State presented insufficient evidence that defendant conspired to commit robbery; alleged co-conspirator’s guilty plea to conspiracy could not be considered as substantive evidence against defendant, and remaining evidence was insufficient to show agreement to rob.
Appeals
Ammons v. State, No. 45A03-1411-CR-394, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App. June 17, 2015).
Sex Offender Registration Act was not unconstitutional ex post facto punishment as applied, even though defendant’s offenses were in 1988 and SORA was not enacted until 1994; the seven Mendoza-Martinez factors, including seventh “excessiveness” element that is “accorded special weight,” balanced in favor of finding registration non-punitive.
Strozewski v. Strozewski, No. 29A02-1412-DR-885, __N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., June 16, 2015).
Dissolution was filed in a preferred venue under Trial Rule 75(A)(8), and although preferred venue may lie in more than one county, if an action is filed in a county of preferred venue, change of venue cannot be granted.
Rose v. State, No. 20A04-1409-CR-343, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., June 9, 2015).
Jury service by unopposed candidate for judge of the court in which the trial was held, and who had represented victim’s mother in an unrelated matter but had no recollection of the case, was not fundamental error.
Minor v. State, No. 49A02-1409-CR-628, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., June 10, 2015).
Erroneous accomplice-liability instruction for attempted murder was harmless surplusage; State relied on ample evidence of Defendant’s liability as a principal and of his specific intent to kill, and did not seriously pursue accomplice liability as a distinct basis for conviction.