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A divided Indiana Supreme Court has vacated a Level 1 felony conviction against a Muncie man accused of supplying fentanyl-laced pills that led to the death of a 17-year-old, ruling that his constitutional right to confront a key witness was violated.
In a 3–2 decision issued Wednesday, the court held that the trial court improperly admitted an out-of-court statement from a drug dealer who did not testify at trial, and that the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The case was remanded for a new trial on the Level 1 felony charge.
According to court records, Taylor was living in Muncie and selling blue pills known as M30s, which are counterfeit oxycodone pills that typically contain fentanyl. Taylor regularly sold M30s to Jaxon Engle, who both used them and sold them to others. But Engle also bought M30s from other suppliers, including Matt Sheets.
On the evening of Sept. 11, Taylor told Engle on Facebook that he had “good ones” for sale. But Taylor became irritated by Engle’s followup questions about the pills, including whether they were the “[s]ame ones” Sheets had. Three days later, on Sept. 14, Taylor ended the exchange, telling Engle to “[e]ither buy them or don’t.” Taylor then stopped responding.
The next day, Engle visited a local drag-racing strip. Once there, according to a statement Engle later made to police, he sold “blue pills” he had obtained from Taylor to 17-year-old K.L.
That night, K.L. died from fentanyl and cocaine intoxication. When he was found, police recovered part of an M30 pill from his nightstand, which lab testing later confirmed contained fentanyl. The ensuing investigation led police to Taylor, who stated he did not think he had sold Engle pills on Sept. 14, though he could not say for sure.
The state ultimately charged Taylor with four offenses, including a Level 1 felony for aiding, inducing, or causing Engle to commit the offense of dealing in a controlled substance resulting in K.L.’s death and two Level 5 felonies for dealing a narcotic drug and for conspiracy to deal a narcotic drug.
The Delaware Circuit Court found Taylor guilty of the Level 1 felony aiding count and the two Level 5 felony counts. It then imposed a 35-year sentence on the aiding conviction, six years concurrently on the dealing conviction, and six years consecutively on the conspiracy charge—for an aggregate 41-year executed sentence.
On appeal, Taylor challenged only his Level 1 felony conviction, asserting that the admission of Engle’s out-of-court statement violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine Engle.
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Engle’s improperly admitted statement identifying Taylor as the supplier of the fatal pills was vital to the state’s case, “non-cumulative, uncorroborated, and untested through cross-examination.”
“We therefore cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that Engle’s incriminating statement did not contribute to the verdict on Taylor’s challenged conviction.,” Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote for the majority in vacating Taylor’s conviction.
Justices Goff and Molter concurred. Justices Massa and Slaughter dissented, arguing the court should have denied transfer and allowed the Court of Appeals’ decision affirming the conviction to stand.
Angelus Kocoshis, Taylor’s attorney in the case, and the Indiana Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment.
The case is Ricky L. Taylor v. State of Indiana, 25S-CR-349.
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