Articles

Suspended special needs trust lawyer faces more theft accusations

A suspended Greenwood lawyer criminally charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former special needs trust clients around Indiana has been accused in new civil lawsuits of draining another $108,600 from several more trust funds. The additional alleged misappropriations by Kenneth Shane Service drive the alleged missing funds to more than $318,600.

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Split COA affirms suppression after faulty controlled drug buy

Police failure to search a party in a controlled drug buy in Muncie and a misleading affidavit to obtain a warrant were sufficient grounds to suppress evidence of cocaine subsequently found in a search of the home the buyer visited, the majority of an Indiana Court of Appeals panel found Wednesday.

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David, Rush publish dissent as high court lets stand sentencing via video

Indiana’s chief justice and the most senior jurist on the Indiana Supreme Court published a sharp dissent Tuesday from a 3-2 ruling that could pave the way for defendants to be sentenced via video. Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Steven David argued in the minority that defendants have a constitutional right to be physically present when a judge imposes a sentence for a crime.

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Lake Michigan public access bill advances; SCOTUS to confer on appeal

A bill that defines the shore of Lake Michigan as belonging to the public and spells out public recreational uses of the shoreline has moved to the full Indiana Senate. Meanwhile, a petition seeking to privatize Indiana’s Great Lakes beaches will be before justices of the Supreme Court of the United States this week.

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COA affirms child molesting conviction, sentence

A Carroll County man’s sentence of 40 years in prison for molesting his girlfriend’s 7-year-old daughter was upheld Monday. An appellate panel rejected his arguments that evidence from the victim’s exam was wrongly excluded and that his sentence was inappropriate, among others.

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Suit seeks to require counsel for kids in CHINS cases

A national child advocacy organization filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Indianapolis asserting that Indiana is violating the rights of abused and neglected children by failing to provide them legal counsel in children in need of services and termination of parental rights hearings. 

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Pursuit of happiness can’t blunt man’s marijuana conviction

A man arrested for smoking a blunt in Indianapolis failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his misdemeanor conviction violated his constitutional rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The appeal also raised the issue of the Hoosier State now being among a minority of states that have yet to legalize marijuana in some form.

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Man’s 33-year sentence, admission of heroin evidence upheld

A man who allegedly held two women against their will and beat them in his Fort Wayne home and later was found holding heroin lost his appeal Friday. An appellate court rejected his challenge to the admission of evidence against him as well as his appeal of his aggregate 33½-year sentence.

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Reversal: Children placed in father’s care weren’t CHINS

Three Tippecanoe County minor children age 5 and younger who were cared for by their father after they were found home alone in their mother’s home should not have been adjudicated children in need of services, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday in reversing the juvenile court.

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Split COA relieves defendant from default despite inexcusable neglect

The defendant in a workplace injury lawsuit was properly relieved from a default judgment against it despite the defense’s inexcusable neglect, a panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled. A dissenting judge, however, warned the majority’s decision could result in litigants performing “end runs” around excusable neglect rules.

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