Two jailed after attempted kidnapping of child in Kokomo store
Two people have been arrested after one of them allegedly tried to take a 1-year-old child from a shopping cart in a central Indiana Walmart store.
Drugs
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Trial court violated South Bend man’s constitutional rights by excluding him from trial, COA rules
The St. Joseph Superior Court violated the constitutional rights of a South Bend man when it excluded him from his jury trial after failing multiple pretrial drug tests, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Bloomington man sentenced to life in prison granted compassionate release
A Bloomington man sentenced to life in prison 30 years ago on drug and firearm charges has been granted compassionate release by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana through the First Step Act.
Supreme Court urged to review ban on drug injection sites
Supporters of a plan to open supervised injection sites to try to reduce overdose deaths urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review a court decision that bans the practice.
7th Circuit denies appeal for habeas corpus relief
In a case presenting a “rare circumstance” that “few if any other federal prisoners face,” the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana did not err in denying habeas corpus relief to an Indiana man on Friday. The 7th Circuit did acknowledge, however, the appellant’s argument that his counsel was ineffective by not challenging whether his drug convictions were predicates would succeed today.
COA: Marijuana smell not enough for probable cause in juvenile’s handgun possession arrest
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Friday a delinquent finding for possession of a handgun after law enforcement searched a teen during a traffic stop when they smelled marijuana, ruling the odor wasn’t enough to establish probable cause for the juvenile’s arrest.
Judge conditionally approves Purdue Pharma opioid settlement
A federal bankruptcy judge gave conditional approval Wednesday to a sweeping settlement that will remove the Sackler family from ownership of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and devote potentially $10 billion to fighting the opioid crisis that has killed a half-million Americans over the past two decades.
Appellate court allows evidence from rental vehicle in Vanderburgh Co. drug trial
Evidence uncovered during the search of a rental vehicle can be admitted in a man’s Vanderburgh County drug trial, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled, finding that the defendant did not have a privacy interest in the rental at the time it was searched.
COA: Search warrant not defective, but drug possession conviction reversed on double jeopardy
A search warrant that led to dealing and methamphetamine use convictions for a DeKalb County man was not defective, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled. But one of his convictions was reversed on double jeopardy grounds.
Kokomo man gets in-home detention for deadly 2019 crash
A Kokomo man has been sentenced to a month of in-home detention for a 2019 crash that killed a 76-year-old woman in a department store’s parking lot.
7th Circuit reverses, orders resentencing after finding man’s battery conviction serves as ACCA predicate
A man convicted on several drug counts who argued that a Northern Indiana judge was wrong about his armed robbery conviction has lost an argument before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed for the federal government in his case.
7th Circuit upholds search warrant that contained false information
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Northern Indiana District Court that a federal agent’s explanations were plausible and he was “at worst, negligent…” when he obtained a search warrant by telling a magistrate judge a controlled delivery of drugs would be made and then told the magistrate judge the illegal drugs had been recovered even though no drugs had ever been delivered or retrieved.
COA: Expired prescription doesn’t support narcotics possession conviction
A woman who still had Oxycodone pills after her prescription had expired should not have been convicted for possession of a narcotic drug, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Worse before better: Addiction experts express concern, anticipation as overdose deaths skyrocket
Isolation, economic anxiety and fear of the coronavirus were dangerous fruits of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for individuals struggling with a substance use disorder, experts say. Bundled together, those factors made for a devastating year of increased drug overdose deaths that reached an all-time nationwide high.
Indiana getting $1 million to help deal with opioid use
The federal government is awarding Indiana more than $1 million to train workers in 25 counties to help deal with widespread opioid use, addiction and overdoses.
Sentence affirmed for drug distributor in guideline calculation dispute
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a man’s 23-year sentence for his drug and firearms convictions despite his assertion that the district court erred by including both uncharged and acquitted drug amounts in his guideline calculation.
50-year war on drugs imprisoned millions of Black Americans
Fifty years ago this summer, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Today, with the U.S. mired in a deadly opioid epidemic that did not abate during the coronavirus pandemic’s worst days, it is questionable whether anyone won the war. Yet the loser is clear: Black and Latino Americans, their families and their communities.
Portland man gets 52 months in son’s methamphetamine death
An eastern Indiana man whose infant son died from methamphetamine intoxication was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison for his role in the child’s death.
19 people indicted on meth, fentanyl trafficking charges
A federal grand jury has indicted 19 people on charges alleging their involvement in a drug-trafficking organization believed to be linked to homicides in Indianapolis, officials said Thursday.
Judge appoints attorney for man in Gary bank guard’s killing
A federal magistrate appointed a public defender for a man during his first court appearance in the June killing of a security guard shot to death outside a Gary bank during a robbery.