This Traveling Oral Argument will not be webcast live because it will not take place in the Court of Appeals Courtroom. Video of the event will become available within about one week after the hearing. See Oral Arguments Online for video.

In July 2020, a shooting occurred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds involving Freddie Hegwood, Victor Griffin, and other members of the KTG gang.  The shooting sparked a rivalry between members of KTG and members of the IMG gang, including Tyreontay Jackson.  The two groups taunted and threatened each other by text and on social media.  On December 15, 2020, Hegwood and Griffin were in a Jeep parked in front of a house in a Brownsburg neighborhood at approximately 3:00 p.m.  As children were returning home from school on the bus, a black Impala drove past the Jeep and passengers fired several rounds into the Jeep and the home beyond.  Hegwood was killed, and although Griffin was not shot, there were bullet holes in the hood of the sweatshirt he was wearing and in the headrest of his seat.  The State charged Jackson with, among other things, being an accomplice to murder and attempted murder.  At Jackson’s jury trial, the trial court overruled Jackson’s hearsay objections and allowed the State to introduce into evidence text messages between various people the State characterized as co-conspirators and rap lyrics by a co-defendant.  The jury found Jackson guilty of murder and attempted murder.  Jackson appeals, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions of murder and attempted murder.  He also argues the trial court erred in admitting the text messages and rap lyrics because the State did not prove a conspiracy and therefore the messages and lyrics were inadmissible hearsay.