National Guard helps operate Indiana prison amid COVID-19
National Guard units are helping operate a northern Indiana prison that’s faced with staffing shortages after several prison workers were stricken with COVID-19.
Indiana Department of Correction
Articles
Killers of Indy pizza deliveryman were cellmates till one was beaten to death
Derek Romano and Jeremiah Roberts had been drinking homemade wine on a Saturday night in their cell at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Romano explained, as he told an investigator how he lost control and beat his cellmate to death. Romano, who is now charged in Roberts’ murder, shared not just a cell with Roberts, but also a criminal history.
Inmate charged with murdering accomplice in pizza deliveryman’s slaying
A Wabash Valley Correctional Facility inmate was charged with murder Tuesday in the slaying of another prisoner in May, state police said. Both men had been convicted in connection with the robbery and murder of an Indianapolis pizza deliveryman.
Semi driver in I-465 crash that killed mom, twin toddlers gets 9 years
Nearly one year after the fatal crash that claimed the lives of a mother and her twin toddlers, the semi driver who earlier this year pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the incident has been sentenced to nine years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Inmates seek prison release due to COVID-19
Almost immediately after the coronavirus reached the United States, criminal justice advocates sounded the alarm on behalf of the incarcerated. Inmates in county jails, state prisons and federal penitentiaries are at a higher risk of contracting the virus, advocates say, simply because of the nature of their living conditions. The result of release efforts has been a mixed bag.
District judge grants habeas relief in inmate’s discipline
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has granted relief to an inmate after finding insufficient evidence to support his prison discipline over alleged disorderly conduct.
Ex-Indiana prisons worker charged with murder in stabbings
A former Indiana Department of Correction worker is charged with murder and other offenses in the stabbing earlier this month of three people, two of them fatally, according to documents released Friday during a hearing.
Death penalty ‘secrecy statute’ goes before Indiana Supreme Court
The longstanding dispute over whether the Indiana Department of Correction can keep the identities of its lethal-injection drug suppliers secret reached the Indiana Supreme Court this week, with the parties offering strongly divergent views on Hoosier public access laws and constitutional rights.
COA reverses for problem-solving court litigant in sanctions dispute
A woman terminated from a problem solving court for violating its conditions who was then ordered to serve her 16-year sentence received a partial reversal from the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
Pizza deliveryman killer found dead in prison; police suspect homicide
Indiana State Police are investigating the death of a 32-year-old inmate at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility near Carlisle as a possible homicide. The man had been convicted in a notorious 2014 slaying of an Indianapolis pizza delivery driver.
Inmate wins habeas relief after kissing allegations led to discipline
An inmate disciplined for allegedly kissing another offender has been granted her petition for habeas corpus relief after a Southern District court judge found the woman was deprived of due process.
ACLU seeks info on COVID-19 risk in jails and prisons
Highlighting new epidemiological models that show as many as 200,000 inmates could die from COVID-19, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has joined the ACLU National, the ACLU Foundation and more than 30 affiliates in filing public records requests to get information about coronavirus outbreaks in prisons and jails.
Cass County clamps down with big jump in virus cases
A northern Indiana county where a coronavirus outbreak prompted the closure of a Tyson Foods meatpacking plant imposed tighter restrictions Monday on who can enter retail businesses.
Indiana reports 1st death of prison guard with coronavirus
Indiana’s prison system has reported the first death of a guard after contracting the coronavirus. Gary Weinke died Saturday from COVID-19 complications and had last worked at the prison on March 29, the agency said.
Indiana inmates making masks to help flatten COVID-19 curve
Inmates at two Indiana correctional facilities on opposite ends of the state are working to flatten the curve of COVID-19 by making masks for fellow inmates and staff.
Imprisoned exec says COVID-19 risks justify his release
Paul Elmer, the 69-year-old former CEO of Pharmakon Pharmaceuticals, is desperately trying to win early release from federal prison in Terre Haute, saying he fears he’ll contract COVID-19 there and die.
Good time credit restored after inmate wins habeas petition
In noting the state did not provide any evidence to support its arguments, the Southern Indiana District Court restored an inmate’s earned credit time which he had lost for refusing to participate in a sex offender program.
Home again: Elkhart man released after 15 years in prison, but case likely isn’t over
Andrew Royer has been granted a new trial after a special judge determined his 2005 trial was tainted by false evidence and coercive investigative techniques that exploited his mental disability. But the possibility of a retrial remains.
Order vacating man’s removal from sex offender registry affirmed
A trial court that vacated its prior order removing a man’s name from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry was correct in doing so because the Indiana Attorney General’s Office had not been notified of the offender’s request to be taken off the registry, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Justices deny ACLU petition to release inmates amid COVID-19
Indiana Supreme Court justices have denied a petition from the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana inviting the high court to engage in emergency rulemaking to facilitate the release of Hoosier inmates at risk for contracting COVID-19.