Articles

Mental health statute limits state’s use of juvenile statements

Indiana’s Juvenile Mental Health Statute’s limited immunity prohibits both use and derivative use of a juvenile’s statements to prove delinquency, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled. The justices were able to come to the conclusion without addressing the question of the statute’s constitutionality.

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Arguments rejected in juvenile molestation appeal

An 11-year-old boy adjudicated delinquent for acts that would be Class B and Class C felony child molesting if committed by an adult failed to persuade a Court of Appeals panel Friday that statutes as applied to him are unconstitutionally vague and the evidence didn’t support a true finding.

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COA: Jury adequately instructed on presumption of innocence

The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a man’s argument that his child molestation conviction should be reversed because the trial court did not tender his jury instruction on the presumption of innocence. The judges found the court’s instruction adequately instructed the jury.

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Rehearing on double-jeopardy appeal leads to same conclusion

An Indiana Court of Appeals panel was unmoved by a recent Indiana Supreme Court decision, and the appellate panel reaffirmed that a charge of sexual misconduct with a minor should not be dismissed against a defendant acquitted of rape based on the same incident.

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Judges find no prosecutorial misconduct at molestation trial

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s multiple convictions for molesting three children, rejecting the defendant’s claims that the state committed prosecutorial misconduct when it commented during closing arguments on the truthfulness of his testimony.

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Entering a guilty plea is not a mitigating factor, COA rules

Although a Shelby County man successfully argued that signing an “Advisement of Rights and Waiver” document did not bar him from appealing his sentence, he failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that the trial court abused its discretion when sentencing him.

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