Marion County Superior judge elections ruled unconstitutional this month should not proceed Nov. 4 as the current ballot is drawn, according to court pleadings from candidates who were left out of the general election.
A judge is blocking testimony about other possible suspects during the trial of a man charged with killing four people in a southern Indiana home.
A man who allegedly confessed to killing seven women in Indiana refused to speak or even acknowledge his name to a judge Wednesday, and a sheriff explained later that the suspect was upset his hearing was in open court before dozens of journalists.
A man who told police he killed seven women in Indiana now faces charges in a second death.
A former Indiana Democratic Party chairman and a longtime Lake County political activist enriched themselves with millions of dollars in casino revenue, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced Wednesday, closing the book on long-running litigation that resulted in a $154,042 settlement payment to the city of East Chicago.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a man’s misdemeanor handgun charge after finding the police did not need a search warrant to retrieve the gun after the man placed it inside an apartment in view of the officers.
Former Indiana residents may be able to attend Indiana University Maurer School of Law at the cost of in-state tuition, thanks to a new scholarship program announced Tuesday by the law school.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Richard P. Gorman v. State of Indiana (NFP)
82A05-1403-CR-135
Criminal. Affirms denial of motion for release of bond.
In the Matter of the Involuntary Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of N.D., J.G., and S.D. (Minor Children) and S.D. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (NFP)
49A02-1402-JT-125
Juvenile. Affirms termination of parental relationship.
Christopher Stull v. State of Indiana (NFP)
31A03-1403-CR-110
Criminal. Affirms 12-year sentence for Class B felony operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance causing death.
Bernard E. Harris v. State of Indiana (NFP)
10A01-1404-CR-152
Criminal. Affirms sentence for two counts of child molesting as Class A felonies.
Margaret Walton v. Claybridge Homeowners Association, Inc. (NFP)
29A04-1402-MF-87
Mortgage foreclosure. Affirms denial of Walton’s motion for relief from judgment under Trial Rule 60(B) and denial of Claybridge’s request for appellate fees.
Bryan M. Strickler v. State of Indiana (NFP)
18A02-1401-CR-42
Criminal. Affirms 100-year sentence for two counts of Class A felony child molesting.
Darcell McCants v. State of Indiana (NFP)
79A04-1311-CR-591
Criminal. Affirms order denying motion for presentence credit time.
Benjamin Willis, II v. State of Indiana (NFP)
64A03-1401-CR-30
Criminal. Affirms conviction and sentence for Class A felony battery.
Michael Huffman v. State of Indiana (NFP)
48A02-1308-CR-731
Criminal. Affirms order denying motion to correct erroneous sentence.
David G. Taylor v. State of Indiana (NFP)
48A04-1405-CR-220
Criminal. Reverses and remands denial of motion to correct erroneous sentence.
The following opinion was misclassified as a not-for-publication in IL Daily Tuesday.
Georon Harris v. State of Indiana
02A03-1402-CR-73
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a permit. Finds Harris’ Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 11 rights were not violated when officers opened the door of an apartment to retrieve the gun placed on the floor inside by Harris as officers watched.
Indiana Supreme Court
Gary Wayne Oswalt v. State of Indiana
35S02-1401-CR-10
Criminal. Oswalt preserved appellate review of three for-cause challenges of prospective jurors, but because the trial court was within its discretion to deny all of them, affirms his convictions. Holds as a matter of first impression that parties satisfy the exhaustion rule the moment they use their final peremptory challenge, regardless of whom they strike. Also holds that if parties fully comply with the exhaustion rule and demonstrate they were unable to remove any prospective juror for lack of peremptories, appellate courts may review denial of any motion to strike for cause, regardless of whether a challenged juror actually served on the jury.
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the denial of JPMorgan Chase Bank’s motion to intervene in a homeowners association’s attempt to foreclose on a home to fulfill a judgment. The COA found that the bank did not have actual notice of a pending action against the homeowner in 2007, as the association argued.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision to not instruct a jury in a personal injury action regarding the spoliation of evidence. Margaret Dawson, the injured party, had ample time to inspect the mat she tripped on before the store replaced it.
The Indiana Supreme Court tackled issues of first impression Wednesday involving peremptory challenges and removing jurors for cause. The justices held that parties satisfy the “exhaustion rule” the moment they use their final peremptory challenge – regardless of whom they strike.
Finding the state did not prove that the parental rights of a man – who learned he was a father while incarcerated pending trial – should be terminated, two of the three judges on a Court of Appeals panel reversed.
A panel of judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s 117-month prison sentence on drug and weapons charges, but two judges believed the case should have been heard en banc based on the importance of a sentencing issue.
Because there is nothing in the record to show the court considered the resources of the parties when it awarded a guardian $1,660 in attorney fees, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Wednesday.
Finding that the “F” a Purdue University student received after her teacher discovered the student plagiarized comments from other students amounted to disciplinary action from the school, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the decision that her father no longer had to pay a portion of her school expenses based on a previous court order.
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that drug evidence obtained by police after they entered a home without a warrant to capture an aggressive dog should not have been admitted at the defendant’s trial. The justices held the search violated Article I, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution.
With hindsight, there were signs years ago of increasing violence against women by Darren Vann, who police say has confessed to killing seven women in northwestern Indiana and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
Indiana has responded to a former Indianapolis police officer's appeal of his convictions in a fatal drunken driving crash.
A Gary man who police say confessed to killing one woman, helped investigators find six other bodies and indicated there may be more is scheduled to make his first court appearance.