The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer to two cases, including one involving the validity of a search warrant.

In Kenny D. Lee v. State of Indiana, No. 71S03-1202-CR-67, Kenny Lee appealed his conviction of Class A felony possession of cocaine, which the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned in November 2011. The appellate court ruled that police did not have reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop of Lee. Police had set up surveillance of a house in order to secure it prior to executing a search warrant and saw Lee leave the home and drive away. Police followed him, initiated the traffic stop, and later searched the residence where Lee came from and found drugs. The COA also held that the state didn’t provide evidence of additional circumstances where a trier-of-fact would infer Lee knew about the drugs in the home or had the ability to control the drugs.

The justices also took Quanardel Wells v. State of Indiana, No. 49S05-1202-CR-68, in which the Court of Appeals in a not-for-publication decision affirmed on interlocutory appeal the denial of Quanardel Wells’ motion to sever the offenses for separate trials with respect to each victim. Wells was charged in an 11-count information with five counts of Class A felony criminal deviate conduct, one count of Class A felony rape, three counts of criminal confinement – one as a Class B felony and two as Class C felonies – and Class D felonies strangulation and intimidation. The charges involved offenses committed at different times against four separate victims.

The Supreme Court also denied transfer to eight cases for the week ending Feb. 3.