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Indiana Supreme Court Announces Whether Defendant’s Actions Were “Objectively Reasonable” Justifying Self-Defense Can Be Considered in Hindsight

Article • September 15, 2026 • from PLN October, 2025

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Criminal Procedure, Appealable Issues/Orders

Indiana Supreme Court Announces Whether Defendant’s Actions Were “Objectively Reasonable” Justifying Self-Defense Can Be Considered in Hindsight by Sagi Schwartzberg by Sagi Schwartzberg In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Indiana held that the state’s self-defense statute justifies the use of force necessary for self-protection, even if …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, halfway houses, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fraud and Deceit

News in Brief by Alabama: Elmore County Jail guard Lita Williams, 57, was arrested and charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband on May 21, 2025, the Wetumpka Herald reported. Her arrest followed discovery of a cellphone in a jail cell during a routine search two weeks prior. Data from the …

News in Brief

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

News in Brief by Alabama: Kadarius Shermaine Todd, 28, a new guard still on probationary status at the Madison County Jail, was fired on April 4, 2025, after allegedly attempting to smuggle contraband into the lockup. He was apprehended upon arrival to meet a contact with a package containing Suboxone, …

News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: State Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Arianna Kimberly Slater faces life in prison after she was arrested while attempting to smuggle contraband into Ventress Correctional Facility on February 24, 2025. According to the Birmingham News, a routine employee screening of Slater’s food container found unspecified …

Former Indiana Jailer Walks from Charges Over “Night of Terror”

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prison Rape Elimination Act

Former Indiana Jailer Walks from Charges Over “Night of Terror” by On February 14, 2025, an Indiana judge dismissed charges against a former guard at the Clark County Jail who was accused of selling keys to male detainees who then unlocked cells holding female detainees and raped them. The county …

News in Brief

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Former Crenshaw County Jail Administrator Christian Alexander Porter, 33, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of excessive force, falsifying records and witness tampering on January 28, 2025. According to the Washington Post, the charges stem from an October 2021 incident in which …

Federal Withdrawal of Single-Drug Execution Protocol Follows Challenges in Indiana, Arizona

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: Death Penalty/Death Row, Lethal Injection Method of Execution

Federal Withdrawal of Single-Drug Execution Protocol Follows Challenges in Indiana, Arizona by On January 16, 2025, days before Pres. Donald J. Trump (R) returned to office for a second term, outgoing U.S. Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland withdrew the Department of Justice (DOJ) protocol under which condemned federal prisoners are …

Indiana Resumes Executions

Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025

Filed under: Death Penalty/Death Row, Lethal Injection Method of Execution

Indiana Resumes Executions by On December 18, 2024, Indiana ended a 15-year execution hiatus with a fatal injection of pentobarbital given to state prisoner Joseph Corcoran, 49. Though state law does not provide for journalists to witness executions, Corcoran’s family invited an Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter to join them as …

Nearly $12 Million Paid to Mentally Disabled Indiana Prisoner Wrongly Convicted of Murder

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Prison/Jail Murders, Settlements, Wrongful Conviction

Nearly $12 Million Paid to Mentally Disabled Indiana Prisoner Wrongly Convicted of Murder by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On December 8, 2023, the Indiana city of Elkhart agreed to pay former state prisoner Andrew Royer, then 44, nearly $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed over his wrongful murder …

News in Brief

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Australia: Brisbane Correctional Center prisoner Jack James Peterson, 29, was sentenced to an additional 18 months in January 2023 for assaulting a guard with a squash racket, the Courier reported. Peterson struck the unnamed 34-year-old during a confrontation involving a riot response team, leaving him with …

Guard Pleads Guilty to Using Excessive Force at Indiana Jail Sued Nine Times in Two Years

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas

Guard Pleads Guilty to Using Excessive Force at Indiana Jail Sued Nine Times in Two Years by Entering a guilty plea in federal court for the Southern District of Indiana on October 15, 2024, former Henry County Jail guard Curtis Lavon Doughty, 27, admitted using excessive force against a compliant …

News in Brief

Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Wiregrass Daily News reported that Mobile Metro Jail guard Timothy Lee Scarbrough, 39, was arrested on September 9, 2024, and charged with first-degree sodomy for the alleged sexual assaulting of a detainee who was still under the effects of anesthesia after eye surgery. Scarbrough had …

Former Indiana Guards Sentenced for Stealing Prisoners’ Identities to Launder Cash From Online Romance Scam

Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Money Laundering/Structuring

Former Indiana Guards Sentenced for Stealing Prisoners’ Identities to Launder Cash From Online Romance Scam by Former Indiana Department of Corrections (DOC) guards Lawrence Onyesonwu, 38, and Martins Tochukwu Chidiobi, 34, were sentenced on September 19 and 20, 2024, respectively, to three years in federal prison for stealing state prisoners’ …

News in Brief

Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Former state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Henry Guice, Jr., 46, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison on September 9, 2024, for his role in a drug smuggling conspiracy at Staton Correctional Facility. The Birmingham News reported that a fellow guard was inspecting …

Indiana Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Corruption, County Pays $328,000 to Jail Detainees for “Night of Terror”

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Settlements, Violence Against Women Act, Bribery/Extortion/Theft

Indiana Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Corruption, County Pays $328,000 to Jail Detainees for “Night of Terror” by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In federal court for the Southern District of Indiana on April 11, 2024, Clark County officials agreed to pay $328,000 to settle claims filed by 25 former detainees …

$7.25 Million Paid for Psychotic Detainee’s Suicide After 20 Days in Solitary at Indiana Jail

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: Settlements, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Suicides

$7.25 Million Paid for Psychotic Detainee’s Suicide After 20 Days in Solitary at Indiana Jail by On May 28, 2024, remaining claims were dismissed in federal court for the Southern District of Indiana by the Estate of Joshua McLemore, a psychotic Jackson County Jail detainee who starved himself to death …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: State prisoner Brigido Montoya made the briefest of escapes from the State Prison Complex in Eyman on August 10, 2024, before he was recaptured 48 minutes later by Florence Police, the Florence Reminder & Blade-Tribune reported. The state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 24, 2024, Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith told the Birmingham News that county jail guard Tony Dewayne Jackson, 29, had been arrested for smuggling “non-drug” contraband into the lockup. Jackson was no longer working at the jail, but Smith didn’t say how or …

Indiana Supreme Court Says “Summary Judgment Is Not Summary Trial,” Remanding State Prisoner’s Malpractice Claim to a Jury

Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024

Filed under: Malpractice (Attorneys), Summary Judgment, Resentencing, Remands/Rehearings/Resentencings

Indiana Supreme Court Says “Summary Judgment Is Not Summary Trial,” Remanding State Prisoner’s Malpractice Claim to a Jury by On January 24, 2024, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s ruling and remanded the medical malpractice complaint of state prisoner Edward Zaragoza against Wexford of Indiana LLC, the privately …

“You Are Not Above the Law”: Former Indiana Sheriff Jailed for Contempt of Court

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Embezzlement, Police/Govt Misconduct, Contempt - Civil and Criminal

“You Are Not Above the Law”: Former Indiana Sheriff Jailed for Contempt of Court by A $4.8 million embezzlement scheme involving his wife and daughter. A collection of cars and cigars purchased with the ill-gotten gains. More of the money diverted to a former county councilwoman for child support payments …