Brief detainment at a sobriety checkpoint does not entitle defendant to Miranda warnings.
Criminal
Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, No. 15–606, __ US __ (March 6, 2017)
When a juror makes a clear statement indicating that he or she relied on racial stereotypes or animus to convict a criminal defendant, the trial court must consider the evidence of the juror’s statement and any resulting denial of the jury trial guarantee.
Sams v. State, No. 67A01-1604-CR-814, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Feb. 21, 2017).
Where an item searched would not have been the target of a well-regulated inventory search, and would not have been searched at all but for the criminal suspicions of the searching officer, the search is pretextual and unreasonable and an item discovered is inadmissible.
Brantley v. State, No. 49A04-1606-CR-1401, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Feb. 24, 2017).
State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant acted under sudden heat to sustain a conviction for voluntary manslaughter.
Sandoval v. State, No. 21A01-1609-CR-2027, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Feb. 24, 2017).
Trial court may not order balance of defendant’s bond be held in trust to be applied towards possible future public defender fees.