Indiana’s 6 commercial courts set to begin June 1
Six commercial courts handling specialized dockets of business cases were announced Wednesday in an order of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Elkhart County
Articles
Elkhart-area man gets life without parole in teen’s slaying
A man convicted of murder for stabbing a 17-year-old girl and mutilating her body has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Banned live Nativity goes on with mannequins
School officials say a federal judge’s injunction only applied to a live scene and that they complied with the order.
Northern Indiana prosecutor says he will seek AG nomination
A northern Indiana prosecutor said Monday that he will seek the Republican nomination to be the state's next attorney general.
Indiana judge dismisses suit targeting new sex offender law
A new Indiana law that bans many sex offenders from venturing onto school property doesn't prevent most from worshipping at churches that house schools on their grounds, attorneys in a recently dismissed lawsuit say.
Unsupported search warrant voids drug conviction
The Indiana Court of Appeals Friday threw out a man’s cocaine dealing conviction, holding that a search warrant that led to charges against him should not have been issued.
Reporter may need to testify, interview notes remain private
A northern Indiana judge has ruled a newspaper reporter does not have to turn over notes and recordings from an interview she conducted with a man accused of murder and the suspect's mother. But Elkhart Circuit Judge Terry Shewmaker said she does have to be available to testify as a rebuttal witness.
Elkhart teens, amici seek appeal of murder convictions
The felony murder convictions of two Elkhart County teens that splintered the Court of Appeals should be heard by the Indiana Supreme Court, the defendants and amicus filers say.
Felony murder convictions upheld in Elkhart home invasion, but sentences amended
The appeals of three teens involved in a daytime home invasion that turned fatal gave the Court of Appeals a chance to examine the felony murder statute and its application for juveniles.
Goshen attorney appointed as city court judge
Gov. Mike Pence has named Bodie J. Stegelmann as judge in Goshen City Court. Stegelmann currently is a partner at Yoder Ainlay Ulmer & Buckingham LLP, where he practices real estate law.
Indiana partnership aids domestic violence victims
An Indiana county attorney's office and a community advocacy group have partnered in an effort to help victims of domestic violence.
Some Indiana clerks refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses
A federal judge’s ruling declaring Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional doesn’t trump a clerk’s religious convictions in one county. Elsewhere, county clerks are being instructed that it’s up to them whether they issue licenses to gay couples.
Professor shares music’s power at detention center
Musician Nayo Ulloa has been teaching kids to play instruments for years, but his newest class at the Elkhart County Juvenile Detention Center is unlike any other he has ever encountered.
Elkhart attorney suspended for ‘lack of respect’ for clients and courts
The Indiana Supreme Court has suspended an Elkhart County attorney for at least two years after finding he committed numerous violations of the Indiana Professional Rules of Conduct, including throwing away client files that contained confidential information.
Amish advocates
It is rare that members of northern Indiana’s Amish communities have a need for legal representation. When they do, they turn to a neighbor they know and trust.
Suspect’s disheveled appearance, not GPS, led to drug discovery
A suspect’s attempt to pull up his unbuckled and falling pants as he stepped from his car negated any taint on the evidence caused by local law enforcement placing a GPS on his vehicle.
Justices: Meth arrest of man at rental storage unit violated Fourth Amendment
A man’s conviction and 45-year sentence on a meth charge cannot stand because the police search at a rental storage unit that led to his arrest violated his Fourth Amendment protections, a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court ruled.
COA rules in favor of tax sale bidder in dispute over property
The Indiana Court of Appeals ordered that tax deeds be reinstated and reversed summary judgment and a decree of foreclosure in favor of a bank in a combined appeal over foreclosed property in Elkhart County.
Aid rises for those wrongly convicted
Prosecutors and police helped clear more than half of those exonerated in 2012, according to a report by the National Registry of Exonerations.
Appeals court tackles sex offender use of social media
Two months after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the state’s law prohibiting sex offenders from using certain social media sites, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that Indiana Code 35-42-4-12 violates an Elkhart County man’s First Amendment rights.