Articles

Elkhart man revives efforts for new trial in 2002 murder

A mentally disabled man serving a 55-year prison sentence for an Elkhart murder 17 years ago that he maintains he did not commit is reviving his efforts for post-conviction relief, presenting new evidence in a petition he claims exonerates him.

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Motion to suppress properly denied in domestic violence case

Motions to suppress evidence against the defendant in a Gibson County domestic violence case were properly denied, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, finding the aggressor’s rights were not violated during the initial police response to the domestic violence call.

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COA upholds seizure of pot dealer’s cash, but not truck

The Rush County prosecutor will be allowed to keep $22,907 in cash seized from a local marijuana dealer’s home safe that also contained his weed stash, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, but the state will have to return some seized property and also may have to return the man’s truck.

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Facing calls for resignation, Acosta defends Epstein deal

Insisting he got the best deal he could at the time, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta on Wednesday defended his handling of a sex-trafficking case involving now-jailed financier Jeffrey Epstein as he tried to stave off intensifying Democratic calls for his resignation.

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Ex-prep diving coach gets 4 years for sex with teens

A former assistant diving coach at a northwest Indiana high school has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with two 15-year-old female students and keeping partially nude photographs of each girl on his cellphone.

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Judge William Lawrence puts down gavel, calls it a career

Through his nearly 17 years on the federal bench, Judge William T. Lawrence often set aside his work and welcomed into his chambers young attorneys who had arrived seeking his advice, counsel and encouragement. At his recent retirement celebration, his Southern Indiana District Court colleagues said Lawrence was fair, smart and always kind.

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