Articles

May trial set for alleged gang member charged in 2 killings

A federal judge has set a May trial for an alleged Latin Kings gang member who’s charged in the 1999 beating deaths of two men at a Hammond auto shop. The double-homicide trial of 38-year-old Jeremiah Shane Farmer is set for May 6 in the U.S. District Court in Hammond and is expected to take two weeks.

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Conviction upheld for mom firing gun from baby bag

A woman who fired a gun into the ceiling of a hair salon after she was asked to leave for arguing with a stylist was denied an appeal of her convictions Tuesday when the Indiana Court of Appeals found there was no abuse of discretion in allowing certain witnesses to testify in her case after they violated a separation of witnesses order.

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Despite snoozing juror, meth, theft convictions affirmed

Convictions for a man who attempted to make meth were upheld by an Indiana Court of Appeals panel Wednesday after it concluded no abuse of discretion occurred when a sleeping juror in his case was replaced, and that his argument for a new trial was waived.

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COA considers denial of joint motion for mistrial

A traveling appellate panel heard argument concerning an “unusual” instance of a trial court’s denial of a joined motion for mistrial Tuesday, considering whether the state’s sudden change of position had any impact on the case going forward.

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Supreme Court set for case on racial bias in jury selection

Curtis Flowers has been jailed in Mississippi for 22 years, even as prosecutors couldn’t get a murder conviction against him to stick through five trials. This week, the Supreme Court will consider whether his conviction and death sentence in a sixth trial should stand or be overturned for a familiar reason: because prosecutors improperly kept African-Americans off the jury.

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Man wins right for jury trial to fight traffic ticket

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the denial of a man’s demand for a jury trial in his trial de novo after he was found guilty in a city court bench trial. The panel found he did not waive that right by formerly submitting to the bench trial.

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Indiana man pleads not guilty to murder in Illinois court

An Indiana man has pleaded not guilty to murder charges accusing him of killing a woman in Illinois more than four years ago. Connor W. Scott  is accused of killing 20-year-old Kaylyn Whitaker of Terre Haute at Scott’s then-home in Martinsville, Illinois.

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Murderer’s appeal seeking mistrial heads to Petersburg

An Indiana Court of Appeals panel will travel to Pike Central High School in southwestern Indiana on Tuesday to hear oral argument in a double murder case, considering whether certain comments made by a juror during trial resulted in an impartial jury.

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