Inmate scheduled for Thursday execution asks 7th Circuit for a stay
With mere hours left before his scheduled execution, Brandon Bernard is awaiting a decision from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that could delay his death by lethal injection.
Murder
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Murder conviction COA vacated over attorney juror’s misconduct reinstated
Indiana Supreme Court justices affirmed Wednesday that a Vanderburgh County man who murdered his wife was not harmed when an attorney juror in his trial committed gross misconduct. The high court reinstated the man’s convictions that had been vacated by the Indiana Court of Appeals over the attorney’s misconduct in providing a misleading answer on a jury questionnaire.
Judge declines to stop federal executions because of COVID
A federal judge in Indiana has declined to put a hold on upcoming federal executions, finding that although the executions likely present a COVID-related risk, the inmates who sued to stop the executions have not shown that they personally will be at risk of contracting the virus.
Valparaiso teen gets 179 years in prison for 2 murders
A northwest Indiana man convicted of fatally shooting two teenagers during a drug-related robbery was sentenced Tuesday to 179 years in prison.
Judge denies Thursday execution stay as pause urged due to COVID
An Indiana judge has declined to stay a federal execution scheduled for Thursday at the Terre Haute federal prison. Meanwhile, another judge is considering whether the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic means all upcoming executions should indefinitely be put on hold.
BOP defends COVID procedures as inmates challenge upcoming executions
Facing questions about COVID-19 protocols from an Indiana judge, the federal government is defending its plan to move forward with scheduled executions this month and next despite the continued surge of reported virus cases.
Man charged with killing former IU football player
A man has been charged in the killing of former Indiana University football player and businessman Chris Beaty in downtown Indianapolis in May during unrest following the death of George Floyd, prosecutors said Thursday.
Woman loses appeal of murder conviction over self-defense claim
The murder conviction of a woman whose voluntary manslaughter plea was rejected by a judge after the woman insisted she shot a man in self-defense was affirmed on appeal Monday.
Appeals panel upholds murder, attempted murder convictions
A man who was among a group of armed, masked people who entered a house around 3 a.m. on a November morning four years ago leading to a fatal gun battle lost his appeal of murder and attempted murder convictions Monday.
In affirming murder conviction, judge sees double jeopardy ‘dilemma’
The 65-year sentence of a man convicted of murder was affirmed Monday on appeal, but a judge wrote separately to “address a practical dilemma facing appellate courts, lawyers, and litigants” after recent appeals revised longstanding double jeopardy caselaw.
Justices agree to hear hospital records breach suit, post-conviction appeal
A lawsuit against a hospital over a former employee who accessed confidential medical records without authorization will be heard by the Indiana Supreme Court.
Notre Dame Law clinic designed to help innocent inmates
For the last few years, students at the Notre Dame Law School have been working in conjunction with a Chicago organization designed to seek justice for wrongfully convicted individuals. Now, the law school has graduated to a new level of independence in its wrongful-conviction work, opening the Exoneration Justice Project this semester.
Judge halts federal execution after lawyers contract virus
A federal judge is temporarily blocking the federal government’s plan to execute the first female death row inmate in almost six decades after her attorneys contracted the coronavirus visiting her in prison.
US government executes man convicted of killing Texas teen
Orlando Hall was put to death at the federal prison in Terre Haute for abducting and killing the teenager, Lisa Rene. His was the eighth federal execution this year since the Trump administration revived a process that had been used just three times in the past 56 years.
Federal inmate who killed Texas teenager set to be executed
The federal government prepared Thursday to execute an inmate at the federal prison in Terre Haute who was condemned for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old Texas girl, bludgeoning her with a shovel and burying her alive.
Indiana Supreme Court reduces 138-year sentence for man convicted as a juvenile
A Delaware County man sentenced to more than 100 years for a crime he committed as a 17-year-old was granted a new sentence after the Indiana Supreme Court found “two major shifts in the law” provide the opportunity to reconsider sentences that were “manifestly unreasonable.”
Justices trim 181-year sentence for man convicted as juvenile
The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday reduced the 181-year sentence for a man convicted of two murders committed when he was 16, finding his appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the appropriateness of the teen’s sentence.
Delay sought after lawyers for woman on death row get virus
The two attorneys representing the first woman scheduled to be put to death by the U.S. government in more than six decades are seeking to delay her execution because they’ve contracted coronavirus visiting their client at a Texas prison.
Greenwood boy, 16, faces murder charge in shooting that killed 1
A 16-year-old suburban Indianapolis boy has been charged as an adult in the fatal shooting of another teen who witnesses told police he had planned to engage in a fist fight.
Indiana man convicted of killing, cannibalism files appeal
A southern Indiana man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body has filed a notice of appeal in Clark County.