Although the state was able to get a trial court to reconsider the suppression of cellphone evidence in a rape trial, it could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that its pursuit of an interlocutory appeal was timely.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a woman’s drug possession convictions after a traffic stop led to the discovery of contraband in a purse that the trial court inferred to be hers.
A prosecutor’s suggestion to jurors during closing arguments that the volume of fentanyl in a habitual drug dealer’s possession had the potential to kill thousands of people did not constitute fundamental error. The Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday rejected that and other arguments of a man convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Three Clark County drug convictions were overturned Thursday after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined drug evidence found in a suspect’s sock should not have been admitted.
A man’s conviction for driving on a suspended license will stand, but the Indiana Court of Appeals vacated his conviction for carrying a handgun without a license on finding a search of his vehicle was not pursuant to departmental routine or regulation.
A man convicted of possessing several grams of meth has lost his appeal to suppress evidence found at his fast food workplace after an anonymous caller alerted authorities. But a concurring judge used the case to “state the obvious” and remind Hoosiers of their right not to talk to police in similar circumstances.
A traffic stop that led to a man’s marijuana convictions was not unlawfully prolonged by a dog sniff, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled, so evidence found as a result of the sniff was not improperly admitted at trial.
Though the warrantless search that led to a man’s drug- and firearm-related convictions was lawful, a divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals was stumped on how to resolve the “conundrum” of when or if the man’s gun can be returned to him.
Motions to suppress evidence against the defendant in a Gibson County domestic violence case were properly denied, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, finding the aggressor’s rights were not violated during the initial police response to the domestic violence call.
Convictions have been upheld for a man who was driving while suspended after an appellate panel rejected his argument that evidence of his suspension was obtained during an unconstitutional extension of a traffic stop.
The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld the seizure of $60,000 in cash believed to be drug money, finding the officer who intercepted the parcel holding the cash had probable cause to think the package was related to drug trafficking. The unanimous ruling also upholds the turnover of the cash to the federal government, though it doesn’t address whether the money will be forfeited. The Court of Appeals previously had ruled the seizure was unlawful.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a plurality decision that law enforcement officers can generally draw blood without a warrant from an unconscious person suspected of driving drunk or while on drugs. Concurring and dissenting justices warned the court was establishing cumbersome and difficult guidance for authorities facing such situations.
Convictions were affirmed for a man whose home was illegally searched by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which uncovered 10 pounds of methamphetamine inside. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found that although the DEA should have obtained a search warrant first, the evidence was still admissible.
Indiana Supreme Court justices agreed to hear two cases on grant of transfer last week, denying one other involving a faulty Muncie controlled drug buy. The three cases were the only matters justices considered on petition to transfer last week.
A suspected Morgan County meth dealer who pulled his truck into his driveway as police were executing a search warrant on his property failed to overturn his conviction on appeal, but a dissenting judge found a police search of his vehicle after he was arrested failed to “honor the distinction between homes and motor vehicles for purposes of search and seizure.”
The state must pay back more than $77,000 to a man after seizing cash from his vehicle, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled, finding the money was unlawfully seized and turned over to the federal government.
Evidence of a gun found inside a truck during a traffic stop was not suppressed despite a man’s appeal, but his conviction for driving while suspended was vacated by an appellate court after both parties agreed there was insufficient evidence to support it.
Summary judgment for a conservation officer was reversed Thursday after the Indiana Court of Appeals found, among other things, that his actions in procuring the prosecution of a woman who killed his dog were not noncriminal.
Questions of whether probable cause existed for law enforcement to seize more than $60,000 in cash from a FedEx package were heard before the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday, with an attorney for the state urging justices to overturn recent precedent to allow the seizure.
A man convicted on a weapons-related charge failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction, arguing unsuccessfully that officers unconstitutionally stopped him and searched his vehicle. A dissenting judge, however, believes officers lacked reasonable suspicion to stop the man.