Shakka Eugene Brogdon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 27, 2018
Docket18A-CR-734
StatusPublished

This text of Shakka Eugene Brogdon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) (Shakka Eugene Brogdon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shakka Eugene Brogdon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Dec 27 2018, 9:55 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Stacy R. Uliana Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Bargersville, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

Justin F. Roebel Supervising Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Shakka Eugene Brogdon, December 27, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 18A-CR-734 v. Appeal from the Hamilton Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Steven R. Nation, Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge Trial Court Cause No. 29D01-1612-F3-9127

Altice, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-734 | December 27, 2018 Page 1 of 17 Case Summary [1] Following a jury trial, Shakka Brogdon was found guilty of two counts of Level

3 felony aggravated battery, stemming from his involvement in a fight in which

one person died. The trial court merged the counts and sentenced Brogdon to

sixteen years of incarceration. He raises two issues that we restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his request for a continuance of the jury trial; and

II. Whether Brogdon’s sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.

[2] We affirm.

Facts & Procedural History [3] Brogdon was one of four young men involved in a physical fight occurring

during the afternoon of December 7, 2016. Earlier that day, Daniel Zuluaga

and his long-time friend Cory Zimmer decided to purchase and smoke

marijuana, although neither had any money. Zuluaga called his dealer, Joseph

Coccaro and arranged a buy. Around 2:00 p.m., Zimmer and Zuluaga took

Zuluaga’s mother’s SUV to Coccaro’s apartment complex.1 They parked the

SUV, and Zimmer moved to the back seat, and Zuluaga moved to the driver’s

seat. Zuluaga called Coccaro, who came down from his upstairs apartment,

1 Zimmer drove the SUV because Zuluaga did not have a driver’s license.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-734 | December 27, 2018 Page 2 of 17 entered the car, and sat in the passenger seat. Coccaro gave Zuluaga the

marijuana, and Zuluaga told him that he was not going to pay for it because

Coccaro recently had shorted Zuluaga on an Adderall purchase. A

disagreement ensued. While Coccaro was in the car with Zimmer and

Zuluaga, Coccaro texted his friend and roommate, Brogdon, who at the time

was getting a ride home from work. Coccaro told Brogdon that he was in a

black Expedition, and Brogdon believed that Coccaro sounded “panicked.”

Transcript Vol. 4 at 148. When Brogdon’s co-worker, Andrew Segal, dropped

off Brogdon at the apartment complex, Segal saw Coccaro, who he knew, in an

SUV with another individual. As Brogdon was exiting Segal’s car, Brogdon

said to Segal something along the lines of “I’m about to beat this dude’s ass.”

Transcript Vol. 3 at 74.

[4] Meanwhile, in the SUV, Coccaro punched Zuluaga, and Zuluaga’s glasses flew

off. As Zuluaga looked for his glasses, Coccaro continued to hit him. Zimmer,

from the back seat, then started hitting Coccaro. Brogdon walked up to the

SUV, entered the backseat, and began hitting Zimmer. At some point Zimmer

and Brogdon moved from inside the car to outside of it and continued fighting.

Zuluaga put the car in reverse, which caused Coccaro to stop hitting Zuluaga

and jump out of the SUV. Coccaro joined Brogdon in punching Zimmer.

Zuluaga shouted at them to stop, and Coccaro yelled back and threatened

Zuluaga that if he told the police that “he would f-ing kill” him. Id. at 101.

Zuluaga drove away, looped around the parking lot, and returned to see

Brogdon still hitting Zimmer and Coccaro running to a car while yelling to

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-734 | December 27, 2018 Page 3 of 17 Brogdon to leave with him. Zuluaga recalled that as Coccaro was running

away, Zimmer was standing, but when Zuluaga looked back from Coccaro to

Brogdon, Zimmer was on the ground on his back. Brogdon thereafter got into a

car with Coccaro and the two left.

