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TOP STORY OF THE DAY - Wade gets 85 years for 2020 murder
On Wednesday, Clay Superior Court Judge Robert Pell sentenced a Brazil man to a total of 85 years.
In August, Cody Allen Wade, 33, Brazil, was convicted of the 2020 death of Carl Haviland, 53, of Brazil. Wade was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time.
Wade was facing formal charges of:
Felony Murder,
Two felony counts of Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Public Safety Official,
A misdemeanor charge of Resisting Law Enforcement,
A felony charge of Battery against a Public Safety Official, and with
A Habitual Offender Enhancement.
On Wednesday afternoon, Clay County Prosecutor Emily Clarke and Defense Attorney Charles Hear presented their sentencing recommendations to Pell.
Clarke pointed out numerous aggravators - a negative factor defined by statute that a judge may consider during sentencing - including Wade’s lengthy criminal history. Still, she pointed out how the crime was gruesome.
“All murders are gruesome, but this one is especially callous,” said Clarke. “The defendant was yelling at the victim while dying” and not providing any help or showing remorse.
Hear spoke about the case’s mitigating circumstances - the process or result of making something less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, or damaging.
“We are all here to get justice,” said Hear, who admitted it can be hard to do. “But justice must be just.”
Wade made a statement to the court, citing he has had three years to think about the case: how Haviland was a son, a father and a friend, a friend to his family, his mother, and himself.
“My remorse is real,” Wade said. “I lost my friend that night, too.”
When Judge Pell offered Wade a brief recess to get his thoughts together before his sentence was announced, Wade told the court he did not need a break.
Pell said he could accept a diagnosis of bipolar as a small mitigator in the case, but many people have it and continue to live their lives. However, Pell said the aggrevators outweigh the mitigators.
The murder was planned well in advance (evidence during the trial); the manner of the crime, which was done in front of Haviland’s mother; what Pell called the “taunting of a dying man,” and the refusal to seek medical attention for the victim was mentioned in court by Pell.
Wade was sentenced to a total of 85 years of incarceration at the Indiana Department of Correction and remanded into the custody of the Clay County Jail staff to await formal processing.
