February 11, 2013
Dave StaffordAn argument made on appeal in a drunken-driving case that the person who certified the operating condition of a breath-test
machine should have been required to testify was rejected Monday by the Indiana Court of Appeals, which also warned in a footnote
that such a ruling could cost criminal defendants.
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September 11, 2012
Marilyn OdendahlThe Indiana Supreme Court has dismissed without prejudice a request by a defendant to be released from jail while awaiting
his third murder trial.
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July 27, 2012
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Supreme Court rejected a man’s argument Thursday that he should be afforded the same right of confrontation
in his probation revocation hearing as is outlined in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).
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July 18, 2012
Dave StaffordAn end-of-term U.S. Supreme Court decision did far more than reduce a penalty in a federal criminal environmental judgment
from $18 million to $50,000. It created a new reality for how the government will have to pursue such prosecutions in the
future, experts say.
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April 30, 2012
Jennifer NelsonThe Supreme Court of the United States will hear a case that stems from its 2010 decision Padilla v. Kentucky, in
which the justices held that criminal defense attorneys are obligated under the Sixth Amendment to advise noncitizen defendants
about immigration consequences of pleading guilty. The justices will now rule on whether its decision is retroactive.<
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August 30, 2011
Jenny MontgomeryThe Indiana Court of Appeals has found that a juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in waiving a 15-year-old boy’s
murder trial to adult court and that Indiana’s juvenile waiver statute does not violate the Sixth Amendment.
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August 24, 2011
Michael HoskinsA three-judge panel for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has determined a landmark decision from the Supreme Court of the
United States last year isn't retroactive. That rule required criminal defense attorneys to advise clients about the immigration
impact of signing a guilty plea, and this means past cases wouldn’t benefit from that holding even if those individuals
had been deprived of that Sixth Amendment right.
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August 22, 2011
Jennifer NelsonA panel of Indiana Court of Appeals judges split on the issue of whether a defendant agreed to allow a five-member jury to
decide her case after one juror fell ill, with the dissenting judge believing the defendant – not her counsel –
must consent to the five-person jury.
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August 22, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that a victim’s statements detailing her physical attack and identifying her
attacker were admissible in court and were nontestimonial, so the defendant’s confrontation rights weren’t violated.
However, the judges reversed the man’s convictions because the trial court shouldn’t have admitted prior misconduct
evidence involving the defendant and the victim.
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June 23, 2011
Jennifer NelsonFollowing a remand from the United States Supreme Court in late 2010, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals admitted it made mistakes
in its recent decision involving a convicted murderer’s appeal and sent the case to the District Court to address habeas
relief claims.
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June 8, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe failure of a judge to inquire into a defendant’s written complaint about his public defender didn’t violate
the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, the Indiana Supreme Court held Wednesday.
However, the justices explained if a trial judge finds him or herself in a situation similar to the one presented, that judge
should at least receive assurances from the public defender’s office that the complaint has been adequately addressed.
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June 8, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the Northern District of Indiana was essentially creating a built-in
appeal issue on ineffective assistance of counsel, and it called out a senior judge for violating a man’s Sixth Amendment
right to choose his own lawyer.
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May 23, 2011
Michael HoskinsAn appellate court has ruled that a senior judge in the Northern District of Indiana violated a man’s Sixth Amendment
rights by not allowing him to proceed to trial with the lawyer of his choosing.
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March 31, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the District Court to grant a convicted murderer’s habeas petition, finding
the admission of out-of-court statements at his trial violated the man’s Sixth Amendment right of confrontation.
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February 28, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a Bloomington attorney’s argument that his arrangement of a drug buy in an attempt
to discredit a state’s witness against his client wasn’t a criminal offense because he’s “on the same
legal footing” as prosecutors or police in planning controlled buys.
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November 8, 2010
Jennifer NelsonBecause a chemical breath-test evidence ticket is a mechanically produced readout that can’t be considered “testimonial
hearsay” under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the Indiana Court of Appeals held a man’s Sixth Amendment rights
weren’t violated when the equipment technician didn’t testify at his drunk-driving trial.
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September 22, 2010
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the admission of hearsay evidence of a woman’s testimony to an officer that her
boyfriend hit her because the evidence was admissible under the excited utterance exception.
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September 21, 2010
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer to a man’s case in order to address the application of harmless error to
Sixth Amendment violations involving confronting those who create laboratory reports.
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July 15, 2010
Jennifer NelsonIndiana’s victim-advocate privilege is limited by a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights, the Indiana Court
of Appeals concluded today on the matter of first impression.
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June 30, 2010
Jennifer NelsonA booking card created by law enforcement in the course of a ministerial, nonevaluative booking process is not subject to
the police reports exclusion under Indiana Evidence Rule 803(8), the Indiana Court of Appeals decided today.
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November 4, 2009
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Attorney General's Office is joining several states in co-authoring an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court
of the United States to modify or overturn its decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
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September 25, 2009
Jennifer NelsonThe state's highest court was split in its ruling on whether the failure of a lab technician who processed DNA evidence
to testify at a man's trial violated his Sixth Amendment rights.
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August 12, 2009
Jennifer NelsonThe state's refusal to waive jury trials in one Marion Superior Court doesn't violate the constitutional rights of
the mentally ill defendants who appear in that court, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals.
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January 20, 2009
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man's conviction of child molesting, ruling he failed to prove the trial court
erred by excluding certain evidence regarding his victim.
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January 1, 2009
Michael HoskinsA decision today from the Supreme Court of the United States will have an immediate impact on Indiana, where state justices
are considering at least two cases about whether lab technicians who've tested evidence in a case must appear on the stand.
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Never heard of remand to another state. How often does that happen?
I highly recommend Deanna and her team of professionals that serve the legal community. Great information and many thanks for sharing.
they are pushing these cases against lawyers too far. thought-crime.
vagueness cannot challenged, so let's write all laws vaguely and throw the constitution out the window.Even if the court is operating under a particular law, if they don't it they will change it to their liking. What a joke!!!
Two convictions becomes one conviction with exactly the same sentence, only it is not clear wheter or not that sentence will be 18 months, 120 months or 138 months. Actually if the guns were in a home, whether or not they were his, he is protected under the 2nd amendment. Jurors need to learn the law and the constitution before judging others. The cour5ts need to do this as well.