Articles

Supreme Court hears criminal gang enhancement case

After his criminal gang enhancement was vacated on appeal, a Vanderburgh County man’s sentence for various armed robbery charges reduced from 60 to 30 years. Now, the state is arguing the trial court should have discretion to resentence the defendant in accordance with his crimes, but the defendant claims no such discretion exists.

Read More

7th Circuit upholds resentencing in mortgage fraud scheme

A northern Indiana couple convicted in a mortgage fraud scheme has lost its second appeal of the spouses’ sentences, with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in its second opinion in the case that the district court did not err in calculating loss or imposing time served.

Read More

Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak gets 8 years in prison

A Massachusetts pharmacist convicted for his role in a deadly 2012 meningitis outbreak fought through sobs as he apologized to victims and their families Wednesday, including those in Indiana, before being sentenced to eight years in prison.

Read More

Justices hear plea modification case as Senate acts on similar bill

Before 2014, it was a cut-and-dry issue: fixed-sentence plea agreements meant an offender would serve out the terms of their plea, with no chance to change it. But after 2014 legislation and a 2016 Indiana Court of Appeals decision, the Indiana Supreme Court must now decide whether such agreements may be modified.

Read More

Fixed plea modifications at heart of legislation, Supreme Court case

When a court accepts a fixed-sentence plea agreement, prosecutors and defenders alike say the long-standing practice has been for courts to uphold the exact terms of that sentence, absent an agreement between the parties. A recent Indiana Court of Appeals ruling, however, has seemingly put an end to that practice, leading to both a legislative and judicial review of the sentencing issue.

Read More

Divided COA again allows sentence modification in fixed-sentence agreement

A divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a trial court to reconsider a sentence modification for an offender who agreed to a fixed-sentence plea agreement, a ruling that goes against proposed legislation currently pending before an Indiana Senate committee. However, in his first writing as an appellate senior judge, former Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker dissented from the majority ruling.

Read More

Divided Supreme Court throws out juvenile’s LWOP sentence

In a 3-2 decision Tuesday, the Indiana Supreme Court reduced a life without parole sentence for an offender convicted of murder at 17, finding LWOP sentences should be reserved for the most “heinous” juvenile offenders. The dissenting justices, however, found the nature of the crime in question warranted a life sentence.

Read More

Justices to review who can waive rights of mentally ill

The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether trial courts have authority to waive respondents’ rights to be present at their mental health commitment hearings after granting transfer to a case in which a man was not present for his commitment hearing.

Read More