With the implementation of Criminal Rule 26 in January, courts across Indiana have been required to begin using evidence-based practices to make pretrial release decisions. But do those practices actually improve the criminal justice system? Up to this point, there’s been little evidence to determine whether pretrial risk assessment tools are effective. But a recent […]
When Judge Michael Barnes arrived in Indianapolis to begin his tenure on the Indiana Court of Appeals in 2000, he was one of several state public servants hailing from South Bend. The group, which included then-Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan, was dubbed the South Bend Crew by Judge Nancy Vaidik, who had joined the appellate […]
Ten prisoners in state Department of Correction facilities have now tested positive for COVID-19, along with 20 agency employees, prompting questions to WFIU’s City Limits: Coronavirus about how social distancing measures are being implemented in prisons and county jails. Since the middle of March, inmates entering the Monroe County Jail in Bloomington have been monitored […]
A Republican state senator has dropped a proposal attacking what he called “social justice prosecution” by empowering Indiana’s attorney general to appoint special prosecutors to take over criminal cases that local authorities decide they won’t pursue. The proposal followed Democratic Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears’ new policy of not pressing charges for possessing small amounts of marijuana. […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — When Democrats pushed through a law last spring that sharply curtailed cash bail for nonviolent defendants, they hailed it as a landmark measure to stop the poor from being jailed before trial simply because they had few resources. Now, as the rules take effect on Jan. 1, a backlash has arisen among […]
Despite the attention the Statehouse has given to the Indiana Department of Child Services in the past two years – hiring outside consultants to review the agency and passing numerous laws regarding policies and practices within the department – an arrest of a former caseworker on neglect charges is bringing another call for more changes. Spencer Osborn of Anderson […]
As he prepares to begin a 30-day, unpaid suspension, Clark Circuit Judge Bradley Jacobs is publicly apologizing for the first time for a night of drinking that led to him being critically wounded in a downtown Indianapolis shooting. “I have been a fortunate person. I have an amazing wife, three wonderful daughters, a father that […]
Three judges involved in a May shooting in downtown Indianapolis are each now facing multiple judicial discipline charges. Clark Circuit Judges Andrew Adams and Bradley Jacobs and Crawford Circuit Judge Sabrina Bell each have been charged with violations of Rules 1.2 and 3.1(C) of the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct for their roles in a […]
Judge Peter Swann (from left), Judge Paul McMurdie and Judge Lawrence Winthrop hear arguments in Hiskett v. Hon. Lambert/State at the Arizona Court of Appeals in Phoenix on Aug. 22, 2019. (Photo: Thomas Hawthorne/The Republic) A state law allowing the electronic monitoring of people accused of sex offenses does not give counties the authority to force defendants […]
On the side of a building just outside the county jail in Des Moines, Iowa, there is a drive-thru window. But it is not dishing out burgers and fries. The main item on its menu is freedom, and it can come at a steep price. “Get your bail bond here. Don’t wait at jail,” reads […]
Electronic filing is available in each of Indiana’s 92 counties now that Sullivan County rolled out voluntary e-filing this month. Sullivan Circuit and Superior Courts were the last to make the e-filing transition across Indiana’s 92 counties, implementing voluntary e-filing Friday and concluding the statewide rollout in county courts. E-filing will become mandatory in Sullivan […]
A mentally disabled man serving a 55-year prison sentence for a murder 17 years ago that he maintains he did not commit is reviving his efforts for post-conviction relief. Andrew Royer has filed a successive PCR petition in the Elkhart Circuit Court, alleging new evidence that he says proves he is actually innocent of the […]
“Anger got the better of me,” said Bill Peyser, who took what was meant to be a noise complaint to another level, when he brought the handgun with him. Back in April of 2017, he got so frustrated with his loud neighbors, that instead of just knocking on their door, surveillance cameras captured him pointing […]
The Indiana Supreme Court once again granted transfer in two cases dealing with issues of modified fixed-plea sentences, hearing back-to-back oral arguments last week. Justices on Thursday heard the cases of State v. Stafford, 86 N.E.3d 190 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017) and Rodriguez v. State, 91 N.E.3d 1033 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018). The high court last year remanded the casesto […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a decision that may curb the rise of financial penalties and property seizures in the U.S. criminal justice system, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time ruled that the U.S. Constitution’s ban on “excess fines” applies to states as well as the federal government. The nine justices ruled unanimously […]
