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.”
The structure of judicial selection in Lake and St. Joseph counties will soon change now that Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has signed controversial legislation changing the composition of the judicial selection panels in the northern Indiana counties.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday struck down lower court rulings in favor of an unpaid contractor that performed work for a South Bend business, finding that because the business’s assets are now owned by a bank rather than the prior company, the new bank-owned business is not liable for the bill.
The Indiana Supreme Court has evenly split in a long-running dispute over disclosure of records concerning the state’s lethal injection drugs, clearing the way for disclosure of the records and the payment by the state of more than a half-million dollars in legal fees.
A bill in the Legislature would restructure the composition of judicial nominating commissions in Lake and St. Joseph counties. Currently, an even number of attorneys and nonattorney members are appointed by local stakeholders, but the proposal would reduce attorney representation, which has prompted a backlash in the northern Indiana legal communities.
A man’s sentence to life in prison without parole in the murder of an 18-month-old whose body bore the marks of torture and sexual abuse has been affirmed on direct appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.
A 1990s Indiana law that raised penalties for juveniles who possess guns has backfired, limiting the charging options for law enforcement when children have firearms.
Speaking with reporters via Zoom on Thursday, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush acknowledged that despite efforts to keep courts operating remotely as much as possible, judges will face the difficult task in 2021 of working through COVID-created backlogs and getting their dockets back on schedule.
A divided Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of the city of Bloomington, upholding a ruling against the Indiana governor and striking down “special legislation” targeting the city’s annexation efforts. Dissenting justices, however, warned that the majority’s holding “erodes separation of powers.”
Indiana Supreme Court justices declined to hear 21 cases of out 22 petitions for transfer last week, agreeing to hear just one case concerning a man’s lookalike drug-related conviction in a search and seizure dispute.
The prominent Indianapolis employment law attorney who faced professional discipline charges related to his handling of a former high school basketball coach’s student sexting scandal has received a public reprimand from the Indiana Supreme Court. A dissenting judge, however, would not impose any sanction on Ice Miller partner Michael Blickman.
A split Indiana Supreme Court has affirmed a man’s drug-related conviction after the Indiana Court of Appeals previously reversed in his favor, finding a search and seizure that resulted in his arrest proceeded within the bounds of the Fourth Amendment.
A Delaware County man sentenced to more than 100 years for a crime he committed as a 17-year-old was granted a new sentence after the Indiana Supreme Court found “two major shifts in the law” provide the opportunity to reconsider sentences that were “manifestly unreasonable.”
The Indiana Supreme Court heard what one justice called an “interesting argument” in a case of first impression Thursday morning, considering whether a juvenile’s mother’s presence was essential to his defense when he was tried as an adult.
The Lake County Judicial Nominating Commission has named three magistrate judges as finalists to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Lake County Superior Court bench.
A man serving an 80-year sentence for a drug conviction will have his sentence reduced to 50 years after the Indiana Supreme Court ordered that his habitual offender enhancement be vacated.
Indiana Supreme Court justices have vacated a ruling in favor of a deceased woman’s parents’ insurance company, concluding that her estate is entitled to summary judgment on whether she was considered an insured person under her parent’s coverage.
A split Indiana Supreme Court on Friday granted transfer and affirmed a trial court’s ruling in a default judgment dispute involving alleged defamation and false reporting, siding with a dissenting appellate court judge.
A man awarded $40,000 after a crash involving an 18-wheeler will not get a second damages trial after the Indiana Supreme Court rejected his challenge to a damages-mitigation jury instruction.
Applications are now being accepted to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Lake County Superior Court bench.