Senate OKs bill banning release of details in child deaths
The Indiana Senate has unanimously approved a bill that would ban the release of details in child neglect or abuse deaths to safeguard criminal cases.
Prosecutors
Articles
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.
Ex-Trump campaign boss Manafort to be sentenced in tax fraud
When former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is sentenced for tax and bank fraud , U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III will likely issue the same lecture he gives to drug dealers and bank robbers.
Bont: Pinstriped pants and handcuffs: Inside a high-profile case
In an ironic example of the blue-collar/white-collar dichotomy in golf, right around the time that Tiger Woods was running his Escalade into a fire hydrant after failing to keep Vegas in Vegas, Phil Mickelson found himself subjected to an insider trading investigation.
Split 7th Circuit slams Indiana attorneys in grant of habeas petition
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a man’s habeas corpus petition — and offered harsh comments for Indiana defense attorneys — after finding ineffective assistance of counsel for a man whose attorney blatantly disregarded an opportunity to object to amended charges filed late.
Justices halt removal of Yorktown clerk-treasurer from office
Efforts to forcibly remove a Yorktown clerk-treasurer from her elected office faced a setback Wednesday when the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed a trial court’s decision finding the officer’s failure to keep track of town finances did not result in a general failure to perform her official duties.
Full Senate set to consider juvenile attempted murder waiver legislation
The full Indiana Senate on Tuesday will consider legislation that would waive Hoosier children as young as 12 into adult court if they are charged with attempted murder.
Parents surrender on charges in 4-month-old’s heroin death
The parents of a 4-month-old boy who are facing neglect charges after the child died last February of heroin intoxication in Madison County have turned themselves in to authorities. The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office this month charged 28-year-old Daniel E. Jones and 29-year-old Tiffany McNutt of Alexandria with felony neglect of a dependent.
Indiana school shooting might prompt juvenile law change
Indiana law might be changed so that children as young as 12 could face attempted murder charges in adult court in a move prompted by a suburban Indianapolis school shooting.
US soldier charged in wife’s killing flees to Thailand
A 21-year-old U.S. soldier is accused of flying to Indianapolis from Colorado to kill his estranged wife, then dumping her body in a trash bin and fleeing to Thailand.
COA split on amended sentence modification statute
In an opinion interpreting a sentence modification statute, a divided panel of Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that a trial court lacked authority to modify a sentence that was entered pursuant to a fixed plea agreement. The majority’s ruling contrasts with the panel’s earlier decision in the same case, which was revisited on remand from the Indiana Supreme Court after a legislative amendment last year.
Prosecutors concede 3 Buncich convictions should be vacated
Federal prosecutors concede there wasn’t enough evidence to convict former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich on three of the five wire fraud counts he was found guilty of and he should be resentenced. Prosecutors say they failed to introduce sufficient evidence of “Federal reserve payroll fund” transfers alleged in three counts of the indictment against Buncich and “the Court should vacate Buncich’s convictions on those counts.”
Whether a president can be prosecuted remains in dispute
For the first time, prosecutors have tied President Donald Trump to a federal crime, accusing him of directing illegal hush-money payments to women during his presidential campaign in 2016. Although Trump hasn’t been charged with any crimes, the question of whether a president can even be prosecuted while in office is a matter of legal dispute.
Supreme Court seems likely to keep double jeopardy exception
The United States Supreme Court seemed likely Thursday to preserve a constitutional rule that allows state and federal governments to prosecute someone for the same crime.
Prosecutors recommend no jail time for cooperative Flynn
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser provided so much information to the special counsel’s Russia investigation that prosecutors say he shouldn’t do any prison time, according to a court filing that describes Michael Flynn’s cooperation as “substantial.”
Mueller considers new charges for ex-Trump campaign chairman
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may face additional charges after lawyers in the special counsel’s Russia investigation said he lied to them and broke his plea agreement, prosecutors said Friday.
Indiana $40K Land Rover seizure case goes to SCOTUS
WASHINGTON — The grandeur and history of the United States Supreme Court stood in stark contrast to the small-town Indiana roots of a potentially landmark civil forfeiture case federal justices heard Wednesday.
Murder charges filed in Thanksgiving attack that killed 3
Prosecutors have filed three murder counts and other charges against a man in connection with a drug-related robbery that left three men dead and two others wounded at a Fort Wayne home.
New developments put Manafort back in Russia probe spotlight
The breakdown of a plea deal with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an explosive British news report about alleged contacts he may have had with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange threw a new element of uncertainty into the Trump-Russia investigation.
Evansville family to take civil rights suit against city, police to jury
More than six years after several relatives were charged in connection with the death of their uncle, their civil rights lawsuit against Evansville and Kentucky police is proceeding to trial.