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a woman’s drunken driving conviction after finding that she failed to provide sufficient evidence that one of the jurors hearing her case withheld potentially prejudicial information. When emergency personnel found Tracie Easler after receiving a report of an unconscious person, she was unresponsive, sitting behind the wheel of her […]
Ten months into piloting a pretrial release program, Grant County officials are seeing the outcome they wanted – defendants showing up to their court date. Grant County was one of 11 counties selected to pilot a pretrial release program that helps judges make more informed decisions on who they release. The program began on March […]
An Indianapolis attorney charged with intimidation against a Marion County court and other offenses has been suspended from the practice of law after the Indiana Supreme Court granted a petition for his emergency suspension. The high court granted the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission’s emergency petition in a Friday order that requested the suspension of Kraig A. […]
A man arguing that a trial court abused its discretion in imposing an advisory sentence without issuing a statement lost his case when the Indiana Court of Appeals found that under Indiana code, courts are not required to issue statements for advisory felony sentences. In May 2008, Anthony Ward, Sr., pleaded guilty to Level 5 […]
E-filing is now mandatory in Warrick County, with just four more counties remaining to implement the online filing system. As of Tuesday, 89 Indiana trial courts have adopted mandatory e-filing for most case types. Courts that will soon make the switch to mandatory e-filing include Goshen City Court, Lake Circuit and Superior Courts, Wayne Circuit […]
A juvenile accused of robbing a pharmacy might not be tried in federal criminal court because attempted robbery is not considered a violent crime in Indiana, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday, vacating the teen’s waiver to be tried as an adult. D.D.B. was arrested with an adult accomplice shortly after an Indianapolis […]
A man who argued public policy should disfavor criminally charging people who have overdosed on heroin lost Wednesday, as the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed his felony possession conviction. Tavis Ray Crittendon raised those arguments and others in appealing his conviction after a bench trial in Kosciusko County. “Although Crittendon argues that there is a […]
An Indiana Court of Appeals ruling that reserved the right to demand a jury trial in misdemeanor cases to defendants has been upheld after the Indiana Supreme Court declined to hear the state’s challenge to that ruling. The Court of Appeals’ February decision in State of Indiana v. Latasha Bonds, 49A02-1704-CR-770, interpreted Indiana Rule of Criminal Procedure 22 […]
A northern Indiana trial court’s contempt order against a man who violated a condition of bail was an abuse of discretion, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, reversing the order. Cameron Hunter was released on bail pending criminal charges against him before Kosciusko Superior Judge David C. Cates. At a plea hearing, Hunter sought […]
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the adjudication of a New Jersey child as a child in need of services after finding the child’s mother waived her argument that an Indiana trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over her and her child. After she was dispatched to a Marion County bus station on a report […]
A Madison County man who alleged the state challenged a potential juror for race-based reasons has lost his appeal, with the Indiana Court of Appeals finding the record of the robbery trial does not support the argument that the juror was released because he was black. In Steven Wade Childress v. State of Indiana, 48A02-1707-CR-1658, Steven […]
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 […]
Marion Superior Judge William Nelson, whose stepson died of a drug overdose, confirmed Monday he is under consideration to be the nation’s drug czar. Nelson applied to be the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy last December and he traveled to Washington, D.C., in July for interviews with Trump administration officials. The […]
An agreement between the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis will stop the Marion County Sheriff’s Department from detaining immigrants for the federal government. The stipulated final judgment and order for permanent injunction was filed Monday in the case, Antonio Lopez-Aguilar v. Marion County Sheriff’s Department, et al., 1:16-cv-2457, pending in the U.S. District […]
