On Monday, July 9, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his nominee to replace the retiring Justice Kennedy, who announced he would retire at the end of July. The highly-politicized issues (abortion, gun regulation, religion, separation of power) have made all headlines since Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination announcement.

Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defender Council Larry Landis celebrated his retirement at a dinner hosted by Court of Appeals Judge Melissa May and Lawrence County Chief Public Defender David Shircliff on July 12, 2018. Landis devoted 41 years to indigent defense, and his advocacy dramatically shaped Indiana's landscape for indigent defense. 

It will be interesting to keep an eye on the use of genealogy websites in criminal investigations and how geneticists and users respond. Much like the Apple debate on whether or not they have to comply with orders to unlock a suspect’s phone, our ever-growing technology is impacting our criminal world and raising privacy and constitutional concerns among the masses.

The Indiana State Police is rolling out STRmix, a new software to analyze DNA evidence containing possibly multiple contributors. ISP began to utilize the program in November.  

Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in Carpenter v.  United  States that police must obtain a search warrant in order to get access to cellphone location information during a criminal investigation of an individual. Chief Justice Roberts found this is a kind of surveillance that the framers of the Constitution did not want to occur without a search warrant.  

The Indiana Court of Appeals (COA) has issued two recent opinions that change things in the world of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated (OVWIs; they’re sometimes known as Driving Under the Influence or DUIs) and Maintaining a Common Nuisance (MCN) in a vehicle. In short, Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) examinations now require a Pirtle advisement, and MCN in a vehicle requires proof that it has happened at least twice.​

Advocates of the Fourth Amendment were recently victorious recently when in an 8-1 ruling the Supreme Court extended privacy protections to warrantless vehicular searches by Police to include the curtilage of a property owner. 

The horror of yet another school shooting occurring at our front door was inevitable. Parkland, Florida. Santa Fe, Texas. And now Noblesville, Indiana. The numbing reality is obvious -- no community is immune.

There's a gulf between what advocates want and what really happens to lawyers accused of domestic violence and misdemeanor assault.

The Office of Judicial Administration recently proposed amendments to Criminal Rule 2.1 and Trial Rule 3.1 that would require cell phone numbers to be included on appearances. The Indianapolis Bar Association surveyed attorney members on this change and subsequently, through the association's board of directors, submitted comment on the proposed amendments to the Indiana Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure