Articles

Justices acquit two involved in fistfight turned fatal

An Indianapolis teen and another man convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for their roles in a planned beatdown that ended with a fatal gunshot will be freed after the Indiana Supreme Court reversed their convictions and ordered them acquitted.

Read More

COA issues new opinion in bail case involving self-defense claim

The Indiana Court of Appeals has issued a new opinion in its decision involving a man charged with murder who sought to be released on bail, but was denied. The judges again held that James Satterfield should be allowed to present evidence of self-defense at a new bail hearing.

Read More

Reporter may need to testify, interview notes remain private

A northern Indiana judge has ruled a newspaper reporter does not have to turn over notes and recordings from an interview she conducted with a man accused of murder and the suspect's mother. But Elkhart Circuit Judge Terry Shewmaker said she does have to be available to testify as a rebuttal witness.

Read More

Court OKs admission of tweets, reverses criminal gang activity conviction

In a case of first impression regarding the authentication of social media posts, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that the testimony from the defendant’s girlfriend that the Twitter account belonged to her boyfriend, as well as content from that account, sufficiently showed the defendant was the author of its tweets.

Read More

Revised sentence modification statute not applicable in defendant’s case

A trial court did not err in denying a man’s petition to modify his sentence after finding that the current version of the sentencing modification statute is not applicable to his sentence, which he began serving in 1989. The Indiana Court of Appeals panel relied on a January decision by its colleagues to affirm the denial of Mitchell Swallows’ petition.

Read More

Wiretap evidence properly admitted at murder trial

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a man’s conviction of murdering his stepfather, finding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting wiretap evidence in which the defendant told a friend he was involved in the killing.

Read More

Brothers’ murder convictions upheld by COA

Two brothers convicted in the murder of a man with whom they previously had an altercation are not entitled to a new trial based on one juror’s concerns for her safety after recognizing someone sitting in the gallery, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Wednesday.

Read More

Long odds for insanity defense in theater shooting trial

The parents of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes joined the parents of his victims in line on a gray and drizzly Monday morning before entering the courthouse where lawyers prepared to declare why he should be executed or spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital.

Read More

Justices affirm LWOP sentence, admission of suicide note

A southern Indiana man challenging his robbery and murder convictions and sentence to spend the rest of his life in prison lost his appeal before the Indiana Supreme Court Thursday. The justices rejected the man’s claim that his sentence should be reduced to a term of years.

Read More

Court must consider man’s self-defense claim at new bail hearing

A defendant accused of murder must be allowed to present evidence and witnesses at a bail hearing in an endeavor to rebut the state’s burden that the defendant likely committed murder, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Thursday. Since that did not happen in James Satterfield’s case, the judges remanded the matter for further proceedings.

Read More