Federal court stays Roy Lee Ward’s execution
A federal appeals court judge Tuesday granted a stay of execution for an Indiana man convicted of the torturous rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl.
Murder
Articles
Court affirms man’s conviction of murder, feticide enhancement
The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a defendant’s claim that the state should have to prove that he knew his estranged wife was pregnant when he killed her in order to seek a sentence enhancement under the Indiana feticide enhancement statute.
Feds charge 8 more NW Indiana gang members
Federal prosecutors on Friday charged eight alleged Imperial Gangsters street gang members in a 41-count indictment that expands on previous homicide and drug trafficking charges.
Court affirms man’s sentence for murdering wife
A Lawrence County man was unable to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his 65-year sentence for the murder of his wife in 2009 should be reduced to the advisory sentence of 55 years.
Judges focus on juvenile due process in Gingerich murder conspiracy appeal
Court of Appeals judges on Tuesday focused their questions on whether a 12-year-old waived to adult court in a 2010 murder had due process when his attorneys had just five days to prepare for a waiver hearing in juvenile court in Kosciusko County.
Location announced for state trooper’s third murder trial
The third murder trial of former Indiana State Trooper David Camm will be held in Boone County.
Gingerich trial stirs juvenile advocates
Sentenced at 12 for conspiracy to commit murder, Paul Henry Gingerich’s appeal claims due process violations.
Prosecutor error insufficient to reverse murder conviction
A prosecutor improperly presented facts that were not in evidence and inflamed the passions and prejudices of jurors in a murder trial, but his improper conduct didn’t rise to the level of reversible error, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
Court upholds imposition of court costs
The Indiana Court of Appeals found a man’s pro se motion to correct erroneous sentence was not the proper channel to challenge the imposition of court costs following his murder trial.
Appellate court upholds life sentence
Duane Turner will spend the rest of his life in prison for murdering a Ball State student in 1994. The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected his claims that his sentence was unconstitutional and that his attorney was ineffective.
Arguments for pretrial release found to be ‘unquestionably inappropriate’
The Indiana Supreme Court has dismissed without prejudice a request by a defendant to be released from jail while awaiting his third murder trial.
Attorneys ask justices to release Camm while awaiting retrial
Attorneys for David Camm, a former Indiana State Trooper twice convicted of killing his wife and two children, are asking the Indiana Supreme Court to order a special judge to release Camm from his pre-trial detention.
Previous testimony allowed in murder trial
A witness’s testimony from a man’s murder trial and the deposition testimony of another unavailable witness were correctly allowed at the man’s second murder trial, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Tuesday.
7th Circuit vacates habeas petition, orders further proceedings
Although a District Court’s grant of the habeas petition of a man claiming he didn’t have an impartial jury was reversed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, the case was sent back to the lower court for the state to show that the jury was not prejudiced.
Bunch freed after 16 years in prison
Kristine Bunch, the woman who claimed she was wrongfully convicted of killing her son in a fire in 1995, was released from prison following a bond hearing Wednesday in Decatur County. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed her convictions and ordered a new trial on the murder charge.
The case against Bei Bei Shuai
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry never expected the prosecution of Chinese immigrant Bei Bei Shuai to become a cause célèbre. It also has become a battleground over prosecutorial discretion and how far a defense attorney can go in representing her client.
Woman unable to prove attorney actions were prejudicial
A woman’s petition for post-conviction relief on the grounds her trial counsel was ineffective was denied by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Justices decline to take Decatur County arson case
The Indiana Supreme Court Wednesday unanimously decided to deny the state’s petition for transfer of Kristine Bunch v. State, in which a divided Court of Appeals ruled Kristine Bunch is entitled to a new trial. Bunch was convicted of the murder of her son, who died in a fire in their mobile home.
Judges uphold 11-year-old’s reckless homicide adjudication
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a Morgan County boy’s adjudication for shooting his younger brother while the two were home alone. The 11-year-old claimed that the juvenile court abused its discretion in admitting his statement to the investigating officer at the evidentiary hearing.
Divided court affirms life without parole for 17-year-old who killed younger brother
A 3-2 decision of the Indiana Supreme Court upheld a sentence of life without parole for a 17-year-old who killed his 10-year-old brother while babysitting and later dumped his body near a school in Rising Sun.