Christopher Rodgers v. Ron Neal — 7th Cir. (Sep 29, 2026)

No. 24-1231 Argued September 29, 2026 Published September 30, 2026

The Seventh Circuit hears Christopher Rodgers's challenge to a guilty plea stemming from an attempted robbery in which a man died when Rodgers was seventeen. He pleaded guilty to murder in 2014, and received a fixed forty-five-year sentence; two robbery-related charges were dismissed. After Indiana courts rejected his attempt to undo the plea, he brought a federal habeas challenge. Rodgers says his lawyer wrongly told him forty-five years was the least he could serve, without considering an Indiana law that gave some juveniles prosecuted as adults a chance at a suspended sentence. That option was discretionary, not a guarantee of a shorter sentence. The judges must decide whether counsel's advice was constitutionally deficient and whether knowing of the option would have changed Rodgers's plea decision.

Christopher Rodgers v. Ron Neal (No. 24-1231) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, argued September 29, 2026.

Sources

Argument audio — Seventh Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/sound/external/dab.24-1231.24-1231_09_29_2026.mp3

Argument date and docket — Seventh Circuit:https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/oralArguments/oar.jsp?amonth=09%2F2026&aMonth=List+case%28s%29

Case facts and state post-conviction appeal — Indiana Court of Appeals:https://public.courts.in.gov/Decisions/api/Document/Opinion?Id=Bz1MNjv-I0MaYAGBpLEe8YhLd1X9zm9rorxJS96lmPiuASYsO9t9O1Or0FFtNtA_0

2014 plea and sentence — U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-insd-1_20-cv-02859/pdf/USCOURTS-insd-1_20-cv-02859-0.pdf

Juvenile alternative sentencing — Indiana Code § 31-30-4-2 (2013):https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/2013/title-31/article-30/chapter-4/

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