Courts

Statements to police made by a woman who accused a defendant of hitting her should have been admissible during the defendant’s trial, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled April 25.The appellate court determined statements made by Keyona Brooks, in which she said defendant Tracey Lamont Martin struck her in the face while they were fighting in the car before he drove off with her children, should have been considered nontestimonial, and thus admissible at trial.Brooks was not available to testify at Martin’s trial…

The state may not cross-appeal a sentence for an abuse of discretion or inappropriateness unless the defendant appeals his or her sentence in the appellant’s brief, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. The issue of the state filing a cross-appeal of a sentence is a matter of first impression. In Steven McCullough v. State of Indiana, No. 49A02-0711-CR-931, Steven McCullough filed an appeal of his convictions of two counts of criminal confinement, battery, and the finding he was a habitual offender….

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a woman’s appeal following the denial of Social Security benefits because the woman’s attorney failed to file the appeal in time under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.In Janet L. McCarty v. Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, No. 07-2104, Janet McCarty’s application for disability insurance benefits and Supplemental Security Income was denied by the Social Security Administration and an administrative law judge.She appealed to the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of…

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court finding that a mother had a valid excuse for not showing up to a child-support modification hearing because neither she nor her attorney received proper notice of the hearing. In Jason D. Bunch v. Katherine R. Himm, 64A04-0705-CV-262, Bunch and Himm divorced, leaving Bunch with physical custody of their two children. Himm moved from northern Indiana to South Carolina and joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves. Their divorce decree was finalized…

In an Indiana custody case that started before a married couple’s only child was born, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that either Indiana or the state where the child was born could have jurisdiction over proceedings. The Indiana trial court dismissed proceedings in favor of Washington State, where the child was born, as a more convenient forum, clearing the way for that state to take over jurisdiction. The issue in Anthony N. Stewart v. Signe L. (Stewart) Vulliet, No. 12S02-0708-CV-331, is whether…

In a case of first impression, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled a guilty plea can’t be challenged in post-conviction proceedings by a claim of newly discovered evidence regarding the events making up the crime. In Shawn E. Norris v. State of Indiana, No. 43S03-0807-CR-379, Shawn Norris appealed the post-conviction court’s grant of the state’s motion for summary disposition on Norris’ petition for post-conviction relief. Norris pleaded guilty four years earlier to molesting his sister’s child, served his sentence, and then later…