This Halloween the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office will be closely monitoring the residential areas of Vanderburgh County outside of the Evansville City limits. Sheriff’s deputies will be watching for unsafe, mischievous and suspicious activity.  The Sheriff’s Office bicycle patrol will be riding in some of our subdivisions looking for safety issues.

Sheriff Dave Wedding stated, “With great weather predicted, lots of kids will be out in our neighborhoods. Motorists should reduce their speed accordingly and watch for trick-or-treaters in or near the roadway.”

Trick-or-treaters are encouraged to visit the homes of people they know well and stay within their neighborhood. If trick-or-treaters are going to be meeting with friends to trick-or-treat in other areas, parents are encouraged to check the sex offender website for potential sex offenders in those neighborhoods. The sex offender web site for Vanderburgh County and every county in Indiana may be found on our web site at www.vanderburghsheriff.com.

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office will be paying special attention to the neighborhoods in which registered sex offenders live. Registered sex offenders who are on parole will be required to: place a sign on their door indicating that their residence will not be giving out candy, keep their exterior lights off, and display no outdoor Halloween decorations. The Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana Department of Corrections will be making increased random checks on registered sex offenders who are on parole to verify their compliance with all stipulations established for them this weekend.

Sheriff Dave Wedding offered a few additional safety tips to help insure this Halloween is a safe one:

• Motorists should keep a careful eye out for kids who may be difficult to see and may run unexpectedly from in between parked cars and other places.
• Trick-or-treating should be done with adult supervision and in groups.
• Parents, if your trick-or-treaters are old enough to walk the neighborhood on their own, make sure you know their intended route. Provide them with a cell phone and make sure they stay within a familiar area.
• Trick-or-treaters should never enter the home of someone who is not well known to them.
• Costumes that do not include a mask or anything that might obscure the child’s vision are preferable.
• Costumes should be constructed so that children can move easily and not create a tripping hazard.
• Trick-or-treating should be completed before dark. Trick-or-treaters should have light colored/reflective clothing on and have a flashlight.
• Parents should inspect all treats before they are eaten. Anything that is not commercially produced or appears to have had the seal or packaging tampered with should be discarded.
• Homeowners who welcome trick-or-treaters should make sure their homes are well lit and that there are no obstacles to those visiting the home.
• Homeowners should give commercially produced treats, gift certificates or other non-food related items (school pencils, stickers, etc).
• If you find anything or see anything suspicious in nature, report it to the Sheriff’s Office via 911.

The men and women of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office hope everyone has a safe and memorable Halloween this year.

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They met for a graduation ceremony at the American Red Cross on Stockwell Road.

It was standing room only as the graduates earned their badges.

One of them, Mathew Mastison, has firefighting in his blood.

His father and grandfather also were firefighters, and in fact Mathew’s father placed his badge on his uniform.

Mastison had family from as far away as Indianapolis there for his swearing in.

COA Affirms Woman’s Involuntary Commitment Despite Moot Appeal

Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

Although the term of her commitment in an Indiana mental health facility had already expired, the Indiana Court of Appeals chose Thursday to hear a woman’s moot appeal of her commitment and affirm it, writing that the case needed to be heard as a matter of great public importance.

After Dr. Lynnea T. Carder, a mental health professional, testified in August 2015 that J.M. had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, refused to take medicine and had acted belligerently toward the staff of Northeastern Center Inc. and her family, the Steuben Superior Court found that J.M. was gravely disabled by a severe mental illness and ordered that she be committed for no more than 90 days at Northeastern.

J.M. appealed her involuntary commitment, but did so after the 90-day commitment had expired, making her case moot. However, in a Thursday opinion, a panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals wrote that J.M.’s case was one of “great public importance” and, thus, could be addressed on the merits.

In her appeal, J.M. argued that Northeastern failed to present sufficient evidence to support her involuntary commitment by failing to prove that she is dangerous, as is required for involuntary commitment under Indiana statute. The term “dangerous” is defined under the statute as “a condition in which an individual as a result of mental illness presents a substantial risk that the individual will harm the individual or others.”

Because there had been no discussion in court of J.M. making any threats or violent actions, she argued that Northeastern had not proven that she was “dangerous.”

But the Court of Appeals disagreed, writing that Carder’s testimony could cause a reasonable fact-finder to believe that J.M. presented a substantial risk to herself and to other because of her mental illness. Specifically, Carder had testified that J.M. had acted delusional and hallucinatory, had made threats to her family and that her family was scared of J.M. Further, the doctor testified that her patient had made threats to the Northeastern staff.

Thus, the Court of Appeals wrote that the evidence supported J.M.’s involuntary commitment.  The case is In The Matter of the Commitment of J.M., J.M. v. Northeastern Center, Inc., 76A05-1509-MH-1477,

Voter Group Wants Documents Unsealed In Indiana Search

Provided by Indiana Lawyer

A voter mobilization facing an investigation into possible voter registration fraud asked a court Thursday to unseal documents from an Indiana State Police search of its offices, saying it “has been publicly demonized by the highest state officials in Indiana.”

Patriot Majority USA’s attorneys asked a judge to either unseal a search warrant affidavit in the Oct. 4 search of its Indianapolis offices or hold an immediate hearing on its request.

State Police announced Sept. 15 that it had begun investigating in August whether some voter registration applications submitted by Patriot Majority contained elements of fraud, including possible forged signatures. Patriot Majority has said some applications it submitted to county clerk’s offices were missing information, but none were fraudulent, and the group had flagged applications it knew were incomplete.

In its motion filed in Marion County Superior Court, Patriot Majority cites comments by Gov. Mike Pence, who’s Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate; Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson; Pence-appointed State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, among others.

“It would be highly unjust to not release the Affidavit when public officials have refused to provide the facts supporting their reckless conclusory proclamations,” the motion states.

The issue has been highly politicized, with Trump and Pence raising the possibility of a “rigged” election without offering proof. Attorneys for Patriot Majority have asked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division to look into whether the State Police investigation is an attempt to suppress the votes of black residents.

Pence spokesman Matt Lloyd declined to comment Thursday and referred to a statement issued Wednesday by Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry in which Curry asked State Police to “release no further information” on its pending investigation. Curry, a Democrat, appeared to chastise both state officials and Patriot Majority for comments they had made.

“Accusations of fraud or other intentional acts prior to the conclusion of a thorough review by law enforcement and a prosecutor are premature and contrary to the foundational principle of presumed innocence until and unless proven guilty,” Curry said.

“Likewise, reckless assertions by third parties of voter suppression and intimidation are without merit,” he added.

State Police spokesman Capt. Dave Bursten said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation. Lawson’s spokeswoman, Valerie Warycha, also declined comment.

Patriot Majority has said the police search effectively shut down their voter registration efforts a week before Indiana’s voter registration deadline after the group had collected about 45,000 voter registration applications, mostly from black residents. The State Police investigation spans 56 counties.

Linda Pence, an Indianapolis attorney who represents Patriot Majority, said Thursday’s motion “speaks for itself.”

“We hope and expect that this matter will now be handled in a nonpartisan and professional manner moving forward,” she said.