BMV was not entitled to relief from judgment letting OWI defendants reinstate drivers’ licenses without proof of SR22 insurance; regardless of merits of the order, BMV failed to make threshold showing of mistake, surprise, or excusable neglect.
Criminal
Talley v. State, No. 45A05-1507-PC-1005, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Feb. 8, 2016).
Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to seek bifurcation of SVF firearm possession charge from resisting law enforcement (RLE) charges; trial court would not have been obligated to grant bifurcation because evidence of prior conviction was relevant to RLE charge and could also have been used to strategic advantage in defending SVF charge.
Miles v. State, No. 32A01-1412-CR-509, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Feb. 8, 2016).
Prosecutorial misconduct in closing-argument, showing slide highlighting defendant’s failure to produce evidence, was not fundamental error; trial court interrupted the slide and appropriately admonished the jury sua sponte, and defense did not move for mistrial.
Shane Keller v. State, No. 88S04-1506-CR-354, ___ N.E.3d ___, (Ind. Jan. 25, 2016).
Jury instruction defining “dwelling” element of B-felony burglary was misleading and invaded the province of the jury. Burglary convictions therefore had to be reduced to Class C felonies.
Montgomery v. Louisiana, No. 14-280, ___ U.S. ___, (Jan. 25, 2016).
Miller v. Alabama’s prohibition on mandatory life without parole for juvenile offenders announced a new substantive, not procedural, rule. Miller is therefore retroactive in cases of state collateral review.