Understanding the Criminal Justice System
This case is curious on so many levels: How it all began, how it ended up coming to me, how long it dragged on and, the end-result. The incident happened in June 2014 and finally reached a conclusion in February 2022. The case involves the owner of a hotdog cart, a junior hot dog cart trainee, jalapeño juice, a prostitute, 5 young friends, grand jury politics and perjury.
In the early morning hours of June 22, 2014, a group of five friends who had spent the night drinking and dancing wanted something to eat when the clubs closed around 3 a.m. There are several food stalls in the area including a hot dog cart owned by Mr. Robert Kadrovach and his mother across the street from The Slippery Noodle. Mr. Kadrovach was working the night of the incident, though he had stepped away to have a cigarette when the five friends approached the hot dog cart. The hot dog cart trainee, Mr. Campbell was there to take their orders. All five of the friends were intoxicated and started shouting contradictory orders to Mr. Campbell who was doing his best to serve them. Somehow, some jalapeño juice spilled onto the shoes of Mr. Anjay Walker. He began to scream and shout as if it was a catastrophic event and demanded a refund. Mr. Campbell had already given the group some food so was not going to give them a refund. By this time, Mr. Kadrovach noticed the yelling and returned to his hot dog cart. Suddenly there was swinging and the whole group got into a fight. Seven people were pushing and screaming at each other. Eventually the whole group ended up in a pile on the ground.
As each person got up, one-by-one, Mr. Kadrovach emerged with bleeding cuts on his hands and Mr. Walker had a knife sticking out of his skull. The police are called, Mr. Walker is taken to the hospital, and the investigation into what happened begins immediately.
When the police started questioning Mr. Campbell, the hot dog cart trainee, he accused the five friends of trying to rob him when he didn’t refund their money. Allegedly one of them did grab a bag of chips from the cart. The big question was, how did the knife get lodged in Mr. Walker’s skull? Who brought the knife?
Even though Mr. Kadrovach had cuts on his hands, no one admitted to owning or holding the knife.
But where did the knife come from? Who brought the knife?
This case came up on the heels of another in Marion County in which a young African American man was shot by white police officers. Riots had occurred and now, with two white hot dog vendors and 5 young African Americans, the situation could erupt if not handled carefully. So, the prosecutor took the route of impaneling a Grand Jury which is a non-adversarial, one-sided, confidential hearing. In fact, the Grand Jury only hears the prosecutor’s side, only what the prosecutor wants them to hear. It’s a great political cover situation for hot topics.
As events unfold, it turns out that Mr. Kadrovach seems to always be in the right place at the right time to discuss the case with people on the jury, which could be considered jury tampering. He, Mr. Kadrovach, decides he does not want to go before a Grand Jury. He hires a law firm to file a motion to quash the Grand Jury, stating, “You cannot make me testify in front of the Grand Jury!” But the Grand Jury has control over the situation and the case does get taken to a grand jury.
Mr. Campbell is called to testify in front of the Grand Jury. The night before this happens Mr. Kadrovach somehow comes into possession of a signed affidavit by Jody Kinslow, a prostitute, saying she saw the entire events and that one of the five friends had the knife and was trying to stab Kadrovach but accidentally stabbed Mr. Walker instead.
As it so happens, Jody Kinslow is a prostitute and Mr. Kadrovach was a regular client. She was also in jail the night of the event, so she was in danger of being charged with perjury.
The prosecutor asked the grand jury to consider attempted murder and aggravated assault charges against Mr. Kadrovach.On Aug. 22, 2014, Mr. Kadrovach was indicted for attempted murder and aggravated assault. A warrant was issued for Kadrovach’s arrest. On August 26th, he was picked up and went quietly without resistance.
I’m going to skip ahead, but if you want to hear all the details, listen to my podcast by clicking the link at the bottom of this article. Suffice it to say that A Motion of Competency to stand trial was filed. Mr. Kadrovach was deemed competent even though he was declared to have delusions of grandeur and anti-social personality disorder. Mr. Kadrovach insisted consistently that he never held the knife and that he was not defending his hot dog stand or himself or Mr. Campbell, so there was no self-defense case.
We followed every lead Mr. Kadrovach provided, from calling telephone numbers that were all disconnected to searching the area businesses for video coverage. The Slippery Noodle had no video nor did any of the businesses in the area. Mr. Kadrovach accused one of the police officers who came to the scene of wanting to steal his hot dog cart and his corner for one of the cop’s relatives.
The prostitute, Jody Kinslow, finally admitted that Mr. Kadrovach paid her to sign the affidavit and she was not charged with perjury. Anjay Walker was state’s last witness. He didn’t die, but he suffered serious, permanent mental damage. Part of his skull and brain had to be removed and his life was permanently damaged.
Kadrovach was found guilty on both charges. He tried to appeal to the State Supreme Court and was denied in 2017. He appealed and was denied again by Indiana Court of Appeals in January 2021.
Today the hot dog man is a resident of the Indiana Department of Correction. He will be released from prison in 2025 and will then serve 5 years with an ankle bracelet.
