IN THE
Court of Appeals of Indiana Ryan David Quartier, Appellant-Defendant FILED Apr 09 2025, 8:40 am
v. CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court
State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff
April 9, 2025 Court of Appeals Case No. 24A-CR-1381 Appeal from the Hendricks Superior Court The Honorable Stephenie D. LeMay-Luken, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 32D05-2305-F3-13
Opinion by Judge Vaidik Chief Judge Altice and Judge Scheele concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 1 of 14 Vaidik, Judge.
Case Summary [1] Ryan David Quartier was convicted of Level 3 felony criminal confinement
while armed with a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony battery with a deadly
weapon, and Level 6 felony battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and
found to be a habitual offender after attacking Alicia Conner with a taser and
punching her in the face. At trial, the court—over Quartier’s hearsay
objections—admitted body-camera footage of Conner’s statement to police
immediately following the attack and allowed Conner’s deposition testimony to
be read into evidence because she died before trial.
[2] Quartier now appeals, arguing that the body-camera footage and deposition
testimony are inadmissible hearsay and that the evidence is insufficient to prove
he used a deadly weapon. We affirm, concluding that: (1) the body-camera
footage was admissible as an excited utterance because Conner was still under
the stress of the attack when she gave her statement to police; (2) Conner’s
deposition was admissible as former testimony because Quartier’s trial counsel
had an opportunity and similar motive to develop Conner’s testimony during
her deposition as he would have at trial; and (3) even though a taser was never
recovered, Conner’s statements, her injuries, and the police officers’ testimony
sufficiently established that Quartier was armed with and used a taser.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 2 of 14 Facts and Procedural History [3] The evidence most favorable to the convictions is as follows. In May 2023,
Conner rented a room in Quartier’s home. After staying with Quartier for
several days, Conner booked a hotel room because she felt uncomfortable at
Quartier’s and “didn’t wanna [sic] be there.” Tr. Vol. II p. 202. Conner
arranged for a coworker to take her to the hotel, but before her coworker
arrived, Quartier came to her bedroom and tased her on her neck. He “t[old]
[her] to get down on the ground” and “tased [her] multiple different times,”
mostly on her arms and neck. Id. at 203. Quartier put Conner’s hand behind her
back, put a sock in her mouth, and tried to put electrical tape over her mouth.
The “taser ended up jamming because he was pressing it so much,” and
Quartier then punched Conner in her face and head. Id. at 204. While sitting on
top of Conner, Quartier reached for her purse and took out her phone and her
taser. He handed Conner her phone and said, “tell your ride to turn around,”
but she called 911 instead. Id. at 205. Realizing this, Quartier left the home and
took the tasers with him. Conner told the 911 operator that the “guy [she] was
staying with” was “going crazy” and that “he tased [her], he’s strangling [her],
he put his hands all over [her].” Ex. 2, 1:17. The call lasted around ten minutes,
ending when police arrived.
[4] Avon Police Department Sergeant James Schwartz and Officers Sam Sims and
Tanner Brennan arrived at Quartier’s home at 1:16 p.m. They “could tell
[Conner] was coming down from a very stressful or scary situation”—she “was
in distress,” “crying a lot[,] and couldn’t really catch her breath.” Tr. Vol. II pp.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 3 of 14 138, 158, 179. The officers questioned Conner about the incident and recorded
the conversation on their body cameras. Conner denied that she and Quartier
had any kind of relationship. But when officers questioned Quartier later, he
said he and Conner had been seeing each other and that she came at him with a
taser after he told her he didn’t want to pursue a relationship with her. Officers
searched Quartier’s home and car for the tasers but never found them.
[5] The State charged Quartier with Level 3 felony criminal confinement while
armed with a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony battery with a deadly weapon,
Level 5 felony criminal confinement with bodily injury, Level 6 felony
strangulation, and Level 6 felony battery resulting in moderate bodily injury.
The State also alleged Quartier is a habitual offender.
[6] In preparation for trial, defense counsel deposed Conner. Conner explained that
Quartier “had a taser in his hand,” “was tasing really closely,” and that she
“th[ought] the prongs did hit” her neck because she had “marks on [her] neck . .
. from the taser.” Id. at 203, 208. A few weeks after the deposition, Conner died
from causes unrelated to this case. At a pretrial conference, defense counsel
moved to exclude the body-camera footage of Conner and Conner’s deposition
because she would be unavailable for cross-examination. The trial court denied
the motion and ordered that the State could use Conner’s deposition in lieu of
live testimony. Defense counsel also noted at the conference that Quartier’s
phone was released to him sometime after Conner’s deposition and that he
found photos and videos “of an adult nature” of Conner on the phone, which
he believed was “exculpatory evidence” showing that Conner “was not truthful
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 4 of 14 in . . . her testimony in the deposition in regards to her relationship” with
Quartier. Id. at 31.
[7] At the jury trial, Quartier sought to introduce the sexual photos and videos of
Conner as “rebuttal testimony” because Conner had said during her deposition
that she “really didn’t know” him, so Quartier wanted to present the photos and
videos to show that Conner “was not truthful” in her deposition testimony and
that “there was more” between them. Id. at 122-24. The trial court admitted this
evidence over the State’s objection. Quartier also objected to the admission of
Conner’s 911 call on hearsay grounds, which the court overruled, finding that
the call was admissible as an excited utterance.
[8] Officer Sims testified that when he saw Conner at the scene, she had two
“bright red” marks on her neck that “look[ed] like two (2) little bee stings
basically from where the taser was in her neck.” Id. at 138, 145. He explained
that a taser “can severely injure a person . . . in certain situations.” Id. at 151.
Sergeant Schwartz testified that Conner had “two (2) dots on her neck” “which
could be indicative of a taser dry stun.” Id. at 161. Officer Brennan, who took
photos of Conner’s injuries at the scene, described the redness he saw on
Conner’s neck, forehead, arms, and legs. The photos of Conner’s injuries were
admitted into evidence. See Exs. 10, 21-29. Defense counsel renewed his
objection to the body-camera footage of Conner, which the trial court
overruled, finding that Conner’s statements in the footage were excited
utterances because Conner was “visibly upset” and “shaking” and “[h]er voice
[wa]s . . . shaking.” Tr. Vol. II p. 157.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 5 of 14 [9] The jury found Quartier guilty of Level 3 felony criminal confinement while
armed with a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony battery with a deadly weapon,
Level 5 felony criminal confinement with bodily injury, and Level 6 felony
battery resulting in moderate bodily injury but not guilty of Level 6 felony
strangulation. Quartier waived his right to a jury trial on the habitual-offender
enhancement, and the trial court found him to be a habitual offender. At
sentencing, the court merged the conviction for Level 5 felony criminal
confinement with bodily injury into the Level 3 felony and sentenced Quartier
to a total term of twenty-six years.
[10] Quartier now appeals.
Discussion and Decision I. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Conner’s out-of-court statements [11] Quartier first argues the trial court erred in admitting the body-camera footage
of Conner and Conner’s deposition because this evidence was inadmissible
hearsay. 1 Generally, trial courts have broad discretion in ruling on the
admissibility of evidence, and we review only for an abuse of that discretion.
Chambless v. State, 119 N.E.3d 182, 188 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019), trans. denied. An
1 In his brief, Quartier initially argues that Conner’s 911 call was also inadmissible hearsay. See Appellant’s Br. pp 8, 10-11. But in his discussion of the excited-utterance exception, he doesn’t claim that the 911 call was not an excited utterance. Because Quartier failed to develop any argument he may have had as to the 911 call, we do not address its admission.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 6 of 14 abuse of discretion occurs where the trial court’s decision is clearly against the
logic and effect of the facts and circumstances. Id.
[12] Hearsay is a statement, not made by the declarant while testifying at trial,
“offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” Ind. Evidence
Rule 801(c). Hearsay is inadmissible unless it falls under an exception. Evid. R.
802. Here, the trial court found that the body-camera footage of Conner was
admissible under the excited-utterance exception. An excited utterance is “[a]
statement relating to a startling event or condition, made while the declarant
was under the stress of excitement that it caused.” Evid. R. 803(2). The party
seeking admission of hearsay under this exception must show: (1) a startling
event; (2) a statement made by the declarant while under the stress of
excitement caused by the event; and (3) a relationship between the statement
and the event. Jenkins v. State, 725 N.E.2d 66, 68 (Ind. 2000). This “is not a
mechanical test” and “turns on whether the statement was inherently reliable
because the witness was under the stress of an event and unlikely to make
deliberate falsifications.” Id. Factors to consider in determining admissibility
include the lapse of time between a statement and the startling event and
whether a statement was made in response to questioning, though neither factor
is dispositive. Hardiman v. State, 726 N.E.2d 1201, 1204 (Ind. 2000).
