Brandon Kaiser, one of three men charged in a 2019 fight and shooting involving judges from Southern Indiana, was found guilty on eight charges Wednesday, including aggravated battery.

Kaiser was arrested after a brawl outside a downtown Indianapolis White Castle occurred in the early morning hours of May 1, 2019.  

The fight involved Kaiser and his nephew, Alfredo Vazquez, as well as Clark County Circuit Court Judge Bradley Jacobs and then-Clark County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Adams.  

Jacobs and Adams were in Indianapolis for a judicial conference and were joined by then-Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Sabrina Bell outside the fast-food restaurant.  

The judges were out after a night of drinking and bar hopping in the city. Their last stop was the Red Garter Gentleman's Club adjacent to the White Castle, but the club was closed. 

The fight ended after Kaiser shot Adams in the abdomen and Jacobs twice in the chest. Kaiser’s defense team did not dispute that he shot the two men, but claimed the shooting was in self-defense during the three-day trial.  

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"Brandon was legitimately defending himself against a viscous and brutal attack,” the man’s defense attorney David Margerum told jurors. “That's all he was doing." 

A surveillance camera captured the fight and shooting. The footage and other evidence related to the fight were not publicly released until Kaiser’s trial began, due to an order from the judge presiding over the case.  

The video of the fight and shooting first showed Kaiser getting out of the passenger seat of a vehicle, driven by Vazquez, after it pulled into a parking spot at the fast-food restaurant. Standing outside the restaurant were Jacobs, Adams and Bell.  

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Kaiser and Vazquez approached a side-door to the White Castle, which was locked according to witnesses, before the brawl. The video showed all four men fighting and wrestling each other before Kaiser shot Jacobs and Adams. Kaiser and Vazquez leave the scene in a vehicle afterwards, the video showed.

Adams, Jacobs, Bell, Vazquez and Kaiser all testified during the trial. The video did not have any audio and none of the witnesses gave a definite answer as to why the brawl began.  

Prosecutors relied heavily on the surveillance video during closing arguments, showing jurors screengrabs and zooming in on the footage.  

“We have also disproven self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Janna Skelton of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. “He (Kaiser) is guilty of all these charges. The way we have disproven self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt is he was involved in mutual combat.” 

Kaiser willingly participated in the fight with the two judges and his use of force in response to the fight was not reasonable, Skelton told jurors. 

“What he did, firing, shooting that gun at Bradley Jacobs and Andrew Adams was not reasonable, uncalled for and not protected by the law,” Skelton said.  

The prosecutor displayed photos of Adams and Jacobs, bruised and in the hospital, and stated both suffered life-threatening injuries. The judges were intoxicated at the time of the fight, but weren’t doing anything against the law or wrong, Skelton said.  

"They are dancing,” Skelton said of the judges at the start of the surveillance video. “They are dancing and acting silly. The defense wants you to believe they are the ones who get angry and aggressive and cursing.” 

Adams actions in the video indicated he was stepping forward to fight but so did Kaiser’s and Vazquez’s actions, Skelton told the jury.  

Kaiser, Vazquez, Bell and Adams all testified that during the fight, Jacobs stated something along the lines of, “this is done,” which indicated he wanted the fight to end, Skelton said.  

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The video showed Kaiser sitting on the ground, no longer actively fighting the judges, when he pulled his firearm out of his waistband, Skelton said.  

"At that moment when he shoots Andrew Adams, it has to be justified that he was in imminent threat of serious bodily injury and that force was reasonable and it absolutely was not,” Skelton said. “Andrew Adams didn't touch him. He's standing there." 

The video also showed Kaiser pursuing Jacobs with the gun then shooting him while he is on the ground with Vazquez on top of him, the prosecutor stated.  

“He is down on the ground and not a threat and this is not self-defense,” Skelton said. “This is retaliation."  

After shooting Jacobs, the video showed Kaiser stomping on the man then kicking him and Kaiser returning from his vehicle a few second later to pick up money on the pavement, Skelton said.  

“What do those actions tell you about what his intent was?,” Skelton asked jurors. “Does that show you a man who is scared? No. That man is pissed off. That man is teaching him (Jacobs) a lesson.” 

Kaiser never called police to report having been attacked and sold his gun after the shooting, which showed his consciousness of guilt, Skelton told jurors.  

Arguing in support of self-defense, Margerum stated his client was not the aggressor in the fight and that the surveillance video proved it.  

“Adams was clearly the aggressor in this case,” Margerum said. “You saw them take off first. Now it was only a split second, but you are not required to stand there and allow somebody to come up to you and start punching you.” 

Jurors were being asked to evaluate the reasonableness of Kaiser’s decision to shoot the men from the safety of the court room and they needed to consider that fact, Margerum said.  

“It's easy to sit here now and look at that video and say I would've done something differently,” Margerum said. “He (Kaiser) had to make a split-second decision and it's easy to sit here now and second guess somebody.”  

Michelle Sharpe, of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, during the second part of the state’s closing argument emphasized jurors needed to determine whether Kaiser’s force was reasonable. 

“Using a gun in a fist fight is not reasonable,” Sharpe said. 

The defense side of the courtroom was filled with supporters, who appeared to be family members of Kaiser, during the trial. As Kaiser and others waited outside while jurors deliberated, Kaiser approached Jacobs.  

Jacobs and Kaiser hugged as they awaited the verdict and Kaiser appeared to apologize to the man he shot. Adams and Bell were not at the courthouse for the final day of the trial.  

When it was announced a verdict has been reached, Kaiser and his supporters formed a circle in the hallway outside the courtroom and said a group prayer.

Kaiser was found guilty on two counts of aggravated battery when the assault poses a substantial risk of death, two counts of aggravated battery when resulting in loss or impairment of bodily function, two counts of battery by means of a deadly weapon, one count of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and one count of carrying a handgun without a license.

He was acquitted on one charge of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury by the jury. Two counts of battery resulting in bodily injury, two counts of battery and one count of disorderly conduct were dismissed by the judge before the trial began.

A sentencing hearing for Kaiser is scheduled later in October. The judge ordered Kaiser, who previously bonded out of custody, to be remanded while he awaits sentencing. He was was taken back into custody at the conclusion of Wednesday's trial.

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Vazquez pleaded guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury in November 2019. He was sentenced to 180 days on home detention and a year of probation. 

Adams pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of misdemeanor battery as part of a plea agreement. He was sentenced to 365 days, with two days credited for jail time served and 363 days suspended, meaning Adams served no additional jail time.   

A grand jury elected not to indict Jacobs on charges related to the fight.  

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Separate from criminal charges, Adams, Jacobs and Bell were investigated by The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications.  

As a result, Adams was charged with three disciplinary counts of misconduct. Jacobs and Bell were charged with two disciplinary counts of misconduct. The Indiana Supreme Court determined the judges were guilty of judicial misconduct. 

Adams was suspended without pay for 60 days. Jacobs and Bell were suspended without pay for 30 days.  

Jacobs is the only individual, out of the three, who remains a judge in Indiana. He ran opposed in the 2020 election and is serving a six-year term. Adams, a Democrat, was defeated by a Republican challenger in the 2020 election.  

Bell resigned from her role as Crawford Circuit Court Judge in July. She was under investigation by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications once again after charges related to a domestic dispute were filed against her.  

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.