Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-793 | December 5, 2019 Page 1 of 16

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of establishing 

the defense of res judicata, collateral 

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Andrew R. Falk

Hendricks County Public Defender’s 

Office

Danville, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General of Indiana

Samuel J. Dayton

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana 

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Edward L. Taylor,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff.

December 5, 2019

Court of Appeals Case No. 

19A-CR-793

Appeal from the Hendricks 

Superior Court 

The Honorable Stephenie LeMayLuken, Judge

Trial Court Cause No. 

32D05-1603-F5-31

Mathias, Judge.

[1] Following a jury trial in Hendricks Superior Court, Edward L. Taylor 

(“Taylor”) was convicted of Level 5 felony battery against a public safety 
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officer, Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement, and Class A misdemeanor 

operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Taylor appeals and argues that the trial 

court erred by not questioning the remaining jurors to determine whether they 

were influenced by out-of-court contact an excused juror had with a witness. 

[2] We affirm. 

Facts and Procedural History

[3] The facts of this case were set forth in an earlier opinion of this court as follows: 

On March 18, 2016, at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, 

Hendricks County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Parrott approached a 

vehicle stopped along the road in which Taylor, the driver, 

appeared to be asleep or passed out. The vehicle was running and 

in gear and Deputy Parrott was unable to rouse the driver by 

knocking on the window. Deputy Parrott entered the unlocked 

car, put it in park, and was then able to wake Taylor, who 

exhibited signs of intoxication. Taylor had a suspended license 

and an active warrant out of Brown County, Indiana. Sergeant 

Jennifer Brahaum of the Avon Police Department arrived on the 

scene and also observed signs of intoxication in Taylor. Taylor 

failed two field sobriety tests and consented to a chemical test. 

Sergeant Brahaum transported Taylor to a local hospital for a 

blood draw.

Once at the hospital, however, Taylor refused the blood draw so 

Sergeant Brahaum contacted the prosecutor’s office to obtain a 

search warrant. She submitted an affidavit of probable cause and 

a search warrant was signed by the court at approximately 5:15 

p.m. As it was approaching three hours since Deputy Parrott first 

observed Taylor, [footnote: See Indiana Code section 9-30-6-2(c)

(requiring a chemical test to be administered within three hours 

after a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a 

person committed an offense under Indiana Code chapters 9-30-5 
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or 9-30-15)], the prosecutor’s office sent a photograph of the 

signed search warrant to Sergeant Brahaum’s cellphone via 

email. Sergeant Brahaum advised Taylor she had a search 

warrant to proceed with the blood draw and Taylor asked to see 

it. When Sergeant Brahaum showed Taylor the email on her 

phone, he protested that he needed to see a paper copy of the 

search warrant. Sergeant Brahaum told Taylor a hard copy of the 

search warrant would be provided to him or his attorney later. 

Taylor then refused to cooperate with the blood draw and a 

scuffle ensued, during which Sergeant Brahaum’s thumb was 

sprained and she received several scratches to her arms. Taylor 

finally complied and the blood draw was completed at 

approximately 5:20 p.m.

Taylor v. State, 69 N.E.3d 502, 504–05 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017). 

[4] As a result of this incident, the State charged Taylor on March 21, 2016 with 

Level 5 felony battery on a public safety officer, Level 6 felony resisting law 

enforcement, Class A misdemeanor driving while suspended, and Class A 

misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Prior to trial, Taylor filed a 

motion to suppress the blood draw evidence, arguing the electronic copy of the 

search warrant in Sgt. Brahaum’s possession was insufficient. Taylor, 69 N.E.3d 

at 505. The trial court denied the motion to suppress but certified the order for 

interlocutory appeal. We accepted jurisdiction over the appeal and held that 

“[a] photograph or PDF of a search warrant transmitted via email is as valid 

and effective as a paper copy,” and that the fact that “Brahaum had only an 

electronic copy of the search warrant at the time of the blood draw did not 

violate Taylor’s rights because the search warrant was otherwise valid.” Id. at 

507. 
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[5] A two-day jury trial was held on July 24–25, 2017. During voir dire, the trial 

court asked the venire if any of them knew Sgt. Brahaum. Juror 3082 responded 

that she worked in the Avon public school system and had seen Sgt. Brahaum 

“around town” and had a “passing conversation” with her. Tr. Vol. 2, p. 50. 

The trial court then asked Juror 3082, “[i]s there anything about knowing or 

seeing her and seeing her function in that capacity that would make you feel 

like you could not be fair and [im]partial to both sides?” Id. Juror 3082 replied, 

“Other than I know she’s a good officer.” Id. at 51. The trial court then stated 

that counsel for both parties could ask Juror 3082 further questions on this 

matter. 

[6] The prosecuting attorney asked the venire if any of them had any prior 

experiences with law enforcement, and Juror 3082 stated, like the other jurors, 

that she had a positive view of law enforcement. She also indicated that she 

previously had multiple interactions with law enforcement, stating, “I’ve been a 

victim of crime. I have a friend who’s a law enforcement officer. I’ve been in a 

car accident, um, a couple times.” Id. at 55. Neither party moved to strike Juror 

3082, and she was seated as a juror. 

[7] After the jury was selected and sworn in, the trial court read the preliminary 

instructions to the jury, which included the following: 

You may discuss the evidence with your fellow jurors, including 

alternate jurors, during the trial but only in the jury room and 

only when all of you are present. Even though you are permitted 

to have these discussions, you must not make a decision about 

the outcome of this case until your deliberations begin. During 
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the trial you shall not discuss the case with anyone other than 

your fellow jurors.

* * *

Finally, our law requires that you not read or listen to any news 

accounts of the case, and that you not attempt to research any 

fact, law, or person related to the case. Your decision must be based 

solely on the testimony and other evidence presented in this courtroom. It 

would not be fair for you to base your decision on some 

reporter’s view or opinion, or upon information that you acquire 

outside the courtroom from a source that cannot be challenged or crossexamined by the parties.

Id. at 97–98 (emphases added). The parties then made opening statements, after 

which the court recessed for lunch. 

[8] When the trial resumed, the court informed the parties that Juror 3082 had 

informed the bailiff that she “may have seen [Sgt.] Brahaum with a bandage on 

her arm while walking through the school.” Id. at 110–11. The trial court asked 

the parties, “So, do you want me to release her or do you want me to keep her? 

My preference is to keep her. I, I just feel like she’s trying to get out of jury 

service which I don’t appreciate.” Id. at 111. 

[9] The trial court then brought Juror 3082 into the courtroom and the following 

exchange took place between the court, Juror 3082, and Sgt. Brahaum: 

THE COURT: Thanks. We’ll inquire just to see what’s going 

on. Good afternoon, ma’am. I hope you had a good lunch. Um, I 

just want to clarify, my bailiff indicated and you had previously 

during voir dire had indicated you work for the Avon school 

system and that you recognize the name of Officer Brahaum and 
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you’d probably seen her walking through the school system. 

What Tabitha texted me at lunch was that you believe that you 

may have seen Officer Brahaum with a bandage on her arm 

maybe around this time period?

JUROR 3082: Yes.

THE COURT: Do you have a, I mean obviously, it took a while 

going through the process for it to kind of ring a bell with you; so 

do you believe that having seen whatever you saw, even if it’s 

connected to this exact event, do you feel like you can still be fair 

and impartial to both sides?

JUROR 3082: That’s a tough question to answer.

THE COURT: Well, it’s not a question you get every day, is it?

JUROR 3082: It’s not. Yeah.

THE COURT: But the bottom line is I, I know Officer Brahaum 

from my recollection, has not been the school resource officer. 

Do you know, have you?

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: I am not a school resource officer 

per se; however I do do security at the schools.

THE COURT: Okay, so is it all the schools or just the high 

school?

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: All of them, I could be in.

THE COURT: Okay, my kids don’t go to Avon, so, um, if 

you’re preforming security, are you there wandering the halls or 

are you there at the door? Tell me what you do.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: A little bit of everything.

THE COURT: Okay.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: I mean, we don’t go into the 

classrooms or teach or anything, that’s up to Sergeant Lewis.
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THE COURT: Okay.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: So, he does all that; but we’re 

walking the halls.

THE COURT: Okay.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: We’re in the lunchroom duringTHE COURT: Okay, so it’s fair to say any teacher—

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Any teacher could have seen me.

THE COURT: —in the school system would have seen you in 

uniform performing those duties?

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Yes.

THE COURT: Okay, do you communicate with the teachers?

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Oh, talk, some of them I’ve gotten 

to know a little bit.

THE COURT: Okay.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: I, I don’t her, really.

THE COURT: Okay.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: So.

THE COURT: Okay, well obviously, if you did, we would 

know. Because she would, then she would have recognized your 

name.

SERGEANT BRAHAUM: Right.

