The legislature intended that contributing to delinquency as a Class A misdemeanor does not require the defendant’s knowledge of the child’s age, but the greater offense of contributing to delinquency as a Level 5 felony does require such knowledge.
Criminal
Hre v. State, No. 26A-CR-1089, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sep. 22, 2026).
The cost of alternative transportation incurred by a victim who lost the use of a vehicle as a result of the defendant’s criminal conduct is not subject to restitution because it does not fall within any of the restitution statute’s five enumerated statutory categories.
Herzog v. State, No. 25A-CR-3169, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 18, 2026).
Requiring the State to amend a probation violation petition to allege that the arrest, new charges, or new case, is now a conviction, rather than merely proceeding on the petition that alleged a pending charge, amounts to merely a matter of form over substance rather than preserving due process.
Boyd v. State, No. 25A-CR-2071, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 5, 2026).
Where a human law enforcement officer lacks probable cause to enter a vehicle to search, there is no reason why a canine officer should be permitted to enter a vehicle to search, whether that entry is instinctive or not.
Watters v. State, No. 25A-CR-3310, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jul. 31, 2026).
When a defendant in the probation context wants to waive counsel, the record must show that the probationer was made aware of the nature, extent, and importance of the right to counsel as well as the necessary consequences of waiving such a right.