Marion County prosecutor plans conviction integrity unit
The Marion County prosecutor says he will establish a conviction integrity unit in early 2021 to correct wrongful convictions in Indiana’s most populous county.
Wrongful convictions
Articles
Notre Dame Law clinic designed to help innocent inmates
For the last few years, students at the Notre Dame Law School have been working in conjunction with a Chicago organization designed to seek justice for wrongfully convicted individuals. Now, the law school has graduated to a new level of independence in its wrongful-conviction work, opening the Exoneration Justice Project this semester.
Wrongly convicted in son’s death, Kristine Bunch will be compensated
A woman who spent 17 years in prison for a fire that killed her 3-year-old son will be compensated by Indiana for a wrongful conviction. Kristine Bunch was declared eligible Thursday by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute’s Board of Trustees.
Indiana program has yet to pay those exonerated
An Indiana program aimed at compensating those who have been wrongly convicted of crimes hasn’t yet paid out any money since it was created last year.
Man with mental disability freed, granted new trial in murder case
A northern Indiana man who has maintained for more than a decade that law enforcement officials in Elkhart exploited his mental disability to coerce him into a false murder confession has been released from prison and granted a new trial.
Man seeks to have conviction overturned with new testimony
A Gary man testified that a now-dead man gave him a video recording of his confession to killing five people in 2000, a crime for which another man is serving 300 years in prison.
Muncie man freed in 2017 alleges wrongful rape conviction
An Indiana man who spent nearly 25 years in prison for a 1992 rape until DNA evidence helped free him alleges in a federal lawsuit that he was wrongfully convicted by authorities who fabricated evidence against him and took advantage of his severe mental health issues.
Elkhart man revives efforts for new trial in 2002 murder
A mentally disabled man serving a 55-year prison sentence for an Elkhart murder 17 years ago that he maintains he did not commit is reviving his efforts for post-conviction relief, presenting new evidence in a petition he claims exonerates him.
Many new Indiana laws take effect today
Several new state laws take effect Monday, from a required high school state government test to allowing wrongfully incarcerated individuals to collect $50,000 a year.
New laws for 2019
The following enrolled acts, followed in parentheses by their corresponding public law numbers, take effect July 1 unless otherwise noted below.
Zipping into statutes: Overview of new laws for 2019
Although the $34 billion budget dominated the session, legislators introduced and considered more than 600 bills each in both the Senate and the House. The ones they passed covered a variety of matters, including hate crimes, hemp, gambling, foster parents, electricity generation and, of course, electric scooters.
DNA testing developing, strengthening wrongful conviction cases
The science of DNA testing is evolving, and that’s a good thing for wrongful conviction reform advocates like Fran Watson. She talked about the changes Friday before a session of the Indiana State Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Conference in French Lick.
Man withdraws effort challenging conviction in officer’s death
A man who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting a Gary police officer in 2014 has withdrawn his effort to challenge his conviction.
Bill to compensate those wrongly incarcerated advances
A bill that would offer wrongly convicted Hoosiers compensation for their vacated prison sentences has made steps towards finality in the Indiana Statehouse.
Senate panel OKs compensation for the wrongfully convicted
A measure advancing in the Indiana Senate would compensate residents found to have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
Virginia Supreme Court clears Indiana man in 1975 rape
The Supreme Court of Virginia has cleared an Indiana man in the 1975 rape of a Virginia woman, issuing a writ of actual innocence Thursday based on DNA evidence.
Judge rejects Elkhart’s subpoena for newspaper records
A federal judge has rejected the City of Elkhart’s attempt to force a newspaper to turn over records of its reporting on a Chicago man who was pardoned after a decade in prison and is suing the Indiana city for wrongful conviction.
Restoring humanity and dignity to those wrongly convicted
Legislation in the Indiana General Assembly Bill would compensate people who have been exonerated after a wrongful conviction, but only if they don’t sue the state.
Judge: Exonerated man’s suit against Elkhart police may proceed
A civil rights lawsuit filed by pardoned ex-prisoner Keith Cooper has been allowed to continue, with a federal judge ruling Tuesday that Cooper’s federal malicious prosecution and related claims are not time-barred. However, the judge also raised questions as to whether the relevant statute of limitations should be revised.
Elkhart wrongful conviction case latest in county’s justice system
An effort to exonerate a man with limited mental capacity who was convicted of murder 13 years ago is the latest in a string of criminal cases that have put a spotlight on the extraordinary number of wrongful convictions in Elkhart County.