THE COURT: So, obviously you don’t, um, I will be honest, I 

think there are many citizens of Hendricks County who, who 

may or may not give deference to the testimony of a law 

enforcement officer. What you see on TV elsewhere, I, I don’t 

see on TV from this county. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t 
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happen; but it’s not getting publicized and I think it would be in 

this day and age with YouTube and videos, everybody having 

phone on their cameras (sic) and whatnot. So, basically, all I’m 

asking is can you give a fair shake to the State as well as a fair shake to 

Mr. Taylor? Obviously, you don’t know Mr. Taylor. He’s not 

performing security at the school system, uh; but can you give a fair trial 

to both?

JUROR 3082: In, in my honest opinion, I’ve already kind of formed 

one (1). And that’s, I don’t want to be unfair to my fellow jurors also.

THE COURT: Sure. Sure.

JUROR 3082: Um, but I have a social acquaintance with one (1) of 

the officers on the Avon force. I know who Officer Lewis is. I have a great 

deal of respect for these folks and I, I would be not happy with someone 

who caused them difficulty. How’s that?

THE COURT: Okay, [defense counsel], do you have any 

questions for this juror?

[Defense counsel]: No, questions, Judge. Thank you.

* * *

THE COURT: Okay, thank you very much, ma’am. Um, we’re 

going to discuss it and then Tabitha will let you know what’s 

going on. Don’t tell anybody else what’s going on. I don’t really have a 

choice but to let her go which is what her goal was from the beginning. 

So, you would probably agree with me, [defense counsel]?

[Defense counsel]: I, I agree.

THE COURT: Okay.

[Defense counsel]: She just stated to the Court that she’s already 

formed an opinion, so.

THE COURT: Okay, so if you’ll have them all come back in 

and I’ll let them know what’s going on.
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Tr. Vol. 2, pp. 111–14. 

[10] The trial court dismissed Juror 3082, and then informed the jury: 

Thank you. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you 

had a very pleasant lunch. As you’re all filtering in, uh, we have 

a little bit of an unusual situation. We have a juror who’s a 

teacher in the Avon school system and she was very forthright 

before. She indicated during voir dire that she recognized Officer 

Brahaum’s name. . . . Um, and so this particular juror, now that 

we’ve talked about it a little bit and I’ve read through the charges, 

she remembered seeing Officer Brahaum in the hallway having 

maybe some short conversations with her and in fairness to her, 

she’s not comfortable and she doesn’t believe, um, she would be 

an appropriate juror on this case. After having a conversation 

with her, with the attorneys present, I agree with her. I think she 

would be better suited for a different trial where an officer who 

isn’t wandering the school system, wandering meaning doing her 

job, through the halls of the Avon school system; she would be 

better suited for another case with different witnesses. And so, 

ma’am, I’m going to release you. If you need anything for your 

work, Tabitha can get that for you. This still counts as jury 

service so thank you for appearing. And to my alternate juror, 

you are now a regular member of the jury. So, no ifs ands or buts 

about it. So, thank you very much. With that, we are ready to 

proceed with the State’s case in chief. 

Id. at 114–15. 

[11] At the close of the State’s evidence, the trial court granted Taylor’s motion for 

judgment on the evidence on the driving while suspended charge, and at the 

conclusion of trial, the jury found Taylor guilty on the remaining charges. The 
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trial court subsequently sentenced Taylor to four years of incarceration. Taylor 

now appeals. 

Discussion and Decision

[12] Taylor argues that the trial court should have held a hearing in order to ask the 

remaining jurors whether they had been exposed to Juror 3082’s prejudice and 

admonished the jurors that they should not attach any significance to Juror 

3082’s removal from the jury. 

[13] The right to trial before an impartial fact-finder is a cornerstone of our justice 

system, and Article 1, Section 13 of the Indiana Constitution guarantees 

criminal defendants the right to trial by an impartial jury. Caruthers v. State, 926 

N.E.2d 1016, 1020 (Ind. 2010). The right to an impartial jury is an essential 

element of due process. Id. Therefore, if a juror is biased, he or she must be 

dismissed. Id. (citing Joyner v. State, 736 N.E.2d 232 (Ind. 2000)). 

[14] Over forty years ago, our supreme court set forth the procedure to be followed 

when a juror is exposed to improper and potentially prejudicial pretrial 

publicity, writing: 

Upon a suggestion of improper and prejudicial publicity, the trial 

court should make a determination as to the likelihood of 

resulting prejudice, both upon the basis of the content of the 

publication and the likelihood of its having come to the attention 

of any juror. If the risk of prejudice appears substantial, as 

opposed to imaginary or remote only, the court should 

interrogate the jury collectively to determine who, if any, has 

been exposed. If there has been no exposure, the court should 

instruct upon the hazards of such exposure and the necessity for 
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avoiding exposure to out-of-court comment concerning the case. 

