Jennifer Nelson

Construction is set to begin this summer on the new federal courthouse in Terre Haute. The project is expected to be complete by summer 2009. The new courthouse will have 14,000 square feet of rentable space and will house the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District, clerks’ offices for both courts, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District, U.S. Probation Office, and U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. General Services Administration spokesperson David…

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order granting a husband relief from judgment because the order modified the parties’ original property settlement, which wasn’t allowed under Indiana Statute or Trial Rule 60(B). In Janet L. Dillard v. Donald S. Dillard, No. 36A01-0712-CV-606, Donald Dillard filed for divorce from his wife, Janet Dillard, in July 2006. The parties agreed in December 2006 to a property settlement, which stipulated the marital home would be sold and Donald would receive 25 percent…

Relying on caselaw from the 19th century, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a trial court’s decision to dismiss a battery charge against a teacher for striking a student in gym class. Judges Patricia Riley and Melissa May agreed with the trial court in State of Indiana v. Paula J. Fettig, No. 49A02-0709-CR-807, that gym teacher Fettig was protected from prosecution because state statute gives authority to school personnel to discipline students. Citing Indiana Code Sections 20-33-8-8(b) and 20-33-8-9, Judge Riley wrote…

Defendants are entitled to fair trials, not perfect ones, and the imperfections of one defendant’s trial didn’t deprive him of a fair trial, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals. The court upheld the murder conviction of John Myers II, who was convicted two years ago of killing IU student Jill Behrman in 2000. Authoring Judge Cale Bradford wrote in the 44-page opinion, John R. Myers II v. State of Indiana, No. 55A05-0703-CR-148, the court acknowledges there were certain discrete imperfections at Myers’…

The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer Wednesday in a case involving environmental cleanup costs and which party would be liable to incur those costs. At issue in Dreaded Inc., v. St. Paul Guardian Insurance Co., et al., No. 49A02-0701-CV-78, is whether St. Paul is liable for environmental cleanup defense costs incurred prior to receiving notice of potential liability from Dreaded about an environmental claim. Dreaded received a claim letter in 2000 from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management demanding the company do…

Statements to police made by a woman who accused a defendant of hitting her should have been admissible during the defendant’s trial, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled April 25.The appellate court determined statements made by Keyona Brooks, in which she said defendant Tracey Lamont Martin struck her in the face while they were fighting in the car before he drove off with her children, should have been considered nontestimonial, and thus admissible at trial.Brooks was not available to testify at Martin’s trial…

The state may not cross-appeal a sentence for an abuse of discretion or inappropriateness unless the defendant appeals his or her sentence in the appellant’s brief, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. The issue of the state filing a cross-appeal of a sentence is a matter of first impression. In Steven McCullough v. State of Indiana, No. 49A02-0711-CR-931, Steven McCullough filed an appeal of his convictions of two counts of criminal confinement, battery, and the finding he was a habitual offender….

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a woman’s appeal following the denial of Social Security benefits because the woman’s attorney failed to file the appeal in time under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.In Janet L. McCarty v. Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, No. 07-2104, Janet McCarty’s application for disability insurance benefits and Supplemental Security Income was denied by the Social Security Administration and an administrative law judge.She appealed to the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of…

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court finding that a mother had a valid excuse for not showing up to a child-support modification hearing because neither she nor her attorney received proper notice of the hearing. In Jason D. Bunch v. Katherine R. Himm, 64A04-0705-CV-262, Bunch and Himm divorced, leaving Bunch with physical custody of their two children. Himm moved from northern Indiana to South Carolina and joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves. Their divorce decree was finalized…