Case of egg-toss murder comes to DePauw Tuesday

The Indiana Court of Appeals will come to the campus of DePauw University on Tuesday to consider an appeal by a man convicted of murder for fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy who threw eggs at him.

Members of the DePauw University and Putnam County communities are invited to attend the oral arguments in the case of Donald E. Ware, which will begin at 10 a.m. in the Emerson Room (lower level) of Walden Inn.

Normal courtroom rules of decorum will apply.

The department of political science at DePauw University is hosting the event, which represents the third time in as many years the Court of Appeals has heard oral arguments here.

Donald Ware, then age 37, was charged with murder, battery, two counts of criminal recklessness, and possession of marijuana in the July 24, 2005 killing of 15-year-old Brandon Dunson-Taylor and the wounding of a 17-year-old. They were among a group of young men who were throwing eggs at random vehicles on the west side of Indianapolis that night and hit Ware as he drove by in his truck.

In December 2005, a Marion Superior Court jury found Ware guilty of all charges. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison in a case that received significant attention from the news media.

A summary of the case states, "[Ware] appeals, alleging that physical evidence obtained via a search warrant and evidence of statements he made after his warrantless arrest should be suppressed because the police lacked probable cause to support the search and arrest. Ware also alleges that there is insufficient evidence to support his convictions, that the trial court's admission of certain evidence not disclosed during discovery denied him a fair trial, and that his sentence of seventy years is inappropriate."

A three-judge panel of L. Mark Bailey, Margret G. Robb and Terry A. Crone will hear the case. Each side will each be given 20 minutes to argue their case. Often, the judges will ask questions during the presentations.

The panel of judges will take the arguments under advisement and issue an opinion at a later date. After the hearing, the public will have an opportunity to ask questions of the judges. However, due to the Code of Judicial Conduct, the judges will not be able to answer specific questions about the case -- only general inquiries about the legal system. The judges will also be available for photographs.

The Indiana Court of Appeals regularly holds oral arguments in communities across Indiana in an effort to bring the workings of the judicial system closer to the people it serves.