Old court case catches up to suspect, system

Friday, March 31, 2017
Jeffrey Hallett

A 12-year-old Putnam County crime -- abetted by a case of mistaken identity and accompanied by an ever-changing cast of characters -- has finally made its way through and out of the local court system.

The old case ended up before Putnam Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges recently as defendant Jeffrey N. Hallett, now 50, of Indianapolis, appeared for a change of plea and sentencing in a 2005 theft and criminal mischief case.

Over the past dozen years, only two constants have remained in the 2005 case. One, Hallett has always been the defendant -- although not just exactly, and more on that later -- and investigating officer Charlie Hallam of the Cloverdale Police Department has served in the same capacity as he did at the time of the crime.

But otherwise it’s been change, change, change. The judge isn’t the same. The prosecutor isn’t the same. The defense attorney isn’t the same.

Even the crime scene is known by a different name now. Hallett was charged with breaking into two vending machines at Jones’ Liquors in Cloverdale, which is now known as Cloverdale Liquors.

What’s most intriguing though is the roster of players that keeps unfolding in this melodrama.

Bridges, of course, wasn’t even a judge when the crime was committed on Fourth of July weekend in 2005. Nonethelesss he was presiding over a case that originally went before Judge Diana LaViolette, now retired.

Appearing in court in 2005 for the Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office, then headed by current Putnam Circuit Court Judge Matt Headley, was Deputy Prosecutor Fritz Modesitt, who has also retired in the interim.

When Hallett appeared in court this past March 22, Deputy Prosecutor Jim Ensley represented the state, while G. Allen Lidy of Mooresville served as Hallett’s legal counsel.

Neither Ensley or Lidy was even an attorney when the crime in question was committed, a fact not lost on the deputy prosecutor.

“Lidy and I joked about whether we should even be doing this case since we weren’t even lawyers yet (in 2005),” Ensley joked.

Then again, this case might even qualify for the old “Dragnet” TV series line that “the names have been changed to protect the innocent” -- or at least the unintended victims.

During the initial investigation, authorities arrested a suspect going by the name Jeffrey Hallett. But apparently unbeknownst to the suspect, whose real name was Joseph Tiernan, Hallett had an outstanding warrant.

On Aug. 10, 2005 Tiernan, who was using Hallett’s name as an alias, was brought to court as Hallett. He assured the court they had the wrong man wanted for breaking into vending machines and reportedly stealing money to support a drug habit. Tiernan was later released when the state confirmed his story.

Hallett had previously been arrested in Hendricks County for breaking into pop machines, court records showed, and there was even reportedly video catching him in the act. So he and his girlfriend left the area.

The court reissued the warrant for the arrest of Hallett on Aug. 12, 2005 but nothing further materialized in the case until July 6, 2016 when the defendant was apparently picked up elsewhere.

Recently Deputy Prosecutor Jim Hanner and defense counsel Lidy reached a plea agreement in which Hallett pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief in return for the state dismissing a Class D felony count of theft in order to resolve the longstanding case.

Hallett was ordered to serve 30 days in the Putnam County Jail with credit given for five days. He was remanded to the Putnam County Jail where he has since served his time.

Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter explained that the defendant had been picked up somewhere else and “there’s this warrant” from Putnam County still active and he ends up back here in Greencastle.

So goes the long arm of the law.

“It’s like I always say,” Bookwalter told the Banner Graphic, “eventually, sooner or later we’ll get you.

“Only in this case, it’s more later than sooner.”

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  • All that for 30 days? Really?? What's the point? Start prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law if you want any bit of a deterrence!

    -- Posted by Geologist on Fri, Mar 31, 2017, at 9:24 PM
  • Glad to see him caught. He needs to be behind bars for a long time. Nothing but scum.

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Sun, Apr 2, 2017, at 10:26 AM
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