Mandatory lifetime parole is a direct, as opposed to collateral, consequence of a plea to voluntary manslaughter and that a defendant is entitled to be advised regarding this consequence before pleading guilty.
Criminal
State v. Gomez, No. 25S-CR-14, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Jun. 30, 2026).
Indiana Code § 1-1-2-4 is an interpretive “reference statute” that must be read together with the predicate offense statute, and that when the predicate statute uses only a general reference like “a felony,” the State need only allege a prior felony conviction (including an out-of-state felony) without proving the foreign offense is “substantially similar” to an Indiana felony.
Monroe v. State, No. 26S-CR-208, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Jun. 29, 2026).
Tumulty’s bar on direct appeals from guilty pleas applies to double-jeopardy challenges to convictions entered on a guilty plea, so the defendant generally must proceed via post-conviction relief rather than a direct appeal. But a defendant may obtain direct appellate review by moving to withdraw the guilty plea as to the lesser-included offense (and asking the trial court to vacate that conviction) and then appealing the denial of that motion.
Ramos-Osario v. State, No. 26S-CR-198, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Jun. 24, 2026).
While judges can reconsider pretrial suppression rulings, the State is not required to prove constitutional compliance a second time at trial.
Masterson v. State, No. 25A-CR-2176, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., June 16, 2026).
A probationer’s lack of fault does not bear on whether a violation occurred but only on the sanction imposed.