Indiana Court of Appeals to Hear Oral Argument on Constitutionality of Indiana’s Drug-Induced Homicide Statute

In 2018, in response to the opioid epidemic, the Indiana General Assembly passed a drug-induced homicide (DIH) statute. Essentially, the statute punishes people who manufacture or deal a drug that later results in a user’s death. What makes Indiana’s statute somewhat unique is that it prohibits defendants from raising two defenses. First, the defendant cannot claim he is not responsible for the user’s death where the user voluntarily chose to use the drug. Second, the defendant can still be guilty even where the user had other controlled substances in his system as well at the time of his death.

My client was convicted of dealing what everyone believed was heroin to the decedent, who used the substance along with his prescribed medication. The substance contained fentanyl. In combination with the decedent’s prescription medication, the fentanyl proved to be fatal. My client was found guilty by a jury of drug-induced homicide as a Level 1 felony. He appealed, raising several constitutional claims.

The Court of Appeals of Indiana has scheduled a traveling oral argument in the case, my first oral argument since the pandemic began. Details about the oral argument can be found here.