COA rejects challenge to text message evidence, upholds meth dealing conviction
A man convicted of dealing meth based largely on text messages failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that the messages were improperly admitted at his trial.
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Split Supreme Court upholds denial of LWOP defendant’s pro se request
A Boone County murder defendant convicted and sentenced to life without parole failed to convince a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court that the trial court improperly denied his request to proceed pro se. The majority provided an analysis for considering pro se requests in capital and LWOP sentences, but minority justices raised concerns about the majority “till(ing) new constitutional soil.”
Supreme Court skeptical of low-level crack offender’s case
Crack cocaine trafficking kingpins convicted more than a decade ago can ask courts to reduce their prison terms under a 2018 federal law. The Supreme Court on Tuesday sounded skeptical that people convicted of older low-level crack crimes can do the same.
2 charged in dismemberment of Fort Wayne man appear in court
Two men charged in the death and dismemberment of a 55-year-old man requested public defenders during their initial court appearances Tuesday.
Evansville lawyer on probation after OWI plea
A longtime Evansville lawyer is on probation following his guilty plea several months ago to a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Indiana woman pleads guilty to charge in staged kidnapping
An Indiana woman has pleaded guilty to staging her own kidnapping. The Evansville Courier & Press reported that a Gibson County judge ordered 24-year-old Hannah Potts to complete 120 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty to false informing.
Former magistrate banned from the bench now suspended for ignoring show-cause order
The former Hamilton County magistrate who is banned from the bench following his conviction related to a drug sting is now suspended from practicing law after he failed to respond to a show cause order alleging probation violations.
Justices toss suppression of drug evidence in home-detention search
A defendant sentenced to home detention waived his rights protecting him against searches and seizures even without reasonable suspicion, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday, overturning the suppression of evidence found during a home-detention search.
Court proceedings in killing of Indiana girl, 6, remain open
Court proceedings involving a 14-year-old boy charged in the asphyxiation death of a 6-year-old northern Indiana girl will remain open to the public, a magistrate has ruled.
High court moves away from leniency for minors who murder
After more than a decade in which the Supreme Court moved gradually toward more leniency for minors convicted of murder, the justices on Thursday moved the other way.
FedEx facility near airport reopens following mass shooting
The FedEx Ground facility near Indianapolis International Airport reopened for business Wednesday, almost a week after the April 15 mass shooting at the site in which eight employees were killed. The company also has donated $1 million to a fund for victims.
Pelosi floats new proposal for bipartisan Jan. 6 commission
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is renewing her push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, floating a new proposal to Republicans that would evenly split the panel’s membership between the two parties.
Whistleblower blasts Biden pick for key DOJ job over deal in sex case
President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division is facing new scrutiny over a plea deal he brokered with a Louisiana district attorney who was accused of coercing sexual favors from as many as two dozen women.
Indiana woman reaches plea deal in baby’s meth-related death
An eastern Indiana woman whose three-month-old son died last year from methamphetamine intoxication has agreed to plead guilty to a neglect charge in the infant’s death.
Sikh group wants probe of gunman’s possible supremacist link
A Sikh civil rights organization called on law enforcement Tuesday to investigate whether a former FedEx employee who fatally shot eight people — four of them Sikhs — at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis last week had any ties to hate groups.
After George Floyd ex-cop’s conviction, AG Garland opens Minneapolis police probe
Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to announce that the Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis a day after a former officer was convicted in the killing of George Floyd.
Ex-officer convicted on all counts in George Floyd’s murder
Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man’s neck in a case that touched off worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.
Biden praying for ‘the right verdict’ in Chauvin trial
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “praying the verdict is the right verdict” in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. He said he believed the case involving the death of George Floyd, which has gone to the jury and put the nation on edge, was “overwhelming.”
Sikh community calls for gun reforms after FedEx shooting
Members of Indianapolis’ tight-knit Sikh community joined with city officials to call for gun reforms Saturday as they mourned the deaths of four Sikhs who were among the eight people killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx warehouse.
Police: Texas man allegedly crashed Indiana State Police car
A man wanted on a warrant in Texas allegedly stole and crashed an Indiana State Police car after a high-speed interstate chase, authorities said late Saturday.