Church v. State
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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court declining to allow Defendant, who was charged with several counts of child molesting, from deposing the child victim under the recently-enacted Ind. Code 35-40-5-11.5, which restricts the statutory right of criminal defendants accused of sexual offenses against children to depose prosecution witnesses, holding that there was no error.
In 2020, the State charged Defendant with several counts of child molesting. Before Defendant sought to depose the child victim section 35-40-5-11.5 took effect. The trial court denied Defendant's ensuing motion to depose the child under the statute. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the statute impermissibly conflicted with the Indiana Trial Rules governing the conduct of depositions. The Supreme Court granted transfer and affirmed, holding (1) the statute was not being retroactively applied to Defendant; (2) the statute was not a procedural statute that could conflict with the Trial Rules and it did not violate constitutional separation of powers provisions; and (3) the statute did not violate any of Defendant's state or federal constitutional rights.
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