In a termination of parental rights case, parents’ due process rights were violated by the trial court’s failure to compel DCS to disclose the names and contact information of child’s foster parents because that information could have led to the discovery of admissible evidence.
C. Bradford
Lanier v. State, No. 25A-CR-769, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Nov. 3, 2025).
Under the Indiana Constitution, the question of whether an alleged mistake of law is reasonable under Article 1, Section 11, requires a determination of whether the alleged mistake of the law is reasonable under Litchfield.
Graff v. State, No. 23A-CR-2546, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jan. 28, 2025).
Where a suspect has not been arrested, arraigned or indicted, a polygraph examination and post-testing interrogation do not constitute critical stages upon which the right to counsel attaches. Evidence that a polygraph examination directly preceded a confession, occurred in the exact same room, and involved the same officer to which the confession was given may be admissible. Consistent with Indiana Rule of Evidence 106, the preliminaries to a polygraph examination, the examination itself, and the subsequent police interview are all part of one recorded statement, and fairness dictates that neither party should be able to decide that the jury will hear only the parts of the statement it deems favorable to its case.
In re Adoption of R.G.B., No. 24A-CT-859, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 23, 2024).
Waiver of the home study requirement in an adoption when the adoptive parents are not a stepparent or the grandparents is reversible error.
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.