Trial court erred by ordering that DCS pay the GAL fees associated with the underlying CHINS proceedings; Indiana Code §§ 31-40-3-2 and 33-24-6-4 require that the county, not DCS, is responsible for the GAL fees.
Webster v. State, No. 71A03-0902-CR-78, __ N.E.2D __ (Ind. Ct. App., June 22, 2009)
Search of traffic stop passenger’s purse, on basis officer thought it looked “stretched” and might therefore contain a firearm, violated Art. 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution.
Stokes v. State, No. 43A04-0811-CR-655, __N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., June 23, 2009)
Alternate’s conversation with deliberating jurors did not require a mistrial when trial judge polled jurors and all indicated they were not influenced by alternate.
Helton v. State, No. 20S04-0901-PC-41, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind., June 23, 2009)
Defendant who pled guilty after a day of trial failed at his post-conviction hearing to prove that counsel’s failure to file a motion to suppress satisfied the prejudice prong of the ineffective assistance test; assuming for analysis that the motion to suppress would have been granted, defendant still had to prove prejudice in the P-C.R. 1 hearing by showing that the state would not have had sufficient evidence to convict him had trial continued.
Lucio v. State, No. 29S00-0901-CR-1, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind., June 23, 2009)
Prompt admonition to jury to disregard lay witness’s statement in violation of motion in limine “though you have never heard of it,” together with other circumstances of the trial, avoided need for mistrial.