[13] Quartier contends Conner was no longer under the stress of a startling event
when she gave her statement to police because “there was a relevant passage of
time” between the attack and the statement and because the statement “was the
product of questioning and prodding.” Appellant’s Br. p. 14. He relies on Hurt
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 7 of 14 v. State, 151 N.E.3d 809 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020), but that case is easily
distinguishable. There, a police officer responded to a domestic disturbance
between Hurt and his wife, both of whom had visible injuries. The officer spoke
to the couple, then interviewed Hurt separately for several minutes, and then
questioned his wife about her injuries, all of which was recorded on his body
camera. The wife was “visibly intoxicated” but “calm” and didn’t become upset
until the officer mentioned that Hurt might go to jail. Id. at 814. Throughout the
questioning, the wife “was deliberating—albeit drunkenly—about how to
respond to repeated questioning over the course of several minutes.” Id.
(quotation omitted). On appeal, we concluded that the body-camera footage of
the wife’s interview—which occurred at least fifteen minutes after the 911 call—
was not admissible as an excited utterance because she was no longer under the
stress of the startling event when she gave her statement to the officer.
[14] Here, Conner called 911 during the attack by Quartier. The 911 call lasted
around ten minutes and ended when the police arrived at 1:16 p.m. Unlike in
Hurt, where the officer spoke to the couple together and then questioned Hurt
separately for several minutes before interviewing his wife, Conner began telling
officers what happened as soon as they arrived. And while Hurt’s wife was
calm, as the trial court here observed, Conner was “visibly upset” and
“shaking” and “[h]er voice [wa]s . . . shaking.” The responding officers
confirmed this—Sergeant Schwartz testified that Conner “was in distress,”
Officer Sims testified that he “could tell she was coming down from a very
stressful or scary situation,” and Officer Brennan testified that she was “crying a
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 8 of 14 lot and couldn’t really catch her breath.” Pointing to the fact that Conner was
responding to the officers’ questions and that she revealed more details about
the attack as the questioning went on, Quartier argues that “[l]ike the waffling
in Hurt, the evidence here shows a capacity for deliberation.” Appellant’s Br. p.
14. But in Hurt, there was more than a capacity for deliberation—the body-
camera footage actually “show[ed] that Hurt’s wife was deliberating . . . about
how to respond to repeated questioning over the course of several minutes.”
Unlike the wife in Hurt, the circumstances here establish that Conner was still
under the stress of the attack when she gave her statement to officers. See
Chambless, 119 N.E.3d at 190 (finding victim’s statements in 911 call “were
unrehearsed and made while still under the stress” from attack and thus were
admissible as excited utterances where victim called 911 “a short time after she
was attacked, not giving her time for thoughtful reflection,” and “had trouble
breathing” during call). Thus, the trial court did not err in admitting the body-
camera footage under the excited-utterance exception.
[15] Another exception to the rule against hearsay can be found in Evidence Rule
804(b)(1), which makes a witness’s former testimony admissible when the
witness is unavailable for trial. “Former testimony” is defined as testimony that:
(A) was given as a witness at a trial, hearing, or lawful deposition, whether given during the current proceeding or a different one; and
(B) is now offered against a party who had—or, in a civil case, whose predecessor in interest had—an opportunity and similar motive to develop it by direct, cross-, or redirect examination. Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 9 of 14 Evid. Rule 804(b)(1). The decision to admit an unavailable witness’s former
testimony is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we will not
reverse “absent a showing of manifest abuse of the trial court’s discretion
resulting in the denial of a fair trial.” Burns v. State, 91 N.E.3d 635, 639 (Ind. Ct.
App. 2018).
[16] Quartier contends Conner’s deposition was not admissible under the former-
testimony exception because his counsel did not have an opportunity or similar
motive to develop Conner’s testimony during the deposition as he would have
at trial. He argues that because his counsel didn’t know about the sexually
explicit content of Conner on his phone until after her deposition, his counsel
“simply did not intend or could not have imagined that the discovery
deposition should have included probing questioning designed to ‘disparage’
[Conner] or to cast doubt on her credibility.” Appellant’s Br. pp. 15-16. But
defense counsel knew before the deposition that there were discrepancies in
Conner’s and Quartier’s characterizations of their relationship. On the day of
the attack, Conner insisted to police that she and Quartier were never in a
relationship, but Quartier said they’d been seeing each other and that she
attacked him after he told her he didn’t want to pursue a relationship. So, even
though defense counsel didn’t know about the explicit content before the
deposition, he still had the opportunity to develop Conner’s testimony about the
nature of her relationship with Quartier. We are not convinced by Quartier’s
suggestion that his counsel had no motive to question Conner about this or to
undermine her credibility during her deposition. See Berkman v. State, 976
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 10 of 14 N.E.2d 68, 78 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012) (“We believe that a prudent defense
attorney conducting a discovery deposition in a criminal case would . . . explore
avenues by which the testimony or the witness’s credibility might be
attacked.”), trans. denied.
