Video shows 2019 fight and shooting of Indiana judges outside Indianapolis White Castle
The final suspect in a 2019 brawl and shooting involving three judges from Southern Indiana was found guilty on eight charges in Marion Superior Court last month.
Barring any appeals being filed, Brandon Kaiser’s conviction brought an end to the legal saga that began with a brawl outside a downtown Indianapolis White Castle. A judge presiding over the case recently released video showing the fight.
The brawl occurred in the early morning hours of May 1, 2019. It involved Kaiser and his nephew, Alfredo Vazquez, as well as Clark Circuit Court Judge Bradley Jacobs and then-Clark Circuit Court Judge Andrew Adams.
Jacobs and Adams were in Indianapolis for a judicial conference and were joined by then-Crawford Circuit Court Judge Sabrina Bell outside the fast-food restaurant.
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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.
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.
Kaiser’s defense team did not dispute that he shot the two men, but claimed the shooting was in self-defense during a three-day trial.
"Brandon was legitimately defending himself against a vicious and brutal attack,” the man’s defense attorney David Margerum told jurors. “That's all he was doing."
Prosecutors disagreed.
During the fight, video footage showed Kaiser sitting on the ground, no longer actively fighting the judges, when he pulled a firearm out of his waistband, said Janna Skelton of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office during Kaiser's trial.
"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.
The fight ended after Kaiser shot Adams in the abdomen and Jacobs twice in the chest.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Video of Indiana judges' fight, shooting at White Castle released
