By Lindsey Ziliak
Pharos-Tribune
—
Charges have been dropped against a teenage burglary suspect who was mistakenly charged in the wrong court.
On Tuesday, 18-year-old Joe Z. Huddleston was arrested and charged with a burglary at a home on 100 North. The charges, however, were dismissed the same day of his first appearance in Cass Superior Court II.
Chief deputy prosecutor Lisa Swaim said the charges should have been filed in juvenile court because Huddleston was a juvenile at the time of the break-in.
The break-in occurred in May 2009 when someone gained entry through a window and stole $30 to $35 from a purse. According to the probable cause affidavit, the crime scene investigator was able to lift latent prints from the window and window frame.
On March 8, crime lab results showed a match between the fingerprints on the window and Huddleston’s fingerprints.
Huddleston was 17 at the time of the break-in, but by the time prosecutors received the crime lab information linking him to the burglary, he was an adult.
Swaim said her office has not yet decided whether to charge Huddleston as a juvenile. She said the investigation into the burglary is ongoing.
• News editor Kevin Lilly contributed to this report.
