Former youth pastor indicted on child exploitation, pornography charges
Federal sex crime charges have been filed against a former youth minister at an Indianapolis church.
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Supreme Court considers whether to revise ‘illegal’ sentence
The central issue the Indiana Court of Appeals identified in its decision to reverse a man’s attempted residential entry conviction didn’t come up much during the case’s oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday.
Justices hear police officer sexual assault cases
Two cases from opposite ends of the state jointly came before the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday for guidance on the same question: if a police officer sexually assaults a citizen while on duty, should municipalities be held liable for the officer’s actions as the employer?
Republican votes push 7th Circuit nominee Brennan to full Senate
Michael Brennan, Wisconsin nominee to the 7th Circuit of Appeals, was narrowly approved by the U.S. Committee on the Judiciary on a party-line vote Thursday. His nomination now proceeds to the U.S. Senate for a confirmation vote.
AG’s office contracts with national firm to consider opioid litigation
As numerous government agencies continue to fight the state’s growing opioid crisis, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office has contracted with a national law firm to help determine whether to pursue legal action against opioid manufacturers.
Lawyer warned again about criticizing magistrate judge
A lawyer’s arguments on behalf of a client suing Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act has drawn a second written warning for his claims that a magistrate judge is biased.
Supreme Court upholds LWOP for execution-style murder
A southern Indiana man convicted of murder in the shooting death of a man at a power plant will spend the rest of his life in prison after the Indiana Supreme Court upheld his sentence of life without parole.
Goshen man convicted in slayings of 2 Michigan brothers
A northern Indiana man has been convicted in the fatal shootings of two Michigan brothers. An Elkhart County jury convicted 28-year-old James Ross Jr. of two counts of murder Tuesday after a weeklong trial.
COA upholds summary judgment to Tipton Schools
A central Indiana school corporation was properly granted summary judgment on a parent’s negligence claims, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, determining the corporation was immune under the Indiana Tort Claims Act.
COA upholds adoption without mother’s consent
In a case a judge said represents “how substance abuse is savaging the familial bonds within Indiana and around the country,” the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the adoption of a southern Indiana child without the mother’s consent after finding the mother’s substance abuse made her unfit.
COA upholds classification of ‘high-hazard dam’
A Grant County couple must inspect and repair their self-constructed dam after the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a Department of Natural Resources classification of the dam as “high-hazard.”
Judge ends ‘Tiger Baby Playtime’, halts cub declawing
A federal judge Monday shut down a southern Indiana attraction’s public encounters with tiger cubs. The judge also halted the declawing of tiger cubs and separating them from their mothers so they could be used in “Tiger Baby Playtime” events where people pay to mingle with declawed big cat cubs.
COA upholds Kentucky man’s conviction for killing Indiana teen
A Kentucky man convicted in the shooting death of an Indiana teen lost his appeal of his murder conviction after the Indiana Court of Appeals found sufficient, properly obtained evidence to support his conviction.
Conviction upheld against man who disrupted prosecutor’s office
A man who was convicted of trespassing after he refused to leave the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office until his traffic tickets were dismissed lost an appeal Tuesday.
Supreme Court upholds DOC’s lethal injection protocols
The Indiana Department of Correction can alter its lethal injection protocols without going through a rule-making process because such protocols are internal procedures without the effect of law, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in a decision affirming the dismissal of a death row inmate’s challenge to Indiana’s lethal injection cocktail.
Senate panel advances bill to narrowly define out-of-state felonies
A bill that would more narrowly define how out-of-state felonies are treated in Indiana sentencing matters passed its first hurdle in the Indiana Senate.
7th Circuit upholds $87,000 verdict against insurer after house fire
An insurance company must pay $87,000 in damages to an Indiana homeowner whose house burned to the ground after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s damages award.
Sex offender statute to come before Supreme Court
A sex offender convicted in 2010 must make his case to the Indiana Supreme Court as to why a 2015 law should not bar him from attending his son’s school events after the high court granted the state’s petition to transfer the case last week.
Trump makes two nominations to 7th Circuit bench
President Donald Trump has nominated two Illinois legal professionals with experience in government litigation for judgeships on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Holcomb appoints 2 women to judgeships
In his first judicial appointments of 2018, Gov. Eric Holcomb has tapped two attorneys with prosecutorial experience to serve as superior court judges in Elkhart and Tippecanoe counties.