The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request by Indiana’s attorney general’s office to reinstate the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a central Indiana woman and her 4-year-old daughter. Monday’s decision leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that threw out Frederick Baer’s death sentence because he had ineffective legal counsel. He’ll now be resentenced by an Indiana court.
A conservative author in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has filed a complaint with the Justice Department, alleging prosecutors tried to coerce him to give false testimony. Jerome Corsi said Monday the prosecutors were trying to entice him to lie to a grand jury and threatened to indict him.
Finding the arguments needed to be allowed to ferment a little while longer, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has returned a dispute involving an Indiana wine retailer and Illinois’ liquor laws back to the district court for further proceedings. The case, Lebamoff Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. Bruce V. Rauner, et al. and Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois, 17-2495, raises the oft-asked question of how far states can go under the 21st Amendment in regulating alcohol within their borders.
The Indiana Department of Correction has again lost a suit in which it argues to keep secret the drugs it would use in a lethal injection. The judge in the case extraordinarily outlined how the DOC, the governor’s office, and the Indiana General Assembly appeared to directly undermine her order that the department disclose the drugs it might use in a potential execution.
The Lake County Bar Association released its judicial candidate survey results Thursday of nearly 20 applicants vying to fill an upcoming vacancy in the Lake Superior Court.
An Indiana State Department of Health panel will soon determine whether a planned abortion clinic in South Bend should be granted a license.
A northern Indiana police chief has been suspended 30 days without pay after revelations that two of his officers received only reprimands for repeatedly punching a handcuffed man and that nearly all of his supervisors have been disciplined at some point in their careers.
The special counsel in the Russia investigation is accusing former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of violating his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to federal investigators, an extraordinary allegation that could expose him to a lengthier prison sentence — and potentially more criminal charges.
A new proposed policy is being sent to the Indiana General Assembly House and Senate ethics committees for further review before it lands in both chambers for a full vote. Even so, questions linger over whether the recommendations will change behavior and protect potential victims.
The 7th Circuit Court has ruled that an FBI agent’s extensive experience dealing with drug-trafficking crimes was enough to establish probable cause to search a man’s home and to allow the admission at trial of the contraband found pursuant to the search.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered the return of more than $60,000 in cash seized by an Indianapolis detective who was checking packages at a parcel-shipping company. The same detective’s prior seizure of cash in a similar manner set the precedent in a 2017 case that such searches are unlawful.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s denial of a woman’s discrimination and retaliation claims against her prior employer, finding insufficient evidence to support her claim that she was terminated for taking medical leave.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a federal court ruling for the city of Lawrenceburg in its firing of a criminally charged police officer, who claimed his termination implicated his First Amendment rights because it came after he complained about the mayor and purported wrongdoing by city officials.
President Donald Trump has provided the special counsel with written answers to questions about his knowledge of Russian interference in the 2016 election, his lawyers said Tuesday, avoiding, at least for now, a potentially risky sit-down with prosecutors. It’s the first time he has directly cooperated with the long investigation.
Top Republican and Democratic lawmakers voted Tuesday afternoon to recommend that the General Assembly adopt a new sexual harassment policy when it convenes next year. The Legislative Council unanimously approved the guidelines to combat sexual harassment at the Indiana Statehouse, but the policy will still undergo review by the ethics committees in the House and Senate and require approval from both chambers.
Two Republican state lawmakers have released draft legislation that would address Indiana’s lack of a hate crimes law by giving judges the ability to consider bias as an aggravating factor when considering prison sentences.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said Wednesday that he won’t vote to confirm judicial nominees unless GOP leaders hold a vote on legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired.
Legislature should respond to complaints of sexual harassment by legislative employees, but it’s still unclear whether the Legislative Council will meet next week’s statutorily-mandated deadline to officially adopt the recommendations.
Appearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Tuesday, Damon Leichty said he was a proud Hoosier who learned much from the federal judge he clerked for and has been nominated to replace – Northern Indiana District Court Senior Judge Robert Miller, Jr. Leichty is the last federal judicial nominee to a vacancy in an Indiana court to appear before the judiciary committee.
Claiming Purdue Pharma “bears significant responsibility” for the opioid crisis in the state, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill announced Wednesday his office has filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical giant who manufactures the opioid-based pain medication Oxycontin.