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A second Muncie man convicted of threatening local judges has been sentenced to five years in prison, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman announced Saturday.
Donald Guinn, 49, of Muncie, was sentenced July 17 in Delaware Circuit Court after he had pleaded guilty but mentally ill to five counts of intimidation, a Level 5 felony. Guinn had been charged with the five felonies on June 6, 2022.
“Threats to judges are an attack at the very heart of our justice system and it must be taken very seriously,” Hoffman said in a news release. “Threats cannot be tolerated. We must zealously protect our institutions, particularly that of the law enforcement officers, the judiciary and the courts. If you don’t, then what do you have? We would have nothing but anarchy.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, Bobby Hatfield, a psychologist for the Delaware County Jail and the county’s courts, performed a mental health examination in May 2022 on Guinn, who was incarcerated at the jail.
On June 3, 2022, a lieutenant with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office interviewed Hatfield about threats made by Guinn against the judges.
Hatfield said he was evaluating Guinn on by order of Delaware Circuit Judge Kimberly Dowling. Online court records indicate the evaluation was ordered in Cause No. 18C02-2204-F6-000172, in which Guinn was facing a felony escape charge.
The psychologist pursued a standard line of questioning regarding the charges Guinn was facing. When asked if he could explain why his crimes were wrong, Guinn told Hatfield, “Everyday, I am like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, everyday is something new with murder and torture,” according to the PCA.
In response to Hatfield’s request for Guinn to explain, Guinn allegedly said “My buddy got a blue trailer across the street. I’ll get a high-powered rifle and pick off all the F—ing Judges as they come in one by one!”
Guinn added that, “If they let me out, I’ll get my hands on some weapons, I might go after Judge Dowling.”
Guinn continued by saying that if he was released, he would “kill cops,” and that “suicide by cop is how I’ll go,” according to the affidavit.
Guinn’s ensuing felony intimidation charges represented threats made against Dowling, as well as former Delaware Circuit Judge Marianne Vorhees and current Circuit Judges Linda Ralu Wolf, John M. Feick and Thomas A. Cannon Jr.
Indiana Lawyer left a message Monday at attorney (John) Patrick Wright’s office seeking comment on the sentence.
Guinn is the second Muncie man to be sentenced for threatening local judges.
In June 2022 — the same month Guinn was charged — John Armstrong was sentenced to four years in prison for Level 5 felony intimidation. The victim in Armstrong’s case was Delaware Circuit Court Juvenile Magistrate Amanda Yonally.
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