The Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday asked the Indiana General Assembly for guidance as it sharply divided over whether minor felonies reduced to misdemeanor convictions should trigger new five-year waiting periods for people seeking to expunge their criminal records. The majority ruled they should, a result the dissenting judge called “unjust and ill-advised.”
A state agency says a northern Indiana company was partly responsible for the death of a 43-year-old employee who was killed when welding equipment fell from a forklift.
An Elkhart County man who pleaded guilty to drug charges but successfully met certain conditions to avoid a felony conviction is still facing deportation after the Indiana Court of Appeals found his initials on the advisement were enough to indicate he understood the immigration consequences.
A man convicted of Level 1 felony child molesting and sentenced to 48 years in prison failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his victim’s medical report was improperly admitted or that her testimony was incredibly dubious.
A mentally disabled man serving a 55-year prison sentence for an Elkhart murder 17 years ago that he maintains he did not commit is reviving his efforts for post-conviction relief, presenting new evidence in a petition he claims exonerates him.
The Indiana Supreme Court has amended its recently adopted interim rules for Indiana Commercial Courts after finding a critical mistake resulting from a missing word.
The Indiana Tax court has reversed a decision that cut a Northern Indiana public library’s funding after it was found to be $60 over budget for the 2018 tax year. The tax court ruled the Department of Local Government Finance abused its discretion in its decision.
An Indianapolis attorney with Bose McKinney & Evans LLP will challenge Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill for the Republican nomination to become Indiana’s top lawyer. Formal announcements at four stops around the state are scheduled for Thursday.
Officials and community organizations in Goshen are helping to get housing and services for homeless people in a northern Indiana city who formerly lived at a homeless camp that’s being emptied.
Indiana’s pilot commercial courts will become a permanent part of the Hoosier judiciary next month. The six specialized dockets around the state will remain where they are, with some rule amendments.
Authorities say a 51-year-old man who was under medical care at a northern Indiana jail has died after being found unresponsive in his cell. The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department says Brian Banister was being treated for an illness while being held on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and resisting law enforcement.
Indiana prosecutors are setting aside their case against two police officers who were caught on video repeatedly punching a handcuffed man so that a federal case against them can proceed.
A split Indiana Court of Appeals has granted a new trial to a man who was convicted after he was refused his right to represent himself in his criminal case. The majority found the defendant timely filed and was unjustly denied his pro se request.
A former Elkhart teacher who alleged a newspaper defamed him by writing an article about his federal lawsuit against the school that fired him failed to convince an appellate panel that the issue was not of public interest, or that the article was not written in good faith.
A northern Indiana man who sought wages for lunch breaks he didn’t take has won his claim, although a judge awarded him just $35. Joe Lehman was seeking $3,543 he said Thor Industries’ Postle Aluminum division owed him for lunch breaks he didn’t take while working as a truck driver for about a year and a half, but an Elkhart County magistrate granted him a judgment of only $35, plus $125 in court costs.
The Indiana Court of Appeals declined to reverse a trial court’s decision not to waive a juvenile murder case to adult court after it concluded there was sufficient evidence to support the decision.
An Indiana Court of Appeals panel was asked to consider whether a reporter’s use of the word “incompetent” to describe a former Elkhart teacher’s termination was defamatory language – and ultimately whether a newspaper had the right to publish a story using the contested word.
Two Indiana police officers who were caught on video repeatedly punching a handcuffed man have been placed on unpaid administrative leave. Members of the Elkhart Board of Public Safety agreed Monday to place Cory Newland and Joshua Titus on unpaid administrative leave.
Two Elkhart police officers who are alleged to have repeatedly punched a handcuffed man were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Hammond for using excessive force against an arrestee.
A northern Indiana police officer won’t face charges for shooting a motorist at the end of a chase. Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker said a grand jury convened Wednesday to evaluate the Jan. 9 shooting of Joshua Perry in Goshen declined to return an indictment.