The Eighth Amendment’s protection against excessive fines has been incorporated to the states via the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court of the United States has unanimously ruled in deciding an Indiana civil forfeiture case that posed the question.
Police failure to search a party in a controlled drug buy in Muncie and a misleading affidavit to obtain a warrant were sufficient grounds to suppress evidence of cocaine subsequently found in a search of the home the buyer visited, the majority of an Indiana Court of Appeals panel found Wednesday.
In the world of corrections, there are inmates who pose security risks, and then there’s drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, convicted Tuesday of running an industrial-scale smuggling operation, and who has an unparalleled record of jailbreaks. Experts say Guzman may spend the rest of his life in the federal government’s “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado.
An Indiana woman who barked at a police dog attracted the attention of officers, who then arrested her on outstanding warrants. Lafayette police say officers were conducting a traffic stop Monday when 20-year-old Kiana Champagne Fletcher, who was standing in front of her home, began barking at a police dog sniffing the stopped car.
A man arrested for smoking a blunt in Indianapolis failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his misdemeanor conviction violated his constitutional rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The appeal also raised the issue of the Hoosier State now being among a minority of states that have yet to legalize marijuana in some form.
A man who allegedly held two women against their will and beat them in his Fort Wayne home and later was found holding heroin lost his appeal Friday. An appellate court rejected his challenge to the admission of evidence against him as well as his appeal of his aggregate 33½-year sentence.
Three Tippecanoe County minor children age 5 and younger who were cared for by their father after they were found home alone in their mother’s home should not have been adjudicated children in need of services, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday in reversing the juvenile court.
A drug offender who received kudos from the trial court for her pleasant demeanor had her conviction and sentence affirmed by the Indiana Court of Appeals after she could not present any evidence that police failed to ensure she understood her Miranda rights.
The founder of a drug recovery home for women in southern Indiana has been released from prison just weeks after the state’s high court revised her original 30-year drug-related sentence. Lisa Livingston was released Wednesday from Rockville Correctional Facility after serving nine months.
The parents of a 4-month-old boy who are facing neglect charges after the child died last February of heroin intoxication in Madison County have turned themselves in to authorities. The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office this month charged 28-year-old Daniel E. Jones and 29-year-old Tiffany McNutt of Alexandria with felony neglect of a dependent.
A years-long legal battle between the state of Indiana and IBM Corporation over a failed welfare benefits processing upgrade will continue now that the Indiana Supreme Court has again granted transfer to the long-running dispute.
A northwest Indiana woman who alleged she was wrongfully held in the Valparaiso jail for nearly two months in a case of mistaken identity has reached a $6,000 settlement in the case.
A woman who has yet to receive court-ordered substance abuse treatment may soon receive it after the Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer to her case.
When William Barr was attorney general in the early 1990s, his rhetoric reflected his deep-seated personal beliefs and was typical talk at a time when family values and tough-on-crime stances defined the party. Now, as President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Barr is poised to return to the same job in a dramatically different Washington.
A northwest Indiana woman who alleged she was wrongfully jailed for nearly two months in a case of mistaken identity has reached a $6,000 settlement in the case. Court records show Gloria J. Blue of Gary also will get attorneys’ fees as part of this month’s settlement.
Finding the circumstances of an Orange County case to be “exceptional,” a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court has reduced a woman’s sentence and ordered that she be removed from the Department of Correction and instead placed in community corrections. A dissenting justice would have denied transfer of the case.
A man arrested for drug-related charges who later received additional charges under a separate cause failed to convince an Indiana Court of Appeals panel that a trial court abused its discretion by ordering his second sentence to be served consecutively to the first.
An Indianapolis man who was found guilty of multiple crimes following a single traffic stop has gotten some relief after the Indiana Court of Appeals tossed one of the convictions because it violated double jeopardy principles.
The Indiana Judicial Conference Board of Directors and Court Alcohol and Drug Program Advisory Committee are seeking public comment on proposed amendments to rules for court-administered alcohol and drug programs. Amendments have been proposed for sections 19, 22, 27, 30 and 31 to the rules, and the creation of a new section concerning chemical testing has also been proposed.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the admission of evidence in a Wabash County case after finding that despite a trial court’s erroneous admission of evidence of a prior bad act, such an error was harmless.