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Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill won’t face a civil trial in a lawsuit that accused him of groping four women at a party in 2018.
Former state Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon and former state legislative staffers Gabrielle McLemore Brock, Samantha Lozano and Niki DaSilva dropped their lawsuit on Sunday, canceling a trial that was set to begin the following day.
In a statement to IndyStar, the women said they dropped the case after reaching “the frustrating conclusion that proceeding with the trial cannot provide the relief they sought; namely, Mr. Hill accepting responsibility for his actions and admitting his fault in intentionally touching each of them in a sexual manner without consent.”
Dismissal of the case would appear to bring to a close more than six years of legal entanglements Hill has faced since the women accused him of inappropriately touching them at a party to celebrate the end of the state legislative session in March 2018.
Hill has consistently denied the allegations. In a statement released to Indiana Lawyer, Hill pointed to dismissal of the case as evidence that justice prevails.
“There was no financial settlement. There were no conditions for dismissal,” Hill said in written remarks. “The case against me
was dismissed with prejudice by each of the plaintiffs, thus ending this odyssey of unfounded allegations that have dogged me for nearly seven years and have served as the fuel for political and personal attacks against me.”
Initially, a special prosecutor was assigned to the case and chose not to bring criminal charges. But the Indiana Supreme Court considered a disciplinary commission complaint against Hill in 2020 and found that he had committed battery. It suspended his law license for 30 days.
Hill went on to lose his re-election bid as attorney general that year by failing to win the Republican nomination. In an attempted political comeback, he also sought the Republican nomination for governor this year but placed last among six candidates.
The women told IndyStar on Sunday they were willing to resolve the case without any monetary compensation if Hill apologized and accepted responsibility, but he refused.
“After nearly seven years of navigating legal and systemic obstacles, and despite the Indiana Supreme Court’s express finding that the plaintiffs truthfully and credibly reported actions that constituted unlawful battery by the then Indiana Attorney General, Hill refuses to accept responsibility,” the women said in their written statement. “It is under these unfortunate circumstances that the plaintiffs have decided to protect themselves from further hardship, disruption to their lives, and trauma that the trial would create.”
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