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Friday, August 26, 2005

Indiana Decisions - Interesting Court of Appeals decision today on waiver of jury trial and applicability of Crawford v. Washington

In John M. Anderson v. State of Indiana (IndCt.App. 8/26/05), Judge Vaidik writes:

Case Summary. John M. Anderson appeals his 1999 conviction following a bench trial for molesting a three-year-old child. Specifically, he contends that he did not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waive his right to a trial by jury. Because the record does not reflect that Anderson affirmatively acted to waive his right to a trial by jury, the waiver is invalid. We therefore vacate Anderson’s conviction and remand this case for a new trial. However, we also address the victim’s out-of-court statements under Crawford v. Washington and Indiana’s Protected Persons Statute because these issues will likely arise on retrial.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 26, 2005 10:24 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions