Marion Superior Judge Marilyn Moores has temporarily stepped down from her judicial duties after a horse riding accident left her with a broken leg that required three surgeries. Moores is undergoing three months or rehabilitation.
Missouri is defending a prison sentence for a man who committed robbery and other crimes on a single day when he was 16 and now isn’t eligible for parole until he’s 112 years old.
A bill that would have given immunity to guardians ad litem and court appointed child advocates stalled in the Indiana House, but other measures covering foster parents and placing new requirements on the Indiana Department of Child Services all passed through the Statehouse with little or no opposition.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld its decision to dismiss a firearm-related adjudication against a juvenile after granting the state’s petition for rehearing to address what the court called a fundamental misunderstanding of its original decision.
A consultant hired by the state said Thursday Indiana has more than double the number of children in out-of-home care compared to the national average. The finding was among the highlights of an initial report commissioned by Gov. Eric Holcomb after the resignation of former Department of Child Services director Mary Beth Bonaventura.
A teenager adjudicated as a delinquent on two handgun-related charges will have one of those adjudications reversed after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined the true findings violated double jeopardy principles.
Former Indiana Department of Child Services Director Mary Beth Bonaventura will join the Indiana Attorney General’s Office as special counsel Monday, a move that comes less than a month after she resigned from her DCS post with a scathing resignation letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb.
A bill pending before an Indiana Senate committee would place additional requirements on the Department of Child Services before removing a child from long-term foster care, though DCS representatives object to the bill on the basis of court caseloads and child safety.
A divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld additional delinquency adjudications and findings of probation violations against a Lawrence County teen after determining the teen was in procedural default when he failed to appear for his fact-finding hearings. Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik, however, dissented on statutory grounds.
The case arrives with all the routine of a traffic citation: A baby boy, just 4 days old and exposed to heroin in his mother’s womb, is shuddering through withdrawal in intensive care, his fate now here in a shabby courthouse that hosts a parade of human misery.
A juvenile adjudicated as a delinquent for two handgun-related offenses will have one of those adjudications vacated after the Indiana Court of Appeals found a lack of statutory authority to support the adjudication.
In a 3-2 decision Tuesday, the Indiana Supreme Court reduced a life without parole sentence for an offender convicted of murder at 17, finding LWOP sentences should be reserved for the most “heinous” juvenile offenders. The dissenting justices, however, found the nature of the crime in question warranted a life sentence.
After a divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals partially reversed a delinquent adjudication against a high school student who made violent threats against his school and classmates, the Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the student’s adjudications should stand in part or in whole.
A juvenile adjudicated as a delinquent for armed robbery will remain in the Department of Correction, though the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed his adjudications for criminal confinement in a Thursday decision.
The Indiana Court of Appeals will be traveling south this week to hear oral arguments in Bartholomew County.
The Indiana Supreme Court will travel south Monday to hear oral arguments in Vanderburgh County in a case involving a student’s alleged bomb threat at an Indianapolis school.
A teenage boy who threw a rock through a woman’s car window will retain his adjudication as a delinquent child, but the majority of the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered Friday that the evidence requires his adjudication to be based on a lesser offense.
A 17-year-old convicted in adult court of obstruction of justice and carrying a handgun without a license has lost his appeal of the denial of his motion to transfer his case to juvenile court, with the Indiana Court of Appeals ruling the trial court was not required to enter written findings to support its denial.
Parents of children found bullying other minors could face jail time under a new law approved in a western New York community.
As the number of children in need of services cases continues to rise, public defenders across Indiana are stretching themselves to be able to offer competent representation while also serving as many clients as possible. Defenders are likewise feeling a strain on their misdemeanor caseloads.