COA affirms teens’ robbery charges
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed the denial of two teens’ motions to dismiss their felony robbery charges after they allegedly stole from a mini mart and battered an employee who tried to stop them.
Criminal Charges
Articles
Murder, insanity appeal focuses on police interrogation, Miranda
“I’m done talking,” Bargersville criminal defense attorney Stacy Uliana repeated before a panel of appellate judges on behalf of her client, Joshua Risinger. Those statements Risinger made to police interrogators who continued to question him form the basis of his appeal.
Muncie woman gets 6 years for dousing guest with hot grease
A Muncie woman who pleaded guilty to dousing a house guest with a pan of hot grease has been sentenced to six years in prison. She told police she scalded her guest after accusing her of stealing deodorant.
Suspect in judges’ shooting pleads guilty to battery
One of the two men charged in a violent altercation with two southern Indiana judges has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. The nephew of the alleged gunman in the May 1 shooting was sentenced to six months of community corrections followed by a year of probation.
Indiana man convicted in April slaying of barbershop owner
A man arrested last spring in Mississippi in the fatal shooting of a Fort Wayne barber has been convicted in that slaying.
COA orders new criminal recklessness trial after jury instruction error
A mother who backed over her aunt with a vehicle before fleeing the scene with her child in the car has won a new trial on a criminal recklessness conviction, though the Indiana Court of Appeals declined to overturn her related conviction of resisting law enforcement.
Lawyers: Man accused in ex-lover’s killing not fit for trial
Attorneys for a Jeffersonville man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body are seeking psychiatric competency evaluations for their client, whose first murder trial ended in a mistrial.
Woman loses sentence appeal in daughter’s neglect death
A Chesterfield mother who pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in the death of her 23-month old daughter has lost an appeal of her 40-year sentence.
Suspended Indianapolis priest in court on sex crimes charges
A suspended Indiana Catholic priest appeared in a Noblesville courtroom on charges alleging he sexually abused a teenage boy.
Gag order issued for couple accused of leaving adopted girl
A judge in Lafayette has issued a gag order in the case of a couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter in Indiana and moving to Canada.
Majority justices remand Land Rover forfeiture case for excessiveness analysis
An Indiana civil forfeiture case that made its way to the United States Supreme Court will now return to the Grant Superior Court after the Indiana Supreme Court developed a framework for determining if the forfeiture of property is excessive under the Eighth Amendment.
Purdue student faces rape charges in sex assault at party
Authorities say a college student from New Jersey faces rape charges in the assault of a woman at a fraternity party off Purdue University’s campus.
Suspended Indianapolis priest charged with sex crimes
A suspended Catholic priest in Indiana is facing charges alleging he sexually abused a child in 2016. The Rev. David Marcotte of Indianapolis is charged in Hamilton County with child solicitation, vicarious sexual gratification and dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
7th Circuit overturns habeas relief for child molester
A convicted child molester’s 80-year sentence has once again been reinstated after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the grant of a habeas petition. The appellate panel on Thursday reversed habeas relief that had been granted at the district court.
Drug evidence found from drone video admissible, COA rules
Video of suspected drug activity from a drone aircraft a woman found in her yard is admissible in court to try her neighbor on charges including dealing methamphetamine, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Supreme Court reaffirms death sentence in ‘brutal’ 2012, 2003 murders
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday reaffirmed the conviction and death sentence imposed on a Floyd County man convicted of two counts of murder in the 2012 strangulations of two women, as well as his 65-year sentence for a 2003 murder he confessed to after his arrest seven years ago.
Suspended attorney indicted on tax charges
Schererville attorney Raymond Gupta, whose law license was suspended in June, has been indicted for tax evasion and failing to file federal tax returns, with the federal government claiming he owes nearly $2 million to the Internal Revenue Service.
Indiana man charged with murder, rape in 1988 cold case
FBI agents have arrested a Merrillville man in the 1988 rape and killing of a mother of four whose body was found in an abandoned home.
Man’s drug convictions tossed for speedy trial rule violation
A man who was convicted of drug-dealing charges and sentenced to 12 years in prison won a reversal Wednesday because his trial was wrongly continued when the state could not timely produce lab results. The appellate court noted a lengthy prosecutorial delay in providing the evidence for lab testing was to blame.
Judgment for hospital affirmed in blood draw after drunken-driving crash
A man who was seriously injured in a car crash lost his appeal claiming his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when Fort Wayne hospital staff ordered a blood draw that was provided to police, leading to criminal drunken driving charges.