Articles

Anderson, former mayor to pay $30k in ballot lawsuit

The city of Anderson and its former Mayor Kevin Smith will pay $30,000 to a former city worker who filed a lawsuit alleging she was arrested for trying to deliver her mother’s absentee ballot. The city will pay $20,000, while Smith will pay $10,000 under a May settlement.

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Elkhart inmate files wrongful conviction petition claiming Elkhart Police coerced his statement

Nearly 13 years after he was found guilty of a murder he claims he did not commit and following a subsequent series of failed attempts at appellate and post-conviction relief, a developmentally disabled man has petitioned the Elkhart Circuit Court to overturn his conviction on the basis of new evidence he says proves his confession was coerced and his counsel was ineffective. Andrew Royer filed a petition to vacate the judgment against him on Wednesday.

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Three defendants face federal charges related to killings of two police officers

Three individuals linked to the killings of Boone County Deputy Jacob Pickett and Terre Haute Police Officer Robert Pitts now face federal charges for the illegal purchase and possession of firearms used in those killings. Dawn Rochon, Tiffany Dean Levi Brenton have been charged for their role in illegally purchasing and possessing firearms eventually used to kill Pickett and Pitts earlier this year.

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Gary man wants review of conviction in Indiana officer’s death

A Gary man who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting a Gary police officer is asking a court to review his conviction. Twenty-nine-year-old Carl Le’Ellis Blount has filed a post-conviction relief petition alleging Lake County prosecutors threatened him to get him to plead guilty to murder in the 2014 shooting death of Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield.

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Justices to decide if bad search voids child molest convictions

The Indiana Supreme Court must decide if a Blackford County man’s child molestation convictions will stand despite an unconstitutional search of his home that led to his confession. The question will force the court to grapple with the relationship between two doctrines: attenuation and fruit of the poisonous tree.

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Indianapolis meetings to discuss police-community trust

Members of the Indianapolis City-County Council will hold community meetings on a breakdown in trust between police and the community. Council President Vop Osili and six other Democratic and Republican councilors announced the meetings during a news conference Thursday, one week after a civilian police merit board cleared two policemen of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black motorist.

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