[5] Zuluaga helped Zimmer sit up and tried to get Zimmer to his feet, but was

unable to support him or get him to the SUV. Zimmer was breathing heavily

and bleeding from his face. Meanwhile, Brogdon and Coccaro had returned to

their apartment and, from their balcony, Brogdon yelled down to Zuluaga, “I

should come down and get you too, mother f-er.” Id. at 109. Zuluaga got

scared and ran to the SUV. When he attempted to call for help, he found that

his phone was shattered and Zimmer’s lacked power. Zuluaga then drove

home, leaving Zimmer in the parking lot. Rather than calling 911, Zuluaga

called Zimmer’s mother.

[6] Meanwhile, at around 1:45 p.m., Jane Flanders heard screaming and looked

out her apartment window and saw Brogdon and Coccaro in an argument with

the driver of an SUV. Moments later, she saw the SUV “peeling out” and, at

that time, she saw Coccaro and Brogdon standing by Coccaro’s car together

and they “fist-bumped” each other. Id. at 146. After that, Flanders left her

apartment for an appointment, and she saw Zimmer “laying flat” in the parking

lot. Id. at 149. She called 911 and an EMT arrived at 2:40 p.m. By the time

Zimmer was placed in the ambulance, the emergency personnel could not find

a pulse. They attempted to revive Zimmer but were unsuccessful.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-734 | December 27, 2018 Page 4 of 17 [7] According to a subsequent autopsy, Zimmer died from a combination of

multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma to his head. Zimmer’s left

orbital bone under the eye was fractured, he had contusions to his face and

head in a circular shape consistent with a brass knuckle or shoe, and he had a

fractured skull. The skull fracture was consistent with Zimmer falling to the

ground from a minimum of about six feet or being struck while already on the

ground.

[8] On the evening of December 7, police questioned Brogdon, Coccaro, Coccaro’s

girlfriend Megan, and their friend Dylan. Brogdon denied having any

knowledge of the incident. When Brogdon and Megan were left alone at the

police station, Brogdon was recorded telling Megan not to say anything. Two

days later, Brogdon was arrested. After his arrest, Brogdon gave a second

statement indicating that he joined the fight because Coccaro asked for help and

that it was Coccaro who kicked Zimmer in the head. Brogdon admitted to

police that he hit Zimmer “in order for him to pass out.” Transcript Vol. 4 at

211.

[9] On December 9, 2016, the State charged Brogdon with: Count I, involuntary

Manslaughter, a Level 5 felony; Count II, aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony;

and Count III, aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony. The State charged his co-

defendant, Coccaro, with the same offenses, and also Count IV, intimidation, a

Level 6 felony, and Count V, dealing in marijuana, a Level 6 felony.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-734 | December 27, 2018 Page 5 of 17 [10] Trial initially was set for February 6, 2017. Thereafter, Brogdon sought and

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Andrew Conley v. State of Indiana
972 N.E.2d 864 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2012)
Cardwell v. State
895 N.E.2d 1219 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2008)
Warner v. State
773 N.E.2d 239 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2002)
Curtis A. Bethea v. State of Indiana
983 N.E.2d 1134 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2013)
Elmore v. State
657 N.E.2d 1216 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1995)
Nathan K. Barker v. State of Indiana
994 N.E.2d 306 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013)
Charles Stephenson v. State of Indiana
29 N.E.3d 111 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2015)
William Clyde Gibson III v. State of Indiana
43 N.E.3d 231 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2015)
Jacob O. Robinson v. State of Indiana
91 N.E.3d 574 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2018)
Christopher J. Miller v. State of Indiana
105 N.E.3d 194 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2018)
Croy v. State
953 N.E.2d 660 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)
K.W. v. Indiana Department of Child Services
12 N.E.3d 241 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Shakka Eugene Brogdon v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shakka-eugene-brogdon-v-state-of-indiana-mem-dec-indctapp-2018.