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

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided December 27, 2018·No. 18A-CR-734·Published

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 received ten continuances of the trial setting. Ultimately, by order of October 19, 2017, the trial was set for January 8, 2018. On or around December 14, 2017, Brogdon learned that on December 5 Coccaro had pled guilty and signed a special factual basis, a copy of which was provided to Brogdon upon his request. On December 21, the trial court held Coccaro’s guilty plea hearing and set the sentencing hearing for February 22, 2018.2

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