The unaware prong of the sexual battery statute — Ind. Code § 35-42-4-8(a)(2) — applies when the victim lacks knowledge or acquaintance of the touching or is unconscious of the touching as the touching is occurring. Unawareness that the touching is going to occur alone does not satisfy the provision.
Criminal
Blake v. State, No. 201-CR-405, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 28, 2021).
The Covid-19 pandemic constituted an emergency for purposes of Criminal Rule 4(B
Beachey v. State, No. 20A-CR-2121, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 28, 2021).
The Indiana Supreme Court explicitly established that, beginning on January 1, 2020, “the court should utilize the results of an evidence-based risk assessment approved by the Indiana Office of Court Services, and such other information as the court finds relevant.” Crim. R. 26(B). This requirement cannot be circumvented by simply choosing not to order the preparation of an evidence-based risk assessment.
West v. State, No. 21A-CR-404, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 30, 2021).
A single computer can qualify as a “computer system” for purposes of Ind. Code § 35-43-2-3, the computer trespass statute.
Bradbury v. State, No. 21S-PC-441, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Oct. 1, 2021).
Trial counsel was not ineffective for stipulating that defendant’s alleged accomplice, was convicted of murder because the stipulation did not relieve the State of the burden to prove defendant’s intent. Trial counsel pursued a reasonable all-or-nothing strategy when he chose not to seek a lesser-included instruction on reckless homicide.