PROSECUTOR REMOVED: Cooper pleads guilty to felonies in confinement, misconduct, battery case

Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper has pleaded guilty to four criminal charges, including felonies, which means he is removed from office.

The charges to which he pleaded guilty are criminal confinement, identity deception and official misconduct — all Level 6 felonies — and a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. The charges were filed in a hearing on Monday morning, and Cooper pleaded guilty to each of them during the same hearing, according to a news release from the Indiana State Police and special prosecutor Doug Brown.

State law says that prosecutors, who are the elected officials in charge of determining who should or shouldn’t be charged with crimes, are immediately removed from office when they plead guilty or are convicted of felonies.

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Cooper will not serve any time in jail as long as he completes 540 days of supervised probation, according to the plea agreement. He also acknowledged that he is now removed from office, according to the agreement.

He did not respond to a message seeking comment. As prosecutor, Cooper has said that he is the top law enforcement officer in the county.

Cooper, 51, of Trafalgar, is the elected official who has been under Indiana State Police investigation since early March, when a resident of the Trafalgar area called police to report that a woman had been battered and had fled to the home seeking help. Cooper’s name was not released by Indiana State Police during the course of its investigation and did not become public until the charges were filed on Monday.

His license to practice law as an attorney may also be temporarily suspended by the Indiana Supreme Court, and he could face additional discipline regarding his license, according to the Rules for Admission to the Bar and the Discipline of Attorneys from the Indiana Rules of Court. The executive director of the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission will report the conviction to the Indiana Supreme Court and request that the lawyer be suspended, said Kathryn Dolan, spokeswoman for the Indiana Supreme Court.

Cooper confined his fiancee, struck her and used her phone information to pretend to be her while sending messages to someone else, according to the court documents filed by special prosecutor Doug Brown, who is chief deputy prosecutor in Decatur County.

Cooper also committed official misconduct by committing identity deception during the criminal investigation for domestic battery, court documents said. The specific details, such as how the woman was confined and struck, have not and won’t be released because Cooper agreed that there was probable cause to charge him, Brown said.

Cooper was arrested and booked in at the Johnson County jail on Monday afternoon. He was released on his own recognizance without having to post a bond.

Cooper became Johnson County prosecutor in 2009. As prosecutor, he oversaw all criminal cases in Johnson County and decided what, if any, charges suspects should face.

Voters elect him to four-year terms, and he began his third term earlier this year. Cooper has worked in the prosecutor’s office since 1994 and was appointed prosecutor in 2009 in a Republican caucus to fill a vacancy when then-Prosecutor Lance Hamner was elected judge of Johnson County Superior Court 3.

The Johnson County Republican Party will need to conduct a caucus to appoint someone to fill the remainder of Cooper’s term in office, until the end of 2022.

When an elected official resigns or is removed from office, the party calls a caucus of precinct committee members to name the replacement among eligible applicants. In the meantime, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joseph Villanueva is acting prosecutor for Johnson County, according to state law.

Johnson County Republican Party Chairwoman Beth Boyce, who would be tasked with coordinating the caucus, could not be reached on Monday.

Confidential investigation

Cooper agreed to plead guilty to the charges on Monday, the day before a confidential grand jury was set to convene to review the evidence and decide whether he should face criminal charges. If Cooper had not agreed, the case could have proceeded to a trial.

The investigation began late the night of March 4 and in the early morning hours of March 5. A resident called 911 at 11:57 p.m. March 4 from State Road 252 in Trafalgar. A woman had gone to a neighbor’s home and asked for help. Johnson County sheriff’s deputies arrived and saw that the woman’s eye was swollen and bruised, and she told them she had been battered and confined. When deputies realized that the allegations were against a local elected official, Sheriff Duane Burgess decided the incident should be investigated by Indiana State Police to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

State police began an investigation into two possible felony crimes — criminal confinement, a Level 5 felony; and domestic battery causing moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony, according to the initial state police report. The report also outlined the injuries the victim suffered in the reported incident. She was taken to the hospital and had bruises, scratches and a contusion to her eye.

The weapons used were personal weapons, such as hands and feet, the initial report said.

“When things get tough, you toughen up, and that is exactly what the victim did in this investigation,” Brown said in a news release. “Her grace and resolve have been inspiring. The plea agreement accomplishes her desire for privacy, healing and moving forward. The proposed plea also accomplishes the State’s interest in justice. The Indiana State Police is to be commended for their diligence in conducting this investigation.”

State police would not release the suspect’s name, but did release a report that included the address where the incident happened, which is property owned by Cooper. Motions were filed to get a special prosecutor and judge from outside the county to handle the case, and at least one search warrant was issued. All of the orders were sealed by the court and not available to the public.

In the days immediately after the incident, state police requested that Johnson Circuit Court Judge Andy Roesener appoint a special prosecutor to review the case. Roesener immediately recused himself from the case due to the obvious conflict of interest since his court presides over cases filed by Cooper or Cooper’s deputy prosecutors, and Hancock County Superior Court 2 Judge Dan Marshall was appointed. Marshall named Brown as special prosecutor.

Sentencing

Cooper will be sentenced in a Hancock County court on July 17, but he has agreed to certain stipulations in exchange for pleading guilty to the crimes. Each charge called for a sentence of supervised probation, and they will be served at the same time, meaning he is expected to serve 540 days on probation. If he would violate probation, a judge could order that he completes his sentence as an inmate at the Johnson County jail.

The three felony charges could eventually be converted to misdemeanors if Cooper completes the terms of his probation, but the agreement outlines how soon the convictions can be changed. For example, Cooper cannot ask the court to convert the identity deception charge to a misdemeanor for at least three years.

He must also pay court costs and the costs of any assessments ordered by the court, and a $50 domestic violence prevention fee, the agreement said.

Cooper also made statements regarding the incident to an Indianapolis television station shortly after the incident. Per the agreement, Cooper acknowledged that the statements were not true.

He also had to acknowledge that he was being removed from his public office, where he made $150,000 in 2018.

The sentencing hearing was set for 90 days after he pleaded guilty to “facilitate and encourage the defendant’s current treatment plan,” according to the agreement.

His probation will be served in Decatur County, and he will be required to meet with his probation and community corrections officers, report any change of address, pay monthly fees, complete a “Batterer’s Intervention program, anger management program or an equivalent counseling program,” the agreement said.

Cooper may also be subjected to random drug tests and may not possess any firearms or deadly weapons, the agreement said.