Case Title: Kastin E. Slaybaugh v. State of Indiana

Citation: 

Docket Number: 79S02-1601-CR-28

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 2016-01-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT 
 
 
 
 
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE  
Timothy P. Broden 
 
 
 
 
 
Gregory F. Zoeller 
Lafayette, Indiana 
 
 
 
 
 
Attorney General of Indiana 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
James B. Martin 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Deputy Attorney General 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Indianapolis, Indiana 
______________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 
In the 
Indiana Supreme Court  
_________________________________ 
 
No. 79S02-1601-CR-28 
 
KASTIN E. SLAYBAUGH,  
Appellant (Defendant below), 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    v. 
 
STATE OF INDIANA,    
 
 
 
 
Appellee (Plaintiff below).  
 
 
_________________________________ 
 
Appeal from the Tippecanoe Superior Court, No. 79D02-1401-FB-01  
The Honorable Thomas H. Busch, Judge  
_________________________________ 
 
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 79A02-1411-CR-798 
_________________________________ 
 
January 20, 2016 
 
Per Curiam. 
   
After Kastin Slaybaugh was convicted of rape, he moved for mistrial on grounds there 
had been juror misconduct.  His motion asserted that in voir dire, a juror had denied knowing the 
victim or her family, but Slaybaugh discovered that a relative of the victim was a “Facebook 
friend” of that juror.  The trial court ordered the juror deposed. The juror testified she was a 
Jan 20 2016, 2:09 pm
 
2 
 
realtor, had more than 1000 “friends” on Facebook—most of whom she had “friended” for 
networking purposes—but she had not recognized the victim’s name during voir dire, did not 
recognize the victim when she testified, and did not know the victim or her family.  The trial 
court determined that the juror had been truthful when answering that she had no knowledge of 
the victim or her family, and denied Slaybaugh’s motion for mistrial.  Noting the novel issue 
involving a juror’s “expansive list of Facebook friends,” the Court of Appeals affirmed in 
Slaybaugh v. State, ___ N.E.3d ___,  ___, 2015 WL 5612205, *1 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015). 
 
 
We agree with the result reached by the Court of Appeals, grant transfer, expressly adopt 
and incorporate by reference the Court of Appeals opinion in accordance with Indiana Appellate 
Rule 58(A)(1), and affirm the trial court. 
 
All Justices concur.