Articles

Mental health statute limits state’s use of juvenile statements

Indiana’s Juvenile Mental Health Statute’s limited immunity prohibits both use and derivative use of a juvenile’s statements to prove delinquency, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled. The justices were able to come to the conclusion without addressing the question of the statute’s constitutionality.

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Arguments rejected in juvenile molestation appeal

An 11-year-old boy adjudicated delinquent for acts that would be Class B and Class C felony child molesting if committed by an adult failed to persuade a Court of Appeals panel Friday that statutes as applied to him are unconstitutionally vague and the evidence didn’t support a true finding.

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Divided court reverses teen’s intimidation adjudication

Split over whether a teen’s threats toward his grandfather were intended to place the man in fear of retaliation for a prior lawful act, two Indiana Court of Appeals judges reversed a teen’s delinquency adjudication for committing intimidation.

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Advocates say justice was delayed, but deal positive for Gingerich

More than three years after 12-year-old Paul Gingerich was improperly sentenced as an adult to 30 years in prison for his role in a killing, he now has a chance to be free at 18 – an imperfect result, advocates say, that nonetheless might be the best possible under the circumstances.

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Judges reverse teen’s gang-related adjudication

The state was unable to prove that a 14-year-old Indianapolis boy committed criminal gang activity when he and several other juveniles followed another teen after a party, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

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Gingerich reversal won’t get high court review

The Indiana Supreme Court will let stand the reversal of a trial court’s adult conviction and 25-year executed sentence for Paul Henry Gingerich, who was 12 at the time he and an older boy shot and killed a Kosciusko County man.

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