Durham asks court for 5-year sentence
Convicted Ponzi schemer Tim Durham is requesting a much shorter prison stay than the life sentence federal prosecutors want him to serve.
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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.
Court correctly dismissed man’s motion to correct sentence
The Indiana Court of Appeals found the Clay Superior Court was right in dismissing a man’s pro se motion to correct his sentence stemming from drug convictions in 1994.
COA finds trial court’s error in sentencing was harmless
A trial court’s error in considering an arrest record as evidence of criminal history was harmless, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled, because the aggravators and mitigators would have led the lower court to impose the same sentence.
COA finds plea agreement was not circumvented by admission of uncharged conduct at sentencing
A convicted child molester’s argument that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting during sentencing the testimony of two other alleged victims was rejected by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The court described the appellant’s contention as “pure conjecture supported by nothing in the record.”
Appeals court: Felon waived speedy trial, judge challenges
A man convicted of multiple felonies lost his appeal when the court determined he had not objected to matters raised in the appeal during his jury trial or sentencing.
Man can’t challenge sentence as illegal
Because a defendant entered into a beneficial plea agreement, the Indiana Court of Appeals denied his request for post-conviction relief. The man argued that a Supreme Court decision handed down while he was appealing should require that his sentence be reduced.
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 amend man’s convictions due to double jeopardy violations
Because the state relied on the same evidence to convict a Marion County man of three domestic battery or battery charges, the Indiana Court of Appeals vacated two misdemeanors. The judges also found no fundamental error in his sentencing or by the prosecutor during trial.
Court revises sentence based on plea agreement language
The Indiana Court of Appeals reduced a woman’s sentence for theft, forgery and check fraud after finding the trial court erred by imposing a sentence that violated the terms of her plea agreement.
Term of imprisonment reduced by half after COA rules sentence does not fit the crime
A man who pleaded guilty to child molesting had his sentence halved by the Indiana Court of Appeals on the grounds that the sentence imposed by the trial court was an outlier.
Judges order habitual offender enhancement vacated
A post-conviction court erred when it denied a defendant’s request for post-conviction relief to vacate a habitual offender enhancement, finding a case decided after the man’s direct appeal applies retroactively.
Weinberger sentenced to 84 months in prison
A judge on Friday rejected former Merrillville "nose doctor" Mark Weinberger’s request to be released from federal prison for time served and instead ordered him to spend almost another four years behind bars for fraud.
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.
Divided court affirms sentence that exceeds statutory authority
A man who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and whose sentence exceeded statutory authority must nonetheless serve the term, a divided Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
Woman gets 4-year sentence for lying about being injured in State Fair collapse
One of the two women prosecutors say filed false claims in order to receive money from funds set up for victims of the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair in 2011 received a four-year sentence Friday.
Trial court correctly revoked man’s probation in 5 cases
A Washington Circuit judge did not abuse his discretion in revoking a man’s probation in multiple cases and ordering that he serve all of his previously suspended sentences, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
Durham to be sentenced Nov. 30
Tim Durham and the two other men convicted of running a Ponzi scheme and taking money from investors in Ohio-based Fair Finance Co. will be sentenced Nov. 30.
7th Circuit affirms in part man’s convictions for producing fake documents
There is enough evidence to support two of the three convictions of an East Chicago man stemming from his making and selling various counterfeit documents, but photocopies in his possession cannot support his conviction of unlawful possession of five or more false identification documents.
Supreme Court case may resolve conflicting misdemeanor probation readings
The Indiana Supreme Court will hear a case in which the Court of Appeals on rehearing noted conflicting interpretations of the maximum probation sentence for people convicted of misdemeanors.