A central Indiana mayor’s federal trial on charges of accepting a bribe has been pushed back for several months. Defense attorneys for Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler requested the delay on the trial that had been scheduled to start Jan. 21.
A federal appeals court’s reversal of Madison County killer Fredrick Baer’s death sentence was the most-read story on the Indiana Lawyer’s digital edition, www.theindianalawyer.com. Indiana Lawyer readers clicked on stories on our website more than 2.6 million times between Jan. 1 and Dec. 10, 2019, according to Google Analytics. Here are the 50 most-viewed story headlines during that time.
When those in the legal community look back at 2019, they may turn their heads and look forward instead. While the year had bright spots, several sordid sagas dominated the headlines.
Edgar Gardozo-Vasquez, 36, is one of three former employees of popular agritourism destination Fair Oaks Farms charged with a misdemeanor for animal cruelty following the release of undercover video showing workers kicking and throwing young calves. He pleaded guilty Monday before being sentenced to probation.
Longtime head of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council Dave Powell has been honored by the association he used to lead, receiving one award at the annual winter conference and having a second award renamed in his honor.
Former Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry was honored with the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council’s highest award last week during the organization’s annual Winter Conference, recognizing his contributions in the realm of criminal justice.
A divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed the dismissal of an alleged father’s time-barred petition seeking to establish paternity of a child. The majority held a prosecutor is authorized to pursue such a request outside the general two-year statute of limitations. A dissenting judge, however, warned the holding “makes a mockery” of the two-year statute of limitations in paternity cases.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has announced it will be reinstating driver’s licenses for noncustodial parents during the month of December who commit to do two things: make an affordable payment toward their child support orders and update their employment information.
Despite the attention the Statehouse has given to the Indiana Department of Child Services in the past two years – hiring outside consultants to review the agency and passing numerous laws regarding policies and practices within the department – an arrest of a former caseworker on neglect charges is bringing another call for more changes.
A chief deputy prosecutor will become a Hancock County Superior Court judge, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Friday. Marie D. Castetter will succeed Hancock Superior Court 1 Judge Terry Snow, who will retire Dec. 31.
A caseworker for Indiana’s child welfare agency faces criminal charges stemming from the alleged neglect of a 4-year-old boy under his supervision. An arrest warrant was issued Monday for 26-year-old Spencer Day Osborn after prosecutors charged him with four felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury on the recommendation of a Madison County grand jury.
A special prosecutor is citing insufficient evidence to charge employees in the Hamilton County Treasurer’s Office after a former coworker alleged they’d engaged in nepotism, then harassed and fired her to cover it up.
A federal judge has denied a motion for acquittal by a former northwestern Indiana mayor who was convicted by a jury in February of bribery and tax obstruction but he granted a new trial on one of the counts. The ruling is a partial victory for former Portage Mayor James Snyder, who argued that he should be acquitted because of prosecutorial conduct and insufficient evidence.
To give a break to individuals who badly needed one, Marion County prosecutors and public defenders joined together Monday and helped hundreds clear the path to getting their driver’s licenses reinstated.
The deadly shooting of an African-American man by a white police officer this summer in South Bend highlighted Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s struggle to win black support for his presidential campaign. The issue could resurface as the prosecutor leading an investigation into the matter says his work likely won’t be finished before February, just as voters begin deciding whether Buttigieg should be the Democratic nominee.
Cass County Prosecutor Lisa L. Swaim has been appointed to the Indiana trial court bench, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday, naming her to succeed the late Cass Superior Judge Richard A. Maughmer.
A Clark County man has again had his drug-related convictions vacated after the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded he was entitled to have them discharged when his request for a speedy trial was not met.
An Indianapolis man convicted of murder in the 2017 shooting deaths of three people has been sentenced to 170 years in prison. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Friday that Kenneth Lancaster was sentenced for the June 1, 2017, murders of Jessica Carte, Keith Higgins and Mark Higgins.
Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Donald Trump, was found guilty Friday of witness tampering and lying to Congress about his pursuit of Russian-hacked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election bid.
Prosecutors in Lafayette want to know whether a former couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter were paid for interviews given to national television shows and tabloids about the case.