Prosecutors rested their case Friday in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 during the murder trial of Anthony W. Carter.
The 50-year-old Indianapolis man is charged with intentionally taking the life of 40-year-old Ashley E. Neville. The victim was killed on April 16, 2023, inside her home along County Road 650S, northeast of Azalia.
Although it took half-a-day longer than expected to seat the six-man, six-woman jury, Bartholomew County prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay and chief deputy prosecutor Kimberly Sexton-Yeager made up for lost time.
Prosecutors, who called several law officers to the stand, made extensive use of footage from body cameras that allowed jurors to see and hear for themselves what took place during the investigation.
When the state completed its case at about 12:30 p.m. Friday, a total of 14 witnesses had been called to the stand, with two brought back to testify a second time, court officials said.
Instead of adjourning for lunch, Judge James Worton decided to allow the jury to get an early start to their weekend. Jurors have been asked to be back in the courthouse at 8:15 a.m. today, so public defender Greg Long can start presenting his case at 8:30 a.m.
The court paid about $5,000 for the defendant to be examined by psychologist Kevin Hurley and psychiatrist George Parker. Hurley’s report was submitted to the court May 1, while Parker’s evaluation was filed April 11.
However, the prosecution did not call either mental health professional to the stand, according to court officials. It’s not known if Hurley and Parker will be among the witnesses called to the stand by Long.
If Carter is convicted, conclusions of the two reports by the mental health specialists will be incorporated into a pre-sentence investigation that Worton can use at his discretion. However, legal precedent in Indiana states that such expert testimony is just an opinion, and not conclusive in any way.
Both the prosecution and defense say the defendant and victim were the only ones in the house when Neville was killed. But Long says he intends to prove the shooting was a tragic accident, and the defendant only wanted to end her suffering when he cut off her air supply.