If any of the jurors have been exposed, he must be individually 

interrogated by the court outside the presence of the other jurors, 

to determine the degree of exposure and the likely effect thereof. 

After each juror is so interrogated, he should be individually 

admonished. After all exposed jurors have been interrogated and 

admonished, the jury should be assembled and collectively 

admonished, as in the case of a finding of ‘no exposure.’ If the 

imperiled party deems such action insufficient to remove the 

peril, he should move for a mistrial.

Lindsey v. State, 260 Ind. 351, 358–59, 295 N.E.2d 819, 824 (1973); accord

Ridenour v. State, 639 N.E.2d 288, 292 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994). Although Lindsey

involved exposure to factually incorrect newspaper articles published during the 

trial, “the Lindsey procedure has been applied to a variety of situations where 

potentially improper juror influence exists.” Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292

(collecting cases). 

[15] Subsequent cases have clarified that, if the trial court determines that no risk of 

substantial prejudice exists, it need not investigate the matter further. Caruthers, 

926 N.E.2d at 1021 (citing Joyner, 736 N.E.2d at 239). Indeed, a trial court “is 

required to act only if there has been presented some basis for a reasonable 

belief that one or more of the jurors has been exposed to potentially harmful 

publicity.” Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292 (citing Jarvis v. State, 441 N.E.2d 1, 7 

(Ind. 1982)). Thus, a trial court “is not required to initiate an inquiry as a 

‘fishing expedition.’” Id. And the trial court has discretion to take what actions 

it deems necessary and appropriate at all stages of this process. Id.
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[16] Here, Taylor claims that the trial court should have held a “Lindsey hearing” to 

see if Juror 3082 said anything to the remaining jurors about her bias and 

should have admonished the remaining jurors regarding Juror 3082’s removal. 

Taylor, however, never requested that the trial court hold such a hearing or so 

admonish the jury. “The failure to raise a claim of error [at trial] generally 

waives that issue for appeal.” Caruthers, 926 N.E.2d at 1020 (citing Clark v. State, 

915 N.E.2d 126, 131 (Ind. 2009)). Taylor has therefore failed to preserve any 

claim of error on this issue. See id. “We nevertheless sometimes entertain such 

claims under fundamental error, meaning an error that makes a fair trial 

impossible or that constitutes a clearly blatant violation of basic and elementary 

principles of due process presenting an undeniable and substantial potential for 

harm.” Id.

[17] We discern no error, much less fundamental error, in the present case. As set 

forth above, when the trial court was made aware that Juror 3082 claimed to 

have had more contact with Sgt. Brahaum than she originally indicated, and 

therefore might be biased against Taylor, the trial court had Juror 3082 brought 

back into the courtroom for additional questioning. Juror 3082, a teacher, 

confirmed that she had seen Sgt. Brahaum at her school with a bandage on her 

arm. The court asked Juror 3082 if she could be impartial, and she responded 

that she had already formed an opinion about the case. The trial court indicated 

that it had no choice but to dismiss Juror 3082, and defense counsel agreed. 

[18] Notably, there was no indication from Juror 3082, or any other source, that 

Juror 3082 told the other jurors that she had seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage 
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on her arm. Thus, there was no suggestion that the other jurors had been 

exposed to this extra-judicial information, and we cannot fault the trial court for 

failing to sua sponte question the remaining jurors about Juror 3082’s removal 

from the jury. See Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292 (holding that trial court did not 

err by failing to question remaining jurors regarding the removal of a juror who 

indicated that her family had experienced child molestation because there was 

no evidence suggesting that the excused juror had shared her concerns with the 

remaining jurors). 

[19] If there has been no exposure to extra-judicial matters, the trial court need only 

instruct the jury of the hazards of such exposure and the necessity of avoiding 

exposure to any out-of-court comments about the case. Lindsey, 260 Ind. at 359, 

295 N.E.2d at 824. Although the trial court here did not specifically admonish 

the remaining jurors regarding the facts that led to Juror 3082’s removal, it did 

inform the jury that she had been removed. It also instructed the jury to avoid 

independent research about the case, to avoid any media coverage regarding the 

trial, and to base its decision solely on the evidence presented in court. See

Appellant’s App. pp. 59–60. Thus, we are unable to say that the trial court erred 

in its handling of Juror 3082’s removal. 