An administrator with the Marion County Public Defender Agency has been named the first director of re-entry for the city of Indianapolis’ Office of Health and Public Safety. Brooke Daunhauer, currently social service administrator with the public defender agency, will fill the new position, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Thursday. Daunhauer will work to connect those […]
The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to answer the question of whether sending sexually explicit photos to 16- and 17-year-olds is permissible under state law after granting transfer to a case involving that issue last week. In its February opinion in State of Indiana v. Sameer Girish Thakar, 29S02-1705-CR-284, the Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously […]
The Marion Superior Court properly adjudicated an Indianapolis teenager as a delinquent on theft and trespassing charges, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided Thursday, holding the court’s true findings were supported by sufficient evidence. In December 2015, Lashawn Rogers was at an Indianapolis gas station buying cookies for her granddaughter when she tripped over a […]
A man who pleaded guilty to child molesting cannot prove that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Wednesday, but the post-conviction court must still address the issue of whether his plea was voluntary. In Gary Hanks v. State of Indiana, 10A01-1604-PC-690, Gary Hanks was charged with one count […]
In Indianapolis, a person is more likely to die from a drug-related incident than a car crash. Chris Naylor, assistant executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, shared that statistic and other drug-related facts with the members of the Indiana House Courts and Criminal Code Committee at a meeting Wednesday. Representatives from the state’s […]
A southern Indiana jail has made changes including additional officers and more resources for inmates after letting a cable television program film for four months inside its walls, a sheriff said. The Clark County Jail also has added two body scanners to better detect weapons, drugs and other contraband being smuggled into the jail, Sheriff […]
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer and affirmed Wednesday a trial court’s decision to dismiss a complaint seeking unpaid wages brought by inmates who claim they were underpaid while working for a private company while they were in prison. During their incarceration at the Indiana Department of Correction’s Correctional Industrial Facility, inmates Chuck Adams and […]
As part of an effort to reform the state’s bail system and reduce recidivism rates, the Indiana Supreme Court has adopted a new criminal rule to encourage the prompt release of arrestees who do not pose a significant threat to public safety. Through Criminal Rule 26, which can be read here, the Supreme Court is […]
Within the past few months the National Institute of Corrections has released an update to Thinking for a Change, transitioning from 3.1 to 4.0. Webinars will include information about the transition from Thinking for a Change 3.1 to the updated 4.0 materials, as well as a refresher on program standards. Only those instructors who complete the […]
Two years ago, Ashley Sorrel wore a hospital gown inside the Marion County Jail, with twigs and dirt snarled in her hair and 92 stitches stretched across her body. Hours before, Sorrel, now 29, led Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers on a high-speed chase after she was caught stealing FedEx packages from residential porches to pay for her drug habit. Sorrel crashed, […]
Perseverance paid off for a group that is teaching children there are better ways to resolve their disputes than by clenching their fist and throwing a punch. The Peace Learning Center, a nonprofit focused on conflict resolution, is the 2015 recipient of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation Impact Fund Grant. Since 2011, the grant program has […]
The days of detaining arrestees solely because they cannot afford bail could be coming to an end in Indiana. A pilot project is getting ready to launch that will test the use and effectiveness of a risk-assessment tool in determining which offenders can be released on their own recognizance. Nine counties have been selected as […]
The Indiana General Assembly focused on criminal code reform during the 2014 and 2015 legislative sessions. House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1006, authored both years by Representative Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, rewrote criminal penalties and sentencing statutes to keep low-level offenders in local communities where they will have better access to mental health and substance abuse […]
Photo: Gretchen Frazee The state voted last year to expand Indiana’s Lifeline Law to include drug overdoses. Six more bills to address drug addiction in Indiana were added to the legislative agenda on Monday. State Sen. Jim Merritt (R- Fall Creek) pointed to the state’s drug epidemic as he announced his proposals. “We all know we […]
