Man extradited from Wyoming on many charges not denied speedy trial

A man who twice escaped incarceration in Indiana and was extradited to face a multitude of charges after he was convicted in Wyoming failed to convince appellate judges he had been denied a speedy trial.

Anderson native Kelvin Fuller was convicted in 2008 of bank robbery and in 2009 of aggravated assault in Wyoming. Afterward, he was shipped back to Indiana to face a multitude of felony charges in Hamilton, Lake, LaPorte and Madison counties alleging a criminal rampage.

Lake County officials had issued warrants for Fuller while he was at large, charging him with felonies including robbery, confinement, strangulation and intimidation, and prosecutors in January 2009 sought extradition on those charges when they learned he was being held in the Equality State.

Fuller was extradited in May 2009 and read the Lake County warrant the next month by a Hamilton County officer as the charges against him from other jurisdictions were prosecuted first. Fuller in June 2012 filed a motion to dismiss the Lake County charges pursuant to Criminal Rule 4(C), which Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez denied.

On interlocutory appeal, a panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed Vasquez and found Fuller had not proven his right to trial within one year had been violated, noting Fuller could not show Lake officials knew of his incarceration in Indiana before he made them aware.

Despite being read the information from Lake County by an officer from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, “this fact does not reflect on the knowledge of the Lake County prosecutor or trial court,” Judge Patricia Riley wrote for the court in Kelvin Fuller v. State of Indiana, 45A03-1212-CR-520.

“It is Fuller’s burden on appeal to give us a record that supports his claims. … At best, Fuller presented us with some evidence suggesting that Lake County sheriff’s department might have been aware of Fuller’s incarceration in Indiana,” Riley wrote.

“However, because the record does not show that the Lake County prosecutor or trial court were actually aware of Fuller’s return to Indiana’s jurisdiction prior to Fuller’s filing of his motion to discharge on June 13, 2012, the Crim. R. 4 (C) clock did not start until that date. Therefore, the trial court properly denied Fuller’s motion.”