Indiana Court of Appeals coming to Batesville

Kevin Green, Greensburg Daily News, Ind.
·2 min read

Oct. 17—BATESVILLE — The Court of Appeals of Indiana's civics education outreach program, Appeals on Wheels, is coming to Batesville High School at 10 a.m. Thursday, October 20.

The event is open to the public and the audience will have a chance to ask the judges questions about the judiciary following the argument; however, the judges are unable to speak about the specific case.

The program will feature a panel of judges who will hear live, in-person arguments in the case of D.M. vs. The State of Indiana.

Synopsis

At 3:30 a.m. on May 27, 2021, two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officers responded to a report of a disturbance at a gas station in a high-crime area.

The officers arrived and noticed a group walking away from the nearby gas station, some of whom matched the general description of those in the reported disturbance.

D.M. was hiding in the shadows between two buildings and appeared to be attempting to conceal something in his pants. D.M. fled on foot, and after a brief pursuit, the officers detained him and discovered a handgun and several bindles of cocaine on his person.

The State petitioned to have D.M. adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for committing what would be, if committed by an adult, Level 5 felony dealing in cocaine, Level 5 felony cocaine possession, Class A misdemeanor dangerous possession of a firearm, and Class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license.

The juvenile court denied D.M.'s motion to suppress the evidence recovered from his person.

After a fact-finding hearing, the juvenile court found all delinquency allegations true. The juvenile court found that D.M., in committing the instant delinquent acts, had also violated the terms of probation in another case and placed him on probation with a suspended commitment to the Department of Correction.

D.M. contends that the juvenile court erred in determining that the officers had reasonable suspicion to briefly detain him for investigatory purposes pursuant to the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, section 11, of the Indiana Constitution.

This is an appeal from a juvenile delinquency adjudication in the Marion Superior Court.

The Judges

The panel will consist of Chief Judge Cale J. Bradford, Judge Rudolph R. Pyle III and Judge Leanna K. Weissmann.