N. Vaidik

Where there are no intervening proceedings between the reading of the preliminary instructions and the jury being excused for lunch, trial courts are not required to repeat the
admonishment required by I.C. 35-27-2-4(a). Jury instructions are considered as a whole and in reference to each other when deciding whether an instructional error amounts to fundamental error.

The trial court properly declined to give defendant’s proposed jury instruction on force, which emphasized particular factual scenarios minimizing other potentially relevant evidence. Trial courts should use the pattern jury instruction on resisting law enforcement by fleeing at 1 Ind. Pattern Jury Instructions—Criminal 5.3000 (4th ed. 2019).

Court affirmed defendant’s convictions of child pornography and child exploitation where the images depicted sexual conduct, but reversed convictions where mere nudity was involved.

It is clear from the trial court’s comments at the sentencing hearing that it understood the terms of the plea agreement but made a mistake in its written sentencing order and should issue a new order.

A defendant can request a jury for a trial de novo regardless of whether they requested a jury in the city-court proceeding.