Proposed criminal justice complex draws 5 bidders
Five groups of developers have responded to Indianapolis' call for candidates to build a new criminal justice complex.
Public defenders
Articles
Indy attorney: airport site ‘cannot’ work for justice complex
Indianapolis International Airport may be officials’ preferred location for a proposed Criminal Justice Complex, but some attorneys who work in the system are critical of the idea.
Every defendant has a story
After 11 grueling years on the high-profile Camm murder case, attorney Stacy Uliana believes justice was served.
Federal judge orders new trial in felony gun possession case
Finding the interests of justice require a new trial for a man convicted of a federal gun crime in which the government withheld potentially exculpatory evidence, Judge William T. Lawrence granted his request Wednesday in the Southern District of Indiana Terre Haute division.
Convicted Conour wants to keep fees, attorney says
Despite pleading guilty to wire fraud on government charges that he took more than $4.5 million from at least 25 clients, William Conour’s public defender argues the former attorney is entitled to some $2 million in legal fees on cases other attorneys worked.
Senators skeptical of funding Odyssey access for public defenders
Senate budget writers appeared skeptical of a request Thursday to spend more than $2.1 million over the next four years to give public defenders statewide the same access to case management systems that prosecutors, judges and others have in many counties.
Justices order new trial for man tried in absentia
A North Carolina man who was convicted of two counts of Class C felony neglect of a dependent by an Elkhart Superior Court while the defendant was on a bus on the way to court will get a new trial, the Indiana Supreme Court concluded Tuesday.
Low pay leads to high job turnover
Salaries in the public sector are causing the criminal justice system to suffer.
Death penalty foe Foster pumps up federal defenders
Taking charge at Indiana Federal Community Defenders Inc. in the Southern District, Monica Foster’s seeking, and getting, bigger caseloads.
Lawyers relax and find camaraderie in softball league of their own
The Lawyer League softball is an annual summertime league in Indianapolis that’s been around for more than 30 years.
Hogsett lifts US attorney’s public profile
One expert says federal prosecutors have become more visible across the country.
Court splits over motion for discharge ruling
An Indiana Court of Appeals judge dissented from his colleagues in a Criminal Rule 4(B) motion for discharge case, disagreeing with the interpretation of language in Jenkins v. State regarding the relevant time for purposes of determining whether a defendant can file a pro se motion for a speedy trial.
Economic woes hitting state’s public defense
Years ago, those working in the Porter County Public Defender Office reported seeing a bright blue Post-it note tagged to their caseload reports that said, “HELP!” in huge hand-written print. That was a common occurrence at a time when the local public defender’s office faced a critical overload point because of skyrocketing caseloads and too few attorneys.
Man entitled to warning that conduct may waive right to counsel
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed the finding that a man charged with murder is no longer indigent and that his difficult behavior caused him to waive or forfeit his right to appointed counsel. The appellate court concluded that the judge considered the defendant’s conduct, not his ability to pay, when finding him no longer indigent.
New state public defender, BLE director chosen
Announcing two new appointments simultaneously, the Indiana Supreme Court has chosen the state public defender and director of the Board of Law Examiners.
Second-in-command becomes acting state public defender
State Public Defender Susan Carpenter retired May 31 after nearly three decades in that position, and her chief deputy took charge of the office until the Indiana Supreme Court appoints a successor.
Court hasn’t chosen new state public defender
State Public Defender Susan Carpenter retires Tuesday after nearly three decades in that position, and no decision has been made as to who will succeed her.
Court rules on public defender fee imposition
The Indiana Court of Appeals has decided that a state statute’s indigency hearing requirement doesn’t apply when a defendant has entered into a cash bail-bond agreement, meaning a trial court can use that bond money to pay court costs such as the imposed public defender fee.
Views shift on use of executions
What if 1976 hadn’t played out the way it did, and some of the jurists on the U.S. Supreme Court had held the view of capital punishment at that juncture that they did at the end of their judicial careers? The death penalty may never have been reinstated.