A Columbus deputy prosecutor may be the most well-respected lawyer whose name you may have never heard.
Bartholomew County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kathleen M. “Kathy” Burns retired at the end of May with accolades from those who worked with her at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
She was described by Senior Judge Stephen Heimann as “the best overall trial lawyer I’ve ever had in my courtroom.”
Burns was also honored by local law enforcement and those who work in the county’s court system with a brief parade Wednesday to commemorate the end of her 40-year career as a prosecuting attorney in Indiana. Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers and county councilman Mark Gorbett proclaimed her an honorary deputy sheriff in appreciation of her work in the court system.
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Working with Burns for 25 years, Heimann said he believed most defense attorneys didn’t attempt to pull legal tricks in court when facing Burns at the prosecutor table, because they had learned she was always well-prepared and could not be “bamboozled.”
Kelly Benjamin, who succeeded Heimann as Circuit Court Judge in 2017, offered another perspective.
“While many people don’t know it, Kathy protects and defends the safety of the community,” Benjamin said. “She stands out because she’s a giant (in the local judicial system). But she’s also very humble. I’m not sure she understands how priceless her character is.”
Small town roots
Born and raised in a small Daviess County town, Burns received her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University in 1977 before being accepted into law school at Indiana University.
Her first inclination was to become a criminal defense attorney, and she volunteered at a public defender’s clinic while still in law school. But her career goal changed after watching a colleague aggressively question a police officer.
“After I had already reviewed the file, I was just thinking our client was just horribly guilty,” Burns said. “And I really couldn’t understand why the public defender was picking on this poor police officer.”
That experience helped Burns realize that being a prosecutor was a much better fit for her, she said. And after earning her law degree, Burns would spend the next nine years in Crown Point working for the Lake County prosecutor.
During one of her first jury trials, the inexperienced young prosecutor displayed a degree of emotion when a witness’ testimony — as Burns put it — “went south.” The judge pulled the young lawyer aside and suggested that she avoid letting a jury know what she was thinking, she said.
After that, Burns worked on maintaining what she calls her courtroom “poker face,” as well as a calm and professional demeanor that quickly became second nature to her.
“If I let my emotions take a toll on me, it makes me less effective as a prosecutor,” said Burns, who left Lake County in 1989 after accepting a position with the Monroe County Prosecutor’s office.
Road to Columbus
When the elected Monroe County prosecutor resigned in 1994 to become a full-time educator, then-Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh appointed Burns to fill out the remaining months of his term.
But after accepting the appointment, Burns learned she was expected to put her name on the ballot and run for the office, she said.
“All I can say is that I hope I’ve been a better prosecutor than a politician,” Burns said.
After she lost the election, then-Bartholomew County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Sullivan resigned to become chief counsel for the city of Fort Wayne in late 1994. Shortly after Christmas, then-Bartholomew County Prosecutor Joe Koenig announced he had hired Burns to succeed Sullivan.
Although Koenig lost the 2002 election, his successor, incumbent Bill Nash, maintained Burns as the chief deputy prosecuting attorney.
Nash said he wanted Burns on staff for her “nearly encyclopedic knowledge of courtroom procedure, an ability to stay cool under pressure, her immediate rapport with judges and jurors, and her unwavering determination to bring bad actors to justice.”
Nash describes Burns as a model trial prosecutor and “the very standard by which I gauge my own courtroom performance.”
A murder case
Although Burns didn’t seek out the limelight, there was no way to avoid it during a 2007 jury trial where she was the intended target of a murder plot.
Burns was forced to prosecute Robert Bassett, Jr. twice for the brutal 1998 killings of a Seymour woman and three children. After his 2001 conviction was thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court, the second trial was held in 2006. Again, Burns was successful in convincing the jury the defendant was guilty.
But prior to the second trial, Bassett was accused of conspiring with a cellmate to have Burns killed. Investigators said he wanted her dead because he thought another prosecutor would fail to get him convicted.
Bassett, who was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences after the 2006 trial, received an additional 80-years after being found guilty of conspiring to kill the deputy prosecutor.
“There can be consequences (in my job), especially from a dangerous defendant who believes I am personally out to get him,” Burns said.
It’s also a practical reason why Burns says she prefers to stay out of the public spotlight.
Justice for everyone
Burns never envisioned her job as a game where the only objective is winning, Heimann said of her work as a prosecutor.
“She stood for justice — not just for someone who was a victim of crime, but she would also stand for justice for a defendant accused of a crime when there was not sufficient proof,” Heimann said.
Making efforts to provide all parties justice is exactly what judges and magistrates want from a prosecuting attorney, Benjamin said.
“Kathy recognizes that this is not a drama,” Benjamin said. “These are real people, and we are affecting real lives every day.”
Burns recalls a time when she prosecuted a cooperative defendant sincerely seeking rehabilitation in a case where circumstances called for a lenient sentence.
“But I didn’t feel the defense attorney had adequately brought up those factors before the judge,” Burns said.
So the chief deputy prosecutor said she presented the plea for leniency in court herself.
Balancing family life
Both Benjamin and Burns have three children, and the two women have discussed the difficulties of balancing family life with significant professional responsibilities and long work hours, the judge said.
“It’s not easy, and I know it has weighed on Kathy,” Benjamin said. “I know how much she loves her family, and she would do anything for them.”
Burns gave a few examples of sacrifice that included the time her youngest daughter’s birthday arrived on the same day a 1999 murder trial was getting started.
“We had gone late on jury selection, and I walked into my home,” Burns said in an interview five years ago. “There was my youngest daughter, lying on the floor, asleep — just waiting for Mom to get home, so we could cut her birthday cake.”
During critical periods of the February, 2015 quadruple homicide trial of Sam Sallee, news accounts stated that Burns and the prosecution team worked close to 14 hours a day, seven days a week.
This was the same time that one of her children had just passed her bar exam to become an attorney. s much as Burns was bursting with parental pride and wanting to celebrate, she said she felt obligated to keep all of her focus on bringing justice to the four homicide victims and their families.
But it should be mentioned that her kids never knew a time when ‘Mom’ wasn’t a prosecuting attorney, Burns said. By explaining the good she was trying to accomplish when she was forced to work long hours, her children eventually began to feel vested in her work, she said.
“They came to understand my job, and I’d like to think they are proud of what I do,” Burns said.
What’s ahead?
Now that she’s retired, Burns says she’s considering becoming a special prosecutor who handles the state’s case when a perceived conflict of interest arises for the usual prosecuting authority.
But that won’t be immediately. The new retiree said she and her husband want to at least experience some leisure time for the moment, as well as concentrate on family business that includes the upcoming arrival of a new grandchild, she said.
When asked what she hopes her legacy will be after completing her 40-year-career, Burns needed only a brief moment to reply.
“That I always tried to do the right thing, and was not afraid to take up a challenge,” she said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Kathleen M. Burns ” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Age: 65
Hometown: Washington, IN
Education: Washington Catholic High School Class of 1973. Received undergraduate degree from Purdue University in 1977. Earned her law degree from Indiana University in 1980.
Career: Hired as a Lake County prosecutor shortly after being admitted to the bar in 1980. Joined the staff of the Monroe County Prosecutor’s office in 1989, and became Chief Deputy Prosecutor for Bartholomew County in January, 1995.
Family: Married, three adult children.
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