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Thursday, September 01, 2005

Ind. Decisions - Supreme Court frees man jailed for 526 days

"Man jailed for 526 days on murder charge freed" is the headline to this AP story in the Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:

TIPTON, Ind. -- A Westfield man jailed for more than a year on a murder charge was released after the Indiana Supreme Court ruled he had been held longer than state law permits.

Michael Shane Bramley, 28, was released from the Tipton County Jail on his own recognizance Monday, three days after the high court ordered his release.

In its 5-0 decision, the court ruled Bramley had been held without trial longer than allowed by state law. That decision overturned a July ruling by a Tipton Circuit judge who rejected Bramley's request for release.

Bramley appealed that decision, citing a rule that no defendant may be held without trial on a charge for an aggregate period of longer than six months unless the delay was caused by the defendant's motions or congestion on the court calendar.

Bramley had been jailed 526 days since his arrest on Feb. 5, 2004. Delays by the prosecution accounted for at least 193 days of Bramley's jail time, the high court said.

The Supreme Court's order is State ex rel. Michael Bramley v. Tipton Circuit Court (8/26/05).

A somewhat similar story appears today in the South Bend Tribune. Nancy J. Sulok writes:

Criminal charges have been dismissed against a South Bend police officer charged with nine felonies because his case languished too long in the system.

It's unclear exactly who dropped the ball, but most sources indicate the case died because the office of St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak failed to request a special prosecutor.

Cpl. Ronald Johnson had been facing four charges of failure to pay state taxes; four charges of theft; and a charge of corrupt business influence. All nine of the charges, filed in late September 2003, were felonies.

In this case, the problem was:
The bar allegedly had not paid sales tax to the state for the entire year, according to Stephanie McFarland, director of information for the Indiana Department of Revenue, but the five-year statute of limitations had expired for the first eight months. For the same reason, the charges cannot be refiled, she said. "We're disappointed with the outcome,'' McFarland said, because the state felt it had a strong case against Johnson.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 1, 2005 08:06 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions