Evidence: Court of Appeals Tackles Text Messages

Earlier this week, the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed as a matter of first impression in Indiana law, whether text messages contained on a cell phone must be authenticated, apart from the authentication of the cell phone itself, before being admitted into evidence.  In Hape v. State, the defendant was convicted of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to deliver and resisting law enforcement, and was found to be a habitual offender.  During trial, the State offered into evidence…

Criminal: Indiana Supreme Court Issues 3 Opinions Tuesday

On Tuesday, the Indiana Supreme Court issued three opinions in appeals from criminal convictions. In Tyler v. State, the Court held that “a party may not introduce testimony via the Protected Person Statute [Indiana Code section 35-37-4-6] if the same person testifies in open court as to the same matters.”  In this case, the defendant was accused of exposing himself to five children whom his girlfriend left him in charge to babysit.  At trial, the State introduced the…

Oral Argument Preview: Week of March 30, 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 At 2 p.m., the Indiana Court of Appeals will hear argument in Daily v. City of Columbus.  At issue in this appeal is the trial court’s order affirming the City’s Board of Zoning Appeals denial of a temporary use application for a  farmers market, finding that the City’s zoning ordinance is violated by, among other things, the property not having sufficient “access and frontage.” At 5 p.m., in the Wynne Courtroom at the Indiana…