Jury Finds Bradley Guilty Of Criminal Deviate Conduct, Criminal Confinement

Starke County Courthouse
A 12-person jury took less than 20 minutes to deliberate and announce their verdict in the case of Samuel Bradley, charged with Criminal Deviate Conduct as a Class B felony and Criminal Confinement as a Class D felony. The jury found Bradley guilty on both counts shortly after the two-day trial came to an end.

The state called three witnesses to the stand throughout the course of the trial, including the victim in the case, along with the dispatcher and the detective. The defendant called only himself as a witness.

Bradley was charged with Attempted Criminal Deviate Conduct after he blocked a cell to prevent the victim, Todd Dalton, from leaving the cell while Adam Makowski and Buddy Blankenship assaulted him. He was charged with Criminal Confinement after he physically blocked Dalton from leaving the cell block.

According to the Starke County Sheriff’s Department’s case report, video tapes revealed that Makowski, Blankenship, and Bradley were involved in an assault against Dalton. The tapes showed that the trio had forced Dalton into the F-Block, where they tried to pull down his pants and assaulted him. Dalton said the three were trying to rape him because he refused to fight back during a prior altercation.

An officer rushed to the F-Block when he saw what was taking place, and when he arrived, he heard a loud bang from the door. When he opened it, Dalton emerged crying from the room.

The sentencing hearing for Bradley is scheduled for Oct. 4 at 10 a.m.