The Indiana General Assembly has taken the first step toward allowing Indiana counties to create regional public defenders’ offices, a change that has been championed as a means of reducing public defender caseloads and eliminating the appearance of judicial impropriety when appointing indigent defense.
A Senate bill that would allow the Indiana Public Defender Commission to create guidelines for a multi-county public defender’s office will be heard by a committee Tuesday.
Benjamin Eads of Freedom appeared in court Monday in Scott County on charges including auto theft and resisting law enforcement, which led to a death. Authorities say Eads fled a traffic stop on Dec. 12, triggering a police chase during which Charlestown Officer Benton Bertram’s vehicle struck a tree. Bertram was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Indiana Public Defender Commission has announced plans to begin a legislative effort intended to stir statewide public defense reform, a decision that comes on the heels of a task force report that highlighted shortcomings in the Hoosier indigent defense system.
The work of law enforcement has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. But in Indiana, one aspect of local law enforcement has not: the per diem local jails receive to house, feed and transport inmates. Currently the state allocates a $35 per day, but the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association has announced plans to advocate for raising that amount to $55.
Nearly two years after a national organization released a report that was highly critical of Indiana’s public defense system, a statewide task force has issued a report of its own that lays out the issues hindering Hoosier defendants’ access to counsel and makes recommendations for improvement.
Using genealogy websites to crack cold cases is making headlines in Fort Wayne and around the country, but it has not been tested in court. The individuals arrested and charged with the crimes are at the beginning of their cases, and questions of privacy and DNA reliability have not been answered.
A preliminary federal report finds Indiana had a record number of drug overdose deaths last year, as more than 1,800 people succumbed to overdoses. Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and New Jersey saw some of the nation’s biggest spikes in drug overdose deaths last year.
The husband of a late Indiana state senator is suspected of killing a Lake County lawyer who years earlier eulogized the lawmaker at her funeral, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported. The Times reported William “Bill” Landske, 83, was arrested on allegations that he fatally shot T. Edward Page at the attorney’s Hobart home.
Authorities say a northwestern Indiana attorney was fatally shot at his home by a client. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said Hobart police have arrested a suspect in the shooting death Wednesday morning of 64-year-old T. Edward Page.
Almost 1,000 people including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officers, community leaders and medical professionals on Wednesday attended the Statewide Opioid Summit: A Medication Assisted Treatment and Addictions Primer for Justice Professionals.
An Indiana man charged in the 1988 rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl has been arraigned in her slaying. An Allen County judge entered a not guilty plea for 59-year-old John D. Miller Thursday morning and assigned him a public defender.
The Indiana legal community will honor its top public defender, Larry Landis, this week for his contributions in the courtroom, the Statehouse and the classroom. A special dinner for Landis will be held beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Indiana Landmarks Center.
Capital cases are entering what one judge calls uncharted territory, faced with determining whether an accused killer is entitled to court-appointed counsel of his choice or must be represented by a lawyer certified to defend death penalty cases.
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied transfer to a case challenging the constitutionality of Johnson County’s contract-based public defender system, a decision one of the attorneys representing county defendants said was disappointing and cowardly.
Public defenders around Indiana say they need a life preserver made of money to stay afloat in the flood of child in need of services cases that has deluged state courts in recent years.
Despite working on Indiana public defense reforms for 41 years, there are still goals Larry Landis wishes he could have accomplished before his impending retirement from the Indiana Public Defender Council. In a perfect world, Landis said his career would have led to more judicial sentencing discretion, a greater focus on mental health treatment, and a justice system that values restoration over punishment.
The Franklin Circuit Court must withdraw a first-time felon’s pleas to two drug counts after erroneously finding the man knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waived his right to counsel, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
Accusations of sexual harassment and prosecutorial misconduct at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Capital Case Section have ensnared a death penalty case in the Southern District of Indiana against a federal inmate charged with killing his cellmate.
A pro se defendant sentenced to 100 years of incarceration can take his case back to the trial court after the Indiana Court of Appeals found his appellate counsel prejudiced him by not raising the issue of whether his waiver of counsel was knowing, intelligent and voluntary.