Indiana court to hear convicted murderer's appeal

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear a northern Indiana man’s appeal of his conviction in his ex-girlfriend’s fatal shooting.

Twenty-one-year-old Dustin McCowan is serving a 60-year sentence for the September 2011 murder of 19-year-old Amanda Bach of Portage, who was slain during a dispute.

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld McCowan’s conviction and sentence in April, but the state’s high court announced Monday it would hear his appeal.

The Times of Munster reports (https://bit.ly/1q6eFnk ) McCowan’s appeal will likely focus on the admissibility of cellphone records purportedly showing McCowan at sites near where Bach’s car and body were found.

He’s also expected to challenge a Porter County judge’s alleged bias in the case and refusal to provide jurors with McCowan’s preferred instruction on a criminal defendant’s presumption of innocence.

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Information from: The Times, https://www.thetimesonline.com