Braun allows Oct. 10 execution of death row inmate to proceed
Unless a court intervenes, Roy Lee Ward will be the third person executed since Indiana resumed capital punishment in December 2024, after more than a decade-long pause.
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Indiana Parole Board rejects death row inmate Roy Ward’s clemency bid ahead of Oct. 10 execution
The board’s decision is advisory. State law gives the governor sole authority to decide whether to accept the recommendation and commute Ward’s sentence, grant a reprieve or allow the execution to proceed.
Ward clemency hearing: Victim’s family asks for ‘no mercy,’ defense cites autism diagnosis, remorse
Just weeks before Roy Lee Ward’s scheduled execution, the Indiana Parole Board heard conflicting portrayals Monday of the man condemned for the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne.
Clemency hearing shifts after Indiana death row inmate declines parole board interview
Death row inmate Roy Lee Ward declined to meet one-on-one with the Indiana Parole Board, saying he wanted to spare the family of his victim from traveling to the state prison in Michigan City for the interview.
Indiana Parole Board denies clemency for death row inmate; final decision now up to governor
The Indiana Parole Board rejected a clemency plea from Benjamin Ritchie, recommending that Gov. Mike Braun allow the death row inmate’s May 20 execution to proceed as scheduled.
‘I am so sorry’: Clemency hearings begin for Indiana death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie
Indiana death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie expressed remorse and shed tears as he pleaded Monday for the state’s parole board to spare his life.
Lindsey Graham, a top Trump ally, says pardoning Capitol attackers sends ‘the wrong signal’
A key ally of President Donald Trump said the White House pardoning rioters who fought with police while storming the U.S. Capitol in 2021 is “sending the wrong signal” and expressed concern about the future ramifications of issuing sweeping clemencies.
Vance says Jan. 6 participants who committed violence ‘obviously’ shouldn’t be pardoned
Vice President-elect JD Vance says people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump is promising to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.
Sister, former lawyer decry upcoming Indiana execution; prosecutor conflicted
Joseph Corcoran’s legal team is asking a federal judge to step in and pause the execution to allow for a hearing and review of their claims that putting the inmate to death is unconstitutional.
Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 in biggest single-day act of clemency
Most of the commutations announced Thursday are for people who had been placed on home confinement during the pandemic, rather than put in prison where the spread of COVID was high.
Indiana death row inmate’s mental illness warrants delayed execution for case review, lawyers say
In new court documents, Joseph Corcoran’s legal team doubled down that the Indiana death row inmate’s “severe” mental illness has prevented him from properly requesting post-conviction relief.
Refusing to sign clemency petition, Indiana Supreme Court weighs death row inmate’s final plea
About two weeks away from scheduled execution, Indiana death row inmate Joseph Corcoran’s last-ditch attempts to quash his capital punishment sentence are still up in the air.
Counsel for convicted murderer given until Nov. 1 to file clemency request
Counsel for Benjamin Ritchie, a man convicted in 2002 of murdering Beech Grove Police Officer William Toney, have until Nov. 1 to file a clemency request in response to the state’s motion to set an execution date, Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote in an Oct. 3 order.
Biden is pardoning thousands convicted of marijuana charges on federal lands and in Washington
President Joe Biden is making thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia eligible for pardons, the White House said Friday.
Biden commutes sentences of 31 convicted of drug crimes, including 2 Hoosiers
President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 31 people, including two Hoosiers, convicted of nonviolent drug crimes who were serving time in home confinement, the White House announced Friday.
Governor grants clemency to 3 incarcerated Hoosiers
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has granted clemency to three Indiana prisoners who have terminal health conditions.
Jones: Pardon me? Can you deny a presidential pardon or commutation?
Though most of us might strain ourselves thinking of a reason why one might refuse a pardon or a commutation, multiple individuals have attempted to reject a pardon or commutation, providing both interesting stories and a strange, potential check on the executive.
Navajo man loses latest bid to delay federal execution
The only Native American on federal death row lost a bid Thursday to push back his execution date. Unless Lezmond Mitchell gets relief from another court or is granted clemency, he will be put to death Aug. 26 at the federal prison in Terre Haute where he is being held.
Elkhart drug offender granted Holcomb’s first sentence commutation
A convicted drug offender from northern Indiana will be released from prison about 1½ years early after Gov. Eric Holcomb commuted his sentence. The order issued Wednesday was the first sentence commutation during Holcomb’s term.