California governor signs moratorium on executions
The 737 inmates on the nation’s largest death row got a reprieve from California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday when he signed an executive order placing a moratorium on executions.
Death Penalty
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Supreme Court rules for Alabama death row inmate
The US Supreme Court is ordering a new state court hearing to determine whether an Alabama death row inmate is so affected by dementia that he can’t be executed.
US Supreme Court rules out death penalty for Texas inmate
A long legal fight over whether a Texas death row inmate could be executed ended Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 59-year-old man is intellectually disabled and thus cannot be put to death.
Man accused in 4 killings loses fight to avoid death penalty
A northeastern Indiana judge has rejected efforts by a man awaiting trial in four slayings to avoid a possible death penalty in the case.
State court suit aims to ban Indiana death penalty
A lawsuit naming Gov. Eric Holcomb filed on behalf of a prisoner on Indiana’s death row urges a state court to issue an injunction halting capital punishment and rule that the state’s ultimate criminal penalty violates the Indiana Constitution.
Justices question traumatic brain injury claims in triple murder
Counsel for a man sentenced to death for two separate murders and 65 years in prison for a third argued his representation was ineffective in the first two cases when prior counsel failed to adequately investigate and present evidence of a traumatic brain injury the man had sustained.
Justices to hear arguments in murder, jurisdiction cases
The Indiana Supreme Court is set to hear argument in several cases this week, including a man’s post-conviction appeal of his three separate sentences for murder in Floyd County.
Indiana man gets 80 years in prison for Fort Wayne girl’s 1988 killing
An Indiana man has been sentenced to 80 years in prison for the 1988 abduction, rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl. An Allen County judge sentenced 59-year-old John D. Miller, of Grabill, on Friday after Miller pleaded guilty to murder and child molestation charges in April Tinsley’s long-unsolved killing.
Year in Review: Hill sexual misconduct scandal top legal news story of 2018
Indiana Lawyer’s top story of 2018 began inside an Indianapolis bar in the cool early-morning hours of Thursday, March 15. Attorney General Curtis Hill had had a few drinks. A few too many, several witnesses would later claim.
High court rejects request to reinstate murderer Baer’s death sentence
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request by Indiana’s attorney general’s office to reinstate the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a central Indiana woman and her 4-year-old daughter. Monday’s decision leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that threw out Frederick Baer’s death sentence because he had ineffective legal counsel. He’ll now be resentenced by an Indiana court.
Justices debate Indian control of land in Oklahoma
The U.S. Supreme Court is debating whether an Indian tribe retains control over a vast swath of eastern Oklahoma in a case involving a Native American who was sentenced to death for murder.
Divided justices deny child murderer death penalty relief
The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld the denial of post-conviction relief for a convicted child murderer and arsonist sentenced to death, finding that while the man’s counsel did make mistakes, those mistakes did not rise to the Strickland level of deficient performance. However, Chief Justice Loretta Rush dissented and would have allowed the case to proceed to a new penalty phase.
Marion County jury to hear capital case in Fort Wayne
Jurors from Marion County will hear the case of a Fort Wayne man facing death penalty charges stemming from the deaths of four people.
Death penalty defense in officer’s killing seeks brain consultant
An Indianapolis man facing the death penalty for allegedly killing a Southport police officer is requesting public funds to hire a brain injury consultant in an apparent move to raise questions about whether he acted “knowingly or intentionally.”
Death penalty dropped for man’s third triple-murder trial
A northern Indiana man who’s facing his third trial in a triple-murder case won’t face the death penalty if he’s convicted again in the killings. Wayne Kubsch is expected to stand trial again next year for the 1998 Mishawaka slaying of his wife, her ex-husband and their son.
Hill asks SCOTUS to reinstate death penalty for murderer Baer
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is asking the nation’s highest court to reinstate the death penalty against a man convicted of killing a Madison County woman and her 4-year-old daughter, arguing the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals failed to properly defer to state court rulings when it overturned his death sentence earlier this year.
Nevada death-row inmate: ‘Just get it done’
A Nevada death-row inmate whose execution has been postponed twice said a legal fight over his fate is taking a tortuous toll on him and his family and he just wants his sentence carried out.
Indiana joins Nevada fight against drugmaker delay of execution
Fifteen states including Indiana are siding with Nevada as it fights drug companies battling the use of their products in an inmate’s execution. Republican attorneys general from the 15 states filed documents Monday with the Nevada Supreme Court arguing drug company Alvogen’s claims are a part of a “guerrilla war against the death penalty.”
Trial in Boone deputy’s shooting death delayed until 2020
The possible death penalty trial for the man charged with fatally shooting a Boone County sheriff's deputy is being delayed for more than two years.
Mom of Fort Wayne girl killed in ’88 hopes defendant gets death
The mother of an 8-year-old Fort Wayne girl who was raped and killed in 1988 wants prosecutors to seek the death penalty against the man accused of the crimes. Prosecutors on Tuesday declined to discuss whether they’ll seek the death penalty for 59-year-old John Miller in the killing of April Tinsley. But the girl’s mother, Janet Tinsley, told the Journal Gazette that she wants to be present if Miller is put to death.