law enforcement - The Indiana Lawyer

Indianapolis police major losing rank for defending convict

December 14, 2018

A high-ranking Indianapolis police officer is being stripped of his rank for writing a letter defending a man convicted of rape. Michael Jefferson had been a major who served in the command staffs of current police Chief Bryan Roach and his predecessor, but is being returned to the rank of lieutenant after writing a letter asking a judge for leniency when sentencing 58-year-old Lance Fleming, who was convicted in October of rape and attempted rape.

Police: Teen, officers exchange gunfire at middle school

December 13, 2018

A teenage suspect and police officers exchanged gunfire outside a Richmond middle school Thursday morning before the boy ran inside and killed himself, authorities said. Indiana State Police Sgt. John Bowling said no one else at Dennis Intermediate School or any officers were injured during the shooting.

Police say teen shooting suspect killed at Indiana middle school

December 13, 2018

Authorities say a teenage suspect has been killed at a Richmond middle school. Indiana State Police said in a Twitter post that no other students were reported injured in Thursday morning’s shooting at Dennis Middle School in Richmond.

Records: $50K settled officer racial discrimination lawsuit

December 12, 2018

Records show a former West Terre Haute police officer who appealed his firing has accepted $50,000 to settle a 2015 federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination. Jonathan Stevens, who is black, signed an agreement in January 2017 to resolve the complaint he’d filed alleging the West Terre Haute Town Council and police chief conspired not to hire him because they allegedly said they didn’t want “his kind” working for the town.

COA upholds marijuana, handgun convictions but remands for indigency hearing

December 11, 2018

The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a man’s marijuana and handgun convictions based on sufficient and admissible evidence, but remanded the case for the trial court to hold an indigency hearing on imposed probation fees.

Elkhart police chief resigns amid discipline controversies

December 11, 2018

A northern Indiana police chief who downplayed the beating of a handcuffed suspect by two officers and faced other controversies over discipline has resigned. Elkhart’s Chief Ed Windbigler said in a letter Monday that Mayor Tim Neese asked him to resign.

Sheriff wants new armored vehicle to deal with ‘threats’

December 6, 2018

A sheriff in northwestern Indiana wants to buy a $360,000 armored vehicle, but local officials are not so sure.

Pat down search at overdose scene not improper, COA says

December 4, 2018

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s conviction and sentence for dealing in a narcotic drug after it concluded his Fourth Amendments rights were not violated, nor was his sentence inappropriate.

Citing lackluster briefing, court gives trooper another chance in panhandler’s suit

December 4, 2018

Lamenting the “limited utility” of the parties’ briefing on cross-motions for summary judgment, a district court judge has denied summary judgment to an Indiana State Police trooper sued after arresting a man for a form of panhandling but is giving him another chance to defeat a summary judgment ruling in favor of the arrestee.

Indiana man gets $47K in excessive force lawsuit

December 4, 2018

A man who alleged that a Gary police officer attacked him during a traffic stop because he was having an affair with the officer's wife has reached a settlement with the city.

Indianapolis police testing mental illness screening tool

December 4, 2018

Indianapolis police are testing a new screening tool that’s intended to divert people suffering from mental illness to treatment and care, rather than sending them to jail.

Reversal: Appeals court tosses admission of OWI breath test

November 29, 2018

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a man’s operating a vehicle while intoxicated conviction when it found the admission of his chemical breath test was an abuse of discretion.

Indiana $40K Land Rover seizure case goes to SCOTUS

November 28, 2018

WASHINGTON — The grandeur and history of the United States Supreme Court stood in stark contrast to the small-town Indiana roots of a potentially landmark civil forfeiture case federal justices heard Wednesday.

Murder charges filed in Thanksgiving attack that killed 3

November 28, 2018

Prosecutors have filed three murder counts and other charges against a man in connection with a drug-related robbery that left three men dead and two others wounded at a Fort Wayne home.

Elkhart police chief suspended after discipline reports

November 27, 2018

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.

Evansville family to take civil rights suit against city, police to jury

November 27, 2018

More than six years after several relatives were charged in connection with the death of their uncle, their civil rights lawsuit against Evansville and Kentucky police is proceeding to trial.

Hammond man sues police, seeks damages for crash injuries

November 26, 2018

A northwestern Indiana man alleges in a federal lawsuit that he suffered a traumatic brain injury when a police officer ran a red light and struck his vehicle in 2016.

FBI agent’s experience enough to suggest ‘fair probability’ for drug evidence

November 21, 2018

The 7^th 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.

Appeals court orders return of $60K in seized cash

November 21, 2018

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.

Ex-Lawrenceburg policeman loses 7th Circuit appeal over firing

November 21, 2018

The 7^th 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.

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