Justices deny transfer to 2 cases that split COA
The Indiana Supreme Court considered and denied 18 petitions for transfer last week, including two cases that drew concerns from members of the Indiana Court of Appeals.
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Justices to hear arguments in reversed TPR, juror misconduct cases
The Indiana Supreme Court justices granted transfer to two cases last week while denying 39 others. Of the pair it selected for review, the justices will hear arguments in a reversed termination of parental rights case and in a case alleging juror bias.
Jury for gruesome Jeffersonville slaying to come from Hamilton County
The jury for a southern Indiana man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body will come from Hamilton County due to publicity about the case, officials said.
Man convicted of razing Hammond bridge says he didn’t get fair trial
A northwestern Indiana scrap-metal dealer convicted of razing a historic railroad bridge and selling the metal contends he didn’t receive a fair trial. Kenneth Morrison of Whiting is seeking a new trial following his December conviction on a charge of interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Jurors deadlock on life sentence for 2 slayings in Indiana
Jurors have deadlocked on whether to recommend a sentence of life in prison for a 24-year-old Evansville man convicted of murder and robbery in the 2017 slayings of two people in southwest Indiana. Jurors were dismissed Thursday after deadlocking on the question. They convicted Deshay Hackner on Wednesday in the deaths of 29-year-old Dewone Broomfield and his girlfriend, 28-year-old Mary Woodruff.
Drug conviction affirmed, but judge frets over possible race bias
A drug dealing conviction that followed the exclusion of the lone African-American from the pool of potential jurors was affirmed Thursday, but a judge expressed concern about how the defendant’s objection was handled in Fayette Circuit Court.
Despite snoozing juror, meth, theft convictions affirmed
Convictions for a man who attempted to make meth were upheld by an Indiana Court of Appeals panel Wednesday after it concluded no abuse of discretion occurred when a sleeping juror in his case was replaced, and that his argument for a new trial was waived.
Indiana man cleared after child fires gun he dropped at Ikea
A suburban Indianapolis man who dropped a loaded handgun in an Ikea store that was found and fired by a child has been acquitted of criminal recklessness.
Justice Thomas talks at court arguments, 1st time in 3 years
The Supreme Court was about to adjourn for the day when the Georgia baritone politely inquired of the lawyer at the lectern. Justice Clarence Thomas was breaking a three-year silence at high court arguments with a couple of questions in a case about racial discrimination in the South.
COA considers denial of joint motion for mistrial
A traveling appellate panel heard argument concerning an “unusual” instance of a trial court’s denial of a joined motion for mistrial Tuesday, considering whether the state’s sudden change of position had any impact on the case going forward.
Justices reinstate conviction despite jury instruction error
Despite disproving of a jury instruction used to convict a man of felony resisting law enforcement, the Indiana Supreme Court reinstated his resisting conviction on Monday after finding the instruction error was harmless.
Supreme Court set for case on racial bias in jury selection
Curtis Flowers has been jailed in Mississippi for 22 years, even as prosecutors couldn’t get a murder conviction against him to stick through five trials. This week, the Supreme Court will consider whether his conviction and death sentence in a sixth trial should stand or be overturned for a familiar reason: because prosecutors improperly kept African-Americans off the jury.
COA to hear denied mistrial, attempted murder arguments in Lake, Wayne counties
The Indiana Court of Appeals will travel twice this week to hear arguments in Lake and Wayne counties involving a denied mistrial and attempted murder.
‘Vigilante’ who killed 2 trying to ‘clean up drug problem’ loses appeal
A man who murdered two people in a victim’s home after telling police he wanted to help “clean up the drug problem” in a southern Indiana county got no relief from his convictions or 121-year prison sentence on appeal Friday.
Man wins right for jury trial to fight traffic ticket
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the denial of a man’s demand for a jury trial in his trial de novo after he was found guilty in a city court bench trial. The panel found he did not waive that right by formerly submitting to the bench trial.
Fort Wayne man convicted of killing 2 women, fetus
A jury needed less than two hours to convict a Fort Wayne man of three counts of murder in the fatal shootings of two women and the death of one’s unborn fetus.
Murderer’s appeal seeking mistrial heads to Petersburg
An Indiana Court of Appeals panel will travel to Pike Central High School in southwestern Indiana on Tuesday to hear oral argument in a double murder case, considering whether certain comments made by a juror during trial resulted in an impartial jury.
7th Circuit affirms man’s phone store robbery conviction
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s conviction and sentence Thursday for conspiracy to commit robbery, finding the denial of his motion to change venue and suppress evidence was not erroneous.
Convicted drug lord ‘El Chapo’ likely heading to ‘Supermax’
In the world of corrections, there are inmates who pose security risks, and then there’s drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, convicted Tuesday of running an industrial-scale smuggling operation, and who has an unparalleled record of jailbreaks. Experts say Guzman may spend the rest of his life in the federal government’s “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado.
COA: Juror with family drunk driving history not biased in OWI case
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a woman’s drunken driving conviction after finding that she failed to provide sufficient evidence that one of the jurors hearing her case withheld potentially prejudicial information.