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Indiana Supreme Court
The following opinions were issued after IL deadline Thursday.
Jeffrey A. Cleary v. State of Indiana
45S03-1404-CR-295
Criminal. Affirms multiple convictions and a 14-year sentence in a fatal drunken-driving crash imposed when Cleary was retried after a first jury deadlocked on greater criminal charges and convicted Cleary on misdemeanor and infraction counts. Justices found no statutory or constitutional double-jeopardy violations.
Ruben Rosales v. State of Indiana
48S02-1404-CR-297
Criminal. Reverses conviction of attempted murder and remands for a new trial due to an erroneous jury instruction. Justices concluded the trial court committed fundamental error by giving an instruction permitting the jury to convict Rosales of attempted murder as an accomplice without the specific intent to kill. Remands for a new trial.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Michael White v. State of Indiana
49A05-1406-CR-243
Criminal. Affirms conviction for Count I, possession of cocaine, a Class C felony; Count II, possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; and adjudication as a habitual substance offender. Finds the damage to the front end of White’s car and the officer’s eyewitness account of the accident gave police the reasonable belief that White had failed to stop after hitting another car which gave police probable cause for his arrest. Rules although White was arrested for a misdemeanor, law enforcement had justification to perform a strip search because the strong odor of marijuana gave officers the reasonable suspicion that weapons or contraband would be introduced into the jail.
K.B. and M.B. (Minor Children), and M.W. B. (Father) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services
47A04-1404-JC-189.
Juvenile. Affirms adjudication of K.B. and M.B as children in need of services due to concerns about domestic violence between father and his girlfriend, who had custody of the children. The panel found father’s lack of cooperation with DCS highlights his refusal or inability to properly care for the children, and the trial court did not clearly err by concluding the coercive intervention of the juvenile court was necessary.
James Lee Atwood v. State of Indiana (NFP)
73A04-1406-CR-293
Criminal. Affirms sentence of three years in prison with 540 days executed in the Department of Correction for conviction of Class D felony resisting law enforcement.
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