Authorities: Suspect in 2017 Texas slaying caught in Indiana
Authorities say a suspect in the New Year's Eve 2017 shooting death of a woman in Texas has been captured in northwestern Indiana.
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Justices to hear arguments in murder, jurisdiction cases
The Indiana Supreme Court is set to hear argument in several cases this week, including a man’s post-conviction appeal of his three separate sentences for murder in Floyd County.
Suit naming Vaidik, appellate clerk, DOC employees tossed
The dismissal of a suit brought against Indiana Court of Appeals Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik, the clerk of Indiana’s appellate courts and two Department of Correction employees has been affirmed, with a panel of the COA finding judicial immunity and insufficient facts bar the case from proceeding.
Man charged with neglect after Lebanon toddler fatally shoots sister
A northwestern Indiana man has been charged with felony neglect after police say a 3-year-old boy fatally shot his 4-year-old sister with the suspect’s gun in the family’s home.
Murder trial in officer’s 1980 killing moved to summer
A man’s murder trial in the 1980 shooting death of an off-duty northwestern Indiana police officer has been moved to this summer.
US soldier charged in wife’s killing flees to Thailand
A 21-year-old U.S. soldier is accused of flying to Indianapolis from Colorado to kill his estranged wife, then dumping her body in a trash bin and fleeing to Thailand.
Probation sanction affirmed on ‘unduly harsh’ appeal
A man’s argument that the execution of a suspended sentence for a crime he committed while on probation was an unduly harsh sanction failed before the Indiana Court of Appeals.
COA overturns felony murder charge in overdose death
A man who provided drugs that ultimately resulted in a woman’s overdose death will not face a felony murder charge after the Indiana Court of Appeals found precedent did not stretch far enough to include his actions.
Majority justices reduce drug sentence, order removal from DOC
Finding the circumstances of an Orange County case to be “exceptional,” a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court has reduced a woman’s sentence and ordered that she be removed from the Department of Correction and instead placed in community corrections. A dissenting justice would have denied transfer of the case.
COA split on amended sentence modification statute
In an opinion interpreting a sentence modification statute, a divided panel of Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that a trial court lacked authority to modify a sentence that was entered pursuant to a fixed plea agreement. The majority’s ruling contrasts with the panel’s earlier decision in the same case, which was revisited on remand from the Indiana Supreme Court after a legislative amendment last year.
7th Circuit affirms denial of habeus corpus petition
A prisoner petitioning for habeus corpus relief for the past decade was again denied when the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found he was properly sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
US: Thousands victimized in organic grain fraud scheme
Federal prosecutors say thousands of individuals and businesses were victims of a large-scale scheme in which ordinary corn and soybeans were fraudulently marketed nationwide as “certified organic.”
Year in Review: Attorney discipline orders drop, but major misconduct cases tarnish profession
The rare subset of attorney discipline cases brought by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission are the result of criminal charges against lawyers that could result in jail time. In that regard, the Hoosier State had plenty, even as total attorney discipline orders declined in 2018.
Competency to be reviewed for man charged in 2 slayings
Competency evaluations will be reviewed for a man charged in the fatal shootings of a woman whose body was found in an abandoned rural central Indiana farmhouse and a man found slain at a nature preserve in Anderson.
Man pleads guilty in death of woman shot through wall
An Evansville man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for the death of a neighbor who was killed when a bullet traveled through an apartment wall.
St. John man charged in Illinois woman’s hit-and-run death
A northwestern Indiana man has been charged in the hit-and-run death of a suburban Chicago woman.
Judge’s rebuke of Flynn upends sentencing, prolongs case
A federal judge who described himself as disgusted by Michael Flynn’s behavior upended a straightforward sentencing hearing Tuesday, postponing punishment for President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser and telling him in a stinging rebuke, “Arguably you sold your country out.”
Trump says he’s eager to sign sweeping criminal justice bill
The Senate passed a sweeping criminal justice bill Tuesday that addresses concerns that the nation’s war on drugs had led to the imprisonment of too many Americans for nonviolent crimes without adequately preparing them for their return to society.
Indiana attorney charged with mail fraud still at large
Federal authorities are still searching for a former South Bend attorney who faces several charges of mail fraud stemming from his alleged involvement in an investment scheme that exploited elderly victims.
Abusive boyfriend’s criminal confinement conviction affirmed
The Indiana Court of Appeals found there was sufficient evidence to support a man’s criminal confinement conviction after he beat up his girlfriend, dragged her by the hair and stomped on her already broken leg. The appellate panel found he substantially interfered with her liberty without her consent.