Waiver of the home study requirement in an adoption when the adoptive parents are not a stepparent or the grandparents is reversible error.
Cohen v. State, No. 24A-CR-710, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 23, 2024).
Once a defendant demonstrates that they have testified pursuant to a grant of immunity to matters related to the prosecution before a grand jury, the State has the burden of showing an independent, legitimate source for the disputed evidence if the defendant/witness is the target of the same grand jury.
Bradley v. State, No. 24S-CR-206, __N.E.3d __ (Ind., Dec. 18, 2024).
A trial court’s sua sponte order for a competency evaluation does not extinguish and reset time under Criminal Rule 4(B); so long as the defendant maintains a position reasonably consistent with his speedy-trial request, delays attributable to competency evaluations simply toll the applicable deadline.
Helvie v. State, No. 24A-CR-1441, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 16, 2024).
Indiana Criminal Rule 3.3(C)(1) provides, in part, that a “defendant may plead guilty to all charged offenses without a plea agreement or to at least one of the charged offenses pursuant to a plea agreement negotiated with the state.” Therefore, absent a plea agreement, the Rule’s language precludes a defendant from pleading guilty to anything less than all of the charges.
In re Expungement of R.L., No. 24S-XP-185, __N.E.3d __ (Ind., Dec. 3, 2024).
The anti-discrimination provision in the expungement act does not displace the statutory requirement when relief must be sought through the Administrative Orders and Procedures Act.