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The Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Oct. 9 in a case involving a man who was convicted of selling illegal substances that resulted in two deaths.
The court will hear Ricky L. Taylor v. State of Indiana from 10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. at the Indiana Statehouse.
Ricky Taylor, of Muncie, has appealed to the high court and requested a retrial. Taylor argued that the admission of several hearsay statements at trial violated his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment.
According to court documents, in 2023, Taylor was living in Muncie and selling illegal drugs, including M30 pills containing Fentanyl.
Starting in May of 2023, Taylor sold M30s to Jaxon Engle, with whom he would arrange drug deals via text message and through Facebook.
On Sept. 14, 2023, Taylor sold Engle M30s, and the next day, Engle sold M30s to 17-year-old K.L. At some point on Sept. 16, 2023, K.L.’s grandmother found the teenager unresponsive and called 911. K.L. was later pronounced dead, with the cause of death determined to be “Fentanyl intoxication.”
Through the investigation, law enforcement discovered the relationship between K.L. and Engle.
During an interview, Engle indicated that his supplier of M30s had been Taylor. Engle’s father also indicated later that Engle had purchased drugs from Taylor, but he also mentioned that his son would buy drugs from Matt Sheets, who had been in frequent contact with Taylor.
The state charged Taylor in November 2023 with Level 1 felony aiding, inducing or causing dealing in a controlled substance resulting in K.L.’s death and Level 5 dealing in a narcotic drug. The state later added additional charges, including Level 1 felony aiding, inducing or causing dealing in a controlled substance resulting in Javon Nichols’s death and Level 5 felony conspiracy to commit dealing in a narcotic drug.
At the bench trial, Taylor’s counsel argued that testimony from Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Coffman regarding statements made by Engle (who declined to testify at the trial) during the investigation was inadmissible hearsay and would violate his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him.
The court overruled and allowed Coffman to testify about his interview with Engle, in which Engle had stated that he had purchased the M30s from Taylor.
The court found Taylor guilty on three counts, including the Level 1 felony resulting in K.L.’s death. He was sentenced to 41 years in prison.
Upon appeal, Taylor argued that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting Coffman’s testimony on the basis that it violated his constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him.
Although the state conceded that Taylor’s Sixth Amendment right to cross-examine Engle “was violated,” it still asserted that “not every violation of the Confrontation Clause demands reversal.”
According to the appellee brief, “the admission of Engle’s statement does not necessitate reversal because it was harmless.”
The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court, saying the unchallenged evidence was sufficient to support Taylor’s conviction and that the admission of Coffman’s testimony was “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Taylor petitioned the Indiana Supreme Court to accept jurisdiction over the appeal under the argument that the court should reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision affirming the admission of those hearsay statements in violation of his Sixth Amendment rights and hold that this was not a harmless error.
The oral argument can be viewed online.
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