The Brown County prosecutor has added a charge of attempted murder against a Brown County man accused of attacking his younger brother in Bean Blossom on Sept. 6.
When he was booked into jail Sept. 7, Kenneth Wayne Guy, 58, who described himself in court as homeless, was preliminarily charged with attempted murder, a Level 1 felony. That is the only charge lower than murder in Indiana.
But at Guy’s initial court appearance Sept. 9, he was only officially charged with aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony; criminal recklessness, a Level 6 felony; and resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.
If convicted of aggravated battery, Guy could have been sentenced to between three and 16 years in prison, with an advisory sentence of nine years.
Prosecutor Ted Adams petitioned the court last week to add the attempted murder charge, which has an advisory sentence of 30 years.
On Nov. 22, Brown Circuit Court Judge Judith Stewart granted an order to add attempted murder to the charges, but on the next day, she filed a notice of intent to reconsider.
“It was a concern to me to allow an amendment in that nature, that type of charge close to trial,” she said in court Nov. 23. “I worried about it all night. I thought it was worth reconsidering. … It was a close call for me.”
But neither Adams nor public defender Alicia Allen wanted to address the issue further at the hearing, so no change was made.
Guy pleaded not guilty to the new charge.
A jury trial had been set for Nov. 30, but that date was converted to a hearing instead to determine what the new trial date would be.
That night
At about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 6, police found David Guy, 56, lying in the front yard of his home at 5529 Old Settlers Road. He told police that his brother, Kenneth Guy, had hit him with something.
David Guy had wounds on both sides of his head, according to a probable cause affidavit from Sgt. Mike Moore of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department. He told Moore he had been sitting on his porch eating dinner and his brother was moving items out of the house.
Their sister told police that she received two voicemails that night: One from Kenneth that made no sense, and another from David that said, “Kenny has shot me and hit me in the head with a baseball bat. Call police.”
Moore reported finding a kitchen knife, a butcher knife and several drops of blood where David Guy said he was sitting. In the garage, officers reported finding a cutting scythe on the floor just inside the door that appeared to have blood on it.
An ambulance took David Guy to Columbus Regional Hospital, and he was transferred to Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis in stable condition.
Hospital staff told police that one of the injuries appeared to be a gunshot wound, and they found evidence of debris fragments in the wound that could be from a bullet, the report said.
Police found Kenneth Guy standing behind a home on Melvin Road. Moore reported that he ran from officers for about 75 yards before he fell. After he was taken into custody, Moore reported that Guy appeared to have a seizure and he was taken by ambulance to Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital under police guard.
Police searched his car and reported finding a baseball bat and an air rifle in the front seat area.
In the Old Settlers Road home, police reported finding a .22-caliber rifle in David Guy’s bedroom. They also found several items of drugs and drug paraphernalia in the home, the report said.
Speedy trial?
In September, Kenneth Guy asked the court for a speedy trial. However, he made that request via a letter to Judge Stewart instead of through his lawyer.
Adams had asked to strike Guy’s request for a speedy trial, but Stewart denied that motion.
When a speedy trial request is granted, a trial date has to be set within 70 days of that motion being made.
On Nov. 23, Adams filed a motion for Stewart to reconsider because Guy didn’t use the proper channels.
Allen also asked to push back the Nov. 30 trial. She said the additional charge adds new elements to the case and that going forward with a trial “unprepared” is not fair to Guy.
Stewart said that if the defense needs additional time, it would be granted.
Guy had also requested another lawyer due to an unspecified conflict of interest with his public defender, and had written letters to the court requesting a special judge and prosecutor be assigned to his case.
Stewart told Guy that those requests would not be ruled on because they did not come through his lawyer.
At his Nov. 21 hearing, Guy told the court he was in fact happy with Allen’s representation and that the “system” is causing most of the issues he’s experiencing, like with paperwork he believes is not getting filed in time.
David Guy, the victim, is also now in the Brown County jail. On Nov. 4, he was charged with three counts of dealing in methamphetamine. His jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 11.
