IMPD officer who hurt girlfriend with gun won't see prison time

A suspended Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer who admitted to recklessly firing a gun and severely injuring his girlfriend will serve no prison time, a Marion Superior Court judge ordered Wednesday.

The two-hour hearing that led Judge Lisa Borges to sentence Justin Beaton to home detention and alcohol treatment marked the conclusion of a year-long case filled with twists and turns. During sentencing, Beaton's girlfriend testified in support of a lighter sentence, telling Borges she was pregnant with the couple's second child and wished to marry him.

When Beaton's girlfriend, Nikki Payne, was severely injured in August 2014, the couple first told hospital staff and police detectives that her injuries — she had a broken nose, cheek and jawbone, she had swallowed teeth, and she had glass shards in her throat — were the result of an accident that had happened when they were moving furniture.

But the story changed drastically last February. Payne told police the furniture story was a fabrication and that Beaton had fired a snub-nosed revolver at her after he had been drinking. The shot shattered the window of the front door, spraying her with shards of glass.

Police officer's attempted murder charge includes recanted story

She told detectives she came forward because Beaton was drinking heavily again and had become angry when she took a bottle of alcohol away from him, according to a probable cause affidavit. She told detectives, "I mean I get scared, honestly, that he's probably gonna try to kill me." Investigators then filed an attempted murder charge against Beaton.

On Wednesday, Payne chronicled a story of forgiveness and reconciliation. The shooting, she said, was an accident. She said friends had encouraged her to say Beaton was attempting to kill her.

"I got upset," she said, "and started to believe it."

Contrary to that account, Payne described Beaton as an "amazing person" — one with whom she wanted to spend her life. And although Payne said she knew her boyfriend struggled with alcoholism, she said he had also promised her that he would stop drinking.

If he doesn't, she said, "I'm gone."

While Payne at one time appeared to factor heavily into the state's case against Beaton, things changed as Beaton awaited trial. While he was out on bond, Payne and Beaton admitted in court, they began speaking to one another in violation of a no-contact order. Before Beaton was arrested for violating a pre-trial release order by drinking alcohol, their second child was conceived.

Warrant issued for IMPD officer awaiting attempted murder trial

On Sept. 24 — five days before Beaton's attempted murder trial was scheduled to begin — he reached a deal, pleading guilty to a count of criminal recklessness. The level 5 felony was punishable by up to six years in prison.

However, Borges said she believed placing Beaton in prison would be an "undue hardship." She sentenced him instead to four years on home detention, with two of those years suspended. He also was given an additional year of probation, which would include treatment for alcoholism.

Had Beaton gone to trial, Wednesday's hearing shed some light on how he might have argued his case.

Jack Crawford, Beaton's attorney, said Beaton had been trying to unload the revolver, which he had picked up from a gun show that day. Being unfamiliar with the firearm, Crawford said Beaton accidentally fired it.

Contrary to statements by Payne in February that she thought the gun had been loaded with blanks, Crawford said, the chamber of the gun did contain a bullet.

Handling of officer's domestic violence case questioned

Borges said she found that explanation "unbelievable" given Beaton's police and firearms training, adding that such a move would be "incredibly, incredibly reckless."

"You can't have been thinking at all," she said.

Borges also pointed to Beaton's violations of pre-trial release terms and no-contact orders as factors that worked against him.

Said Borges: "You've got some work to do."

Crawford called his client's sentence a "fair" one.

"He was a good police officer who did a bad thing," Crawford said, "and he's going to pay the price for that."

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry, meanwhile, released a statement saying the important action was securing the conviction against Beaton.

"Although there were evidentiary problems in this matter, we are pleased that it could be resolved with the felony conviction," the statement read.

Following his February arrest, Beaton was suspended without pay from IMPD, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

Crawford said he will discuss a resignation with Beaton.

If Beaton doesn't resign, his case will go before the Civilian Police Merit Board.

Call Star reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @jdisis.