[17] In any event, Quartier has not shown that the admission of Conner’s deposition
denied him a fair trial. His only argument is that, had his counsel known of the
sexually explicit content of Conner at the time of her deposition, “he could
have tried to undermine [Conner’s] claims about the nonexistence of a romantic
relationship.” Appellant’s Reply Br. p. 6. But Quartier’s counsel was still able to
undermine these claims at trial because the court admitted the sexually explicit
content for this exact purpose—the court allowed the photos and videos into
evidence as “rebuttal to say that she wasn’t telling the truth” and “that there
was more” between Conner and Quartier. Tr. Vol. II p. 123. Because Quartier’s
counsel had an opportunity and similar motive to develop Conner’s testimony
during her deposition as he would have at trial, and because he was still able to
use the sexually explicit content in an effort to undermine Conner’s credibility
at trial, the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Conner’s deposition
testimony.
II. There is sufficient evidence that Quartier was armed with and used a deadly weapon [18] Quartier also argues the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions for
Level 3 felony criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon and
Level 5 felony battery with a deadly weapon. When reviewing sufficiency-of-
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 11 of 14 the-evidence claims, we neither reweigh the evidence nor judge witness
credibility. Willis v. State, 27 N.E.3d 1065, 1066 (Ind. 2015). We consider only
the evidence supporting the verdict and any reasonable inferences that can be
drawn from it. Id. We will affirm a conviction if there is substantial evidence of
probative value to support each element of the offense such that a reasonable
trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Id.
[19] Quartier contends the State failed to establish that he used a deadly weapon. As
relevant here, “deadly weapon” is defined as:
A destructive device, weapon, device, taser (as defined in IC 35- 47-8-3) or electronic stun weapon (as defined in IC 35-47-8-1), equipment, chemical substance, or other material that in the manner it:
(A) is used;
(B) could ordinarily be used; or
(C) is intended to be used;
is readily capable of causing serious bodily injury.
Ind. Code § 35-31.5-2-86(a)(2). “Whether an object is a deadly weapon is a
question of fact determined from the nature of the object, how the defendant
actually used the object, and the circumstances of the particular case.” Owens v.
State, 224 N.E.3d 984, 995 (Ind. Ct. App. 2023), trans. denied.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 12 of 14 [20] Quartier claims that because “no taser was ever found, . . . it is impossible to
know whether the taser in this case” could cause serious bodily injury.
Appellant’s Br. p. 19. But the State need not prove the exact object the
defendant used. Owens, 224 N.E.3d at 995. Instead, “[t]he fact finder may look
to whether the weapon had the actual ability to inflict serious injury under the
fact situation and whether the defendant had the apparent ability to injure the
victim seriously through use of the object during the crime.” Moore v. State, 137
N.E.3d 1034, 1037 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019).
[21] Conner testified in her deposition that Quartier had a taser in his hand and
tased her “really closely,” that the “taser ended up jamming because he was
pressing it so much,” and that she thought the prongs hit her in the neck
because of the “marks on [her] neck . . . from the taser.” When Conner called
911, she told the operator the “guy [she] was staying with” had tased her. At
trial, the responding officers corroborated the “marks” on Conner’s neck—
Officer Sims testified that Conner had “bright red” marks that “look[ed] like
two (2) little bee stings basically from where the taser was in her neck,” and
Sergeant Schwartz testified that Conner had “two (2) dots on her neck” “which
could be indicative of a taser dry stun.” Officer Sims also explained that a taser
can “severely injure” someone “in certain situations.” And the jury saw photos
of Conner’s injuries, which show the “dots” on her neck from the taser
“prongs.” See Exs. 10, 21. From this evidence, the jury could reasonably
conclude that Quartier was armed with and used a taser and that the taser was
readily capable of causing serious bodily injury. See Grogg v. State, 156 N.E.3d
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 13 of 14 744, 750-51 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020) (finding “flashlight type electrical device” was
deadly weapon because it had ability to cause serious bodily injury, even
though State did not establish whether it was taser or stun gun), trans. denied;
Buckner v. State, 857 N.E.2d 1011, 1018 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006) (concluding stun
gun was deadly weapon readily capable of causing serious bodily injury where
shocks left marks on victim and caused her pain). The evidence is sufficient to
sustain Quartier’s convictions for Level 3 felony criminal confinement while
armed with a deadly weapon and Level 5 felony battery with a deadly weapon.
[22] Affirmed.
Altice, C.J., and Scheele, J., concur.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Zachary J. Stock Zackary J. Stock, Attorney At Law, P.C. Carmel, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Theodore E. Rokita Attorney General J.T. Whitehead Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-CR-1381 | April 9, 2025 Page 14 of 14