I(MPD) SWEAR
The Indiana Supreme Court this morning heard oral arguments in a case where the defendant claimed her January arrest by an IMPD officer was not valid because he was not sworn in when the department was created this year.
Chery Oddi-Smith was arrested for drunk driving back in January, but a Marion County Judge threw out her arrest in August saying the arresting officer had not been properly sworn into the new department.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office argued on behalf of the city, saying the officers did not have to be re-sworn, because their arrest powers transferred with them to the new department. And in the alternative, even if they were not sworn in, they were defacto officers and their arrests were valid.
Oddi-Smith’s attorney Jim Voyles said the law requires officers be sworn in and therefore the arrest violated the Constitution.
Justices peppered both sides with questions, Justice Frank Sullivan drew an analogy to a corporate merger where the new company assumes all assets and liabilities and asked Boyles since he argued the arrest powers would not transfer, if any pending civil rights litigation against the former departments would transfer either?
Justice Robert Rucker wanted to know if any violation of an internal department general order would be grounds for dismissing an arrest.
Both sides did agree that this case would only impact about 100 defendants in the Marion County system, because any challenge made to an officer’s status would have had to been made at the pre-trial hearings and not after a conviction.
It is interesting to note that a number of IMPD homicide detectives took matters into their hands and went and got themselves re-sworn on their own accord out of fear of jeopardizing their cases.
The Supreme Court is expected to return a decision by Christmas.
