Articles

Prosecutor faces ethics sanction for book deal in Camm case

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson should be reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court for a book deal on a high-profile murder case against former Indiana State Trooper David Camm, recommends a hearing officer in Henderson’s discipline case. The hearing officer blasted the conduct of lawyers on both sides of the ethics matter.

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Departing the partner track

Law firms are looking for talent and signing up attorneys who fit clients’ needs in flexible arrangements that eschew the traditional associate-to-partner model. The trend addresses the firms’ needs to contain costs and the desire of many lawyers for more work-life balance.

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City owes man legal fees for ‘meritless, possibly frivolous’ case

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the city’s Office of Corporation Counsel pursued a ‘wholly meritless, possibly frivolous argument’ in a public-records case, the Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The city will pay the legal fees of a man who sued to obtain records after he was denied.

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Appeals panel overturns man’s trespass conviction

An Indianapolis man who had lived with his father with the consent of the senior apartment complex where he resided should not have been convicted of trespass after he was ordered to leave, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in overturning a bench trial verdict.

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Dissent: PO reversal ‘insulates’ domestic violence perpetrators

An ex-husband’s actions that prompted a woman to get a protective order against him did not constitute stalking or threatening behavior sufficient to warrant the court order, the majority of an Indiana Court of Appeals panel ruled Friday. A dissenting judge warned the holding “insulates perpetrators of domestic violence” who threaten friends or associates of former partners.

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Imam, Islamic Society entitled to fees from deposed member

A man who was drummed out of the Islamic Society of Michiana’s board of directors filed a combative, confusing brief demonstrating bad faith when he appealed a trial court’s dismissal of his pro se suit seeking $5.2 million in damages. Now he’s on the hook for damages.

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Inmate suit alleging no water for 10 days proceeds

An inmate who claims corrections officers at Westville Control Unit refused to provide him water for 10 days in December 2015 may proceed with his suit against them alleging cruel and unusual punishment, a federal judge ruled.

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COA splits over earliest, latest possible release dates

Two of three judges on an Indiana Court of Appeals panel urged lawmakers to revisit a requirement that trial courts advise convicts of their earliest and latest possible release dates, but a third judge dismissed the majority’s position that the requirement “imposes an impracticable burden on our trial courts.

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Technology lets lawyers pursue practices with no need to hit ‘print’

The paperless office has been an aspirational goal for many businesses including law firms for years. Advocates point to studies that say going paperless can increase efficiency by 25 to 50 percent and slash a law firm’s budget for paper, printers, printer cartridges and other traditional paperbound office supplies.

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Pro se inmate wins appeal of sentence modification

An inmate’s pro se legal briefs arguing for a modification of his 70-year drug sentence impressed the Indiana Court of Appeals, who granted him another chance to make his case that he deserves leniency as a model prisoner who made the best of his time behind bars.

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Murderer deprived court record gets new shot at relief

A man convicted of killing a female co-worker whose skeletal remains were found in a Johnson County marsh was denied an opportunity to use the court record to plead his counsel was ineffective as he sought post-conviction relief, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

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COA affirms probation revocation

A man failed to persuade the Indiana Court of Appeals that revocation of his probation on a drug charge was barred by the doctrine of res judicata because his placement in community corrections had already been revoked.

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