INDIANAPOLIS — A Texas doctor testified Monday that Jason Brown likely suffered a seizure when he crashed his car and then unknowingly shot to death Southport Police Lieutenant Aaron Allan on July 27, 2017, on South Madison Avenue.
Dr. Pamela Blake, a headache specialist, said an interview with Brown while he was imprisoned awaiting trial revealed a pattern of untreated head injuries while growing up and her analysis of the medical records and the video captured by Lt. Allan’s body camera convinced her that Brown had suffered from a series of undiagnosed and untreated seizures most of his life that culminated with a debilitating incident on that summer day.
The prosecution contends that toxicology testing revealed Brown had traces of spice and cocaine in his system at the time of the crash and there was no evidence of a seizure.
Investigators found that after the crash Brown was hanging upside down in his overturned car, suspended by a seatbelt. He then reportedly reached into his waistband and pulled a handgun, firing 18 shots at Allan and striking the officer 11 times.
Late Monday afternoon, the defense rested without Brown taking the stand.
Prosecutors will call Brown’s mother to testify virtually Tuesday morning as she tested positive today for COVID.
Following that testimony, defense and prosecution attorneys are expected to present closing arguments to Judge Mark Stoner.
The late Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry announced his office would pursue Brown’s trial as a death penalty case, but following Curry’s death last year from prostate cancer, his successor, Ryan Mears, agreed to drop the death penalty if Brown agreed to waive his rights to a jury trial. This decision was made in order to avoid live streaming the public jury trial, where bodycam footage showing Lt. Allan’s death would have been streamed for the public to see.
The wife of Lt. Allan wanted to avoid the bodycam footage being live-streamed, according to Southport Police Chief Tom Vaugh, who said she was “deathly afraid” of her 10-year-old son seeing the footage online of her husband dying.
“Unfortunately, I have had to see the body camera, and he literally dies on camera,” Chief Vaughn previously said. “You can hear him take his last breath.”
Absent a jury, Judge Stoner announced last week after the State rested its case that prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown knew he was shooting a police officer. As a result, the maximum penalty Brown could be sentenced to if he is found guilty is 65 years in prison.
