, a good father and a good community member," Michener said.
Shoaf said that as a member of the Town Council, he had served as Bailey's supervisor for several years and always found him to be dedicated first to the idea of serving the public. Although there had been complaints from citizens over the years, they were unfounded and usually centered around traffic enforcement issues.
"He served his community well and I'd like to see him recognized," Shoaf said.
When Bailey took the stand he said that he still believes he is not guilty of the charges against him, but he would accept the sentence without appealing. He choked up when looking back on the situation.
"I believe in this system and I fought for it for 30 years," Bailey said.
Bailey said his biggest concerns about being sentenced as a felon were that he would no longer be able to own firearms to protect his family and that he would not be able to support his family financially.
Bailey, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said he had been training to be a police officer since high school but now he was going to have to find another field. He said that he had made arrangements through the Veterans Affairs department to begin taking classes to learn how to be a barber.
"I'm tired of living my life this way," Bailey said. "I am going to find that career and move forward."