[20] We find Taylor’s citation to Threats v. State, 582 N.E.2d 396 (Ind. Ct. App. 

1991), trans. denied, to be unavailing. In that case, one of the members of the 

venire stated during jury selection that he had known the defendant in years 

past. This venireman, however, was not excused and was chosen as the jury 

foreman. Then, during the jury’s deliberations, this juror told the other jurors 
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that he knew the defendant’s wife. One of the other jurors informed the bailiff 

of this, and the bailiff informed the trial court judge. The trial court removed the 

foreman and replaced him with an alternate juror. This prompted the defendant 

to move for a mistrial, which the trial court denied. 

[21] On appeal, the defendant, citing Lindsey, argued that the trial court erred by not 

admonishing and questioning the jury regarding the removal of the juror. The 

Threats court rejected the State’s argument that the defendant’s claim was too 

speculative, concluding that, without questioning the jury, “any musing as to 

whether or how removing [the juror] affected the jury necessarily remains 

purely conjectural on direct review,” and that “to require a non-speculative 

showing in the appellate brief that the jury became biased against Threats 

because of [the removed juror]’s conduct would be to impose an unreachable 

threshold.” Id. at 400. 

[22] Citing this language, Taylor claims that, here, we cannot know whether the jury 

was affected by Juror 3082’s bias and removal because the trial court did not 

question the jury on this subject. The Threats court, however, emphasized that 

the facts before it, where there was no doubt regarding the jury’s exposure to 

possible prejudice, “must be distinguished from those which require the 

claimant, at the threshold, to prove the jury was exposed to extraneous material 

before imposing on the trial court a duty to determine whether the exposure 

tainted the jury.” Id.
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[23] The present case is precisely the sort of case where there is a question of 

whether the jury was exposed to any prejudicial matter. That is, in Threats, it 

was clear that the jury was exposed to potentially prejudicial extra-judicial 

information because it was one of the other jurors who reported the foreman’s 

relationship with the defendant’s wife. Id. Here, although the jurors were 

informed that Juror 3082 had been removed because of her relationship with 

Sgt. Brahaum, there is no indication that the other jurors were aware that Juror 

3082 had seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage on her arm. Because there was no 

suggestion that the jury had been exposed to this extra-judicial matter, there 

was no need for the trial court to further question the remaining jurors. See 

Ridenour, 639 N.E.2d at 292 (holding that there is no need to employ the 

procedure set forth in Lindsey unless there is a basis for believing that the jury 

may have been subject to “improper out-of-court stimuli[.]”).1 

Conclusion

[24] Because Taylor did not ask the trial court to hold a Lindsey hearing to determine 

whether the jury was exposed to any extra-judicial matters, he has waived any 

 

1 Even if the jury had been exposed to the fact that Juror 3082 had seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage on her 

arm, we fail to see how this would have prejudiced the jury such that it would amount to a denial of due 

process. There was no specific timeframe given for when Juror 3082 saw Sgt. Brahaum, and there are any 

number of reasons why Sgt. Brahaum might have had a bandage on her arm aside from her encounter with 

Taylor. And even if the bandage was a result of the injuries caused by the struggle with Taylor, the defense 

did not deny that Sgt. Brahaum had been injured. Instead, the theory of the defense was that Sgt. Brahaum 

unnecessarily escalated the situation because she was afraid that she would not be able to obtain the blood 

sample within the statutory three-hour time limit and unreasonably attempted to force Taylor into 

compliance. The defense therefore argued that Taylor did not knowingly batter Sgt. Brahaum but merely 

acted instinctually in response to the pain of the taser and the pain of the hold Sgt. Brahaum used on him. 

Thus, the fact that Sgt. Brahaum may have had a bandage on her arm was immaterial to Taylor’s defense. 
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error with regard to the trial court’s actions after dismissing Juror 3082. There is 

also no indication that the remaining jurors were aware that Juror 3082 had 

seen Sgt. Brahaum with a bandage on her arm, and the trial court instructed the 

jurors to base their verdict solely upon the evidence presented at trial. Taylor 

has therefore failed to establish any error, much less fundamental error, on the 

part of the trial court for failing to questioning the remaining jurors with regard 

to the circumstances that led to Juror 3082’s removal. Accordingly, we affirm 

the judgment of the trial court. 

[25] Affirmed. 

Robb, J., and Pyle, J., concur.