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Court: Official can take office once bonded

Elected public officials who haven’t secured bond by the date they are to take office can begin their elected position once they have obtained the bond, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals.At issue in Tom Shetler Sr. and Suzan Nicholson v. Linda K. Durham, No. 82A01-0706-CV-273, is whether Durham can hold office as elected trustee of Knight Township even though she failed to secure bond by her official start date. Durham was elected trustee in November 2006 and met with the incumbent…

Plan: protect educators who discipline students

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels wants more legal protection for educators who discipline students to keep order in their schools.A news release issued this morning announced the governor’s plans to work with lawmakers in the coming legislative session to pass a law providing legal immunity for those teachers and school staff members who, in good faith, discipline students. He also wants the Indiana Attorney General’s Office to use its statutory authority to defend any teacher who becomes the target of unreasonable litigation.The…

Court decides 2 disputed land cases

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled on two cases today involving disputed tracts of land on lakefront properties and adverse possession in Kosciusko County. In Daisy Farm Limited Partnership v. Michael and Jill Morrolf, No. 43A04-0707-CV-390, the appellate court reversed the trial court judgment in favor of Michael and Jill Morrolf that a disputed tract of land didn’t pass to Daisy Farm by virtue of adverse possession. Daisy Farm and its predecessors owned the lot adjoining the Morrolfs’ in a neighborhood located…

Convict fights tooth and nail, loses on the tooth

A tooth is considered a “bodily member or organ” within the definition of the state’s aggravated battery statute, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled March 7.Deciding a case of first impression in Derrick C. Smith v. State of Indiana, No. 45A03-0708-CR-357, the appellate court ruled that a Lake Superior judge properly determined that enough evidence existed to support Smith’s conviction under the state’s aggravated battery statute.Incarcerated at the Lake County Jail in August 2006, Smith and another inmate overpowered a jail…

Hearing set in Lake County early-voting case

Special Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider has set a hearing for the consolidated Lake Circuit Court and Lake Superior Court cases involving early-voting sites, according to Indiana Supreme Court spokesperson Kathryn Dolan. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. CDT Oct. 20 in Courtroom 1, 232 Russell St., Hammond. The Indiana Supreme Court appointed Lake Superior Judge Schneider as special judge Thursday to resolve the dispute between the Lake County courts as to whether satellite early-voting sites should be allowed to be…

Court: delayed rape conviction OK

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a defendant’s rape conviction, finding his due process rights weren’t violated when charges were filed in 2005 for a rape that happened nearly 25 years earlier. In Thomas N. Schiro v. State of Indiana, No. 10A01-0701-CR-21, Thomas Schiro appealed his conviction of felony rape, arguing the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss the charges brought against him in 2005 for two rapes that occurred in 1980 and by admitting his written sexual…

Justices find ineffective assistance in case

The Indiana Supreme Court has determined an appellate attorney rendered ineffective assistance in an Evansville kidnapping case that resulted in a police dog being fatally shot 10 years ago.A unanimous court ruled Feb. 27 in Antwain Henley v. State of Indiana, No. 82S05-0701-PC-31, which comes from a Vanderburgh County case at the post-conviction relief stage involving a pro se litigant. The Court of Appeals panel issued a ruling in October 2006, reversing and holding in favor of the defendant Henley, and remanding for a new…

Courts can review public school financing

Hoosier courts have the authority to review the state’s school financing formula to determine whether Indiana is meeting a constitutional requirement to provide a quality public education for all students, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled May 2.A 2-1 ruling from the COA revives the public education financing case of Joseph Bonner, et al. v. Mitch Daniels, et al., No. 49A02-0702-CV-188, which presents an issue of first impression. Nine public school students and their families from eight different school systems throughout the…

Judge penalizes no-show juror

A Lake County criminal court judge took a former juror to task Tuesday for skipping jury duty during a murder trial this spring.Superior Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. found a 20-year-old Cedar Lake resident in contempt of court and sentenced him to three hours in the county jail, as well as ordering him to carry a 24-inch by 24-inch sign saying “I failed to appear for jury duty” from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Monday outside the Crown Point courthouse.That will be a warning…

Court rules on tort claims and wrongful death

The Indiana Supreme Court tackled the issue of the interaction of the statute of limitations provision under the state's Wrongful Death Act and the statute of limitations provision for an underlying substantive tort claim in two opinions released Dec. 24.

Justices: MySpace use not harassment

A teenager’s use of the social networking site MySpace.com didn’t rise to the level of harassment because her expletive-laden postings criticizing her principal about school policy weren’t available to everyone online, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled.In a unanimous ruling late Tuesday afternoon, the state’s five justices agreed to reverse a lower court’s decision in A.B. v. State of Indiana, No. 67S01-0709-JV-373.While the case presented justices with a chance to explore free speech rights as they pertain to online activity in…

Court: Rehabilitation evaluation a must

The Indiana Supreme Court says that before any juvenile can be placed on the state's sex offender registry, a trial court must first evaluate whether that minor has been rehabilitated to determine if there's clear and convincing evidence he or she might re-offend.

Court consolidates Lake County voter cases

The Indiana Supreme Court has stepped in to settle conflicting rulings from two Lake County courts regarding early-voting sites in East Chicago, Gary, and Hammond, deciding that consolidating the cases to