Under both the 4th Amendment and the Indiana Constitution, officer safety permitted a second pat-down search of motorist stopped for traffic infraction after officer reasonably suspected motorist might be armed, had him exit the vehicle, and found ammunition on his person in the initial pat-down and more ammunition in the vehicle.
M. May
Deloney v. State, No. 22A01-0906-CR-273, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 17, 2010)
DNA evidence is not sufficiently relevant to be admissible when the defendant “could not be excluded from a possibly infinite number of people matching the crime-scene DNA and the DNA expert cannot offer a statistical probability whether the crime scene DNA came from the defendant.”
Jones v. State, No. 32A04-1004-CR-309, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 27, 2010)
Reverses order for $1322.60 jury fee, as statute authorizes no more than $2 as a jury fee. Remands for ability to pay determination as required by statute for order requiring payment of $4527 appointed counsel fee and $164 docket fee.
Konopasek v. State, No. 25A03-1003-CR-155, __N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 30, 2010)
“[D]efendant’s acknowledgement he is on probation, without more,” does not “’open the door’ to extensive and potentially-damaging character evidence about the nature of his prior offenses or the length of his prior sentences.”
Hematology-Oncology of Indiana v. Fruits, No. 49A05-0910-CV-556, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 18, 2010)
Attorney fees, costs, and expenses are recoverable damages under the Wrongful Death Act and the Adult Wrongful Death Act. NOTE: This opinion conflicts with McCabe v. Commissioner, Ind. Dep’t of Ins., reported in the July 23, 2010 issue of Case Clips.