When a defendant waives the right to pursue their sentence as part of a plea agreement, they may not pursue a direct appeal of their sentence even if they can prove they did not knowingly and voluntarily waive the right to do so. A defendant must seek to vacate their guilty plea in post-conviction relief.
D. Molter
Indiana Right to Life Victory Fund v. Morales, No. 23S‐CQ‐108, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Sept. 25, 2023).
Ind. Code 3-9-2-3 to -6 prohibits or otherwise limits corporate contributions to political action committees or other entities that engage in independent campaign-related expenditures.
State v. Lyons, No. 23S-CR-163, __N.E.3d __ (Ind., June 27, 2023).
Before excluding evidence as a Trial Rule 37 discovery sanction, a trial court must find that the exclusion is the sole remedy available to avoid substantial prejudice, or that the sanctioned party’s culpability reflects an egregious discovery violation.
Harris v. State, No. 23S-CR-165, __N.E.3d __ (Ind., June 29, 2023).
The jury in a habitual offender proceeding must be allowed to make the ultimate legal determination of whether the defendant has the status of habitual offender. Only evidence of the defendant’s alleged convictions is relevant to that determination. A defendant has no constitutional right to present irrelevant evidence.
Med. Licensing Bd. of Ind. v. Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, No. 22S‐PL‐338, __N.E.3d __ (Ind., June 30, 2023).
Abortion providers have standing to contest the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1 (2022) because the statute criminalizes their work, and so they face the sort of imminent, direct, personal injury. Indiana Constitution’s Article 1, Section 1 protects a woman’s right to an abortion that is necessary to protect her life or to protect her from a serious health risk, but the General Assembly retains broad legislative discretion for determining whether and the extent to which to prohibit abortions. The Court reversed the trial court’s preliminary injunction.