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IU McKinney Professor Law Shawn Boyne was interviewed by The Indianapolis Star regarding a case before the Indiana Supreme Court.

At issue is whether a prosecutor’s 17 references to ISIS during a trial improperly influenced a jury to find a man guilty of battery. In March, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of Moussa Dahab by a vote of 2-1, citing prosecutor Jennifer Munro’s “drumbeat” of references to the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The references, the court said, constituted prosecutorial misconduct that deliberately and unfairly prejudiced the jury.

In the May 1 Indianapolis Star story, Professor Boyne, a professor at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law and an expert on prosecutorial misconduct, said she agrees with the Appeals Court decision.

She noted that the issue at trial was whether Dahab knowingly or intentionally battered Alsaad and either used a deadly weapon or caused moderate bodily injury.

The Indianapolis Star quoted Professor Boyne: "In order to prove that, you don't have to mention ISIS," Boyne said. "You're supposed to avoid creating unfair prejudice. Sometimes, even if there's value to the evidence, a court might say it's too prejudicial. Here, there was no evidentiary value. The state did not need to bring it up to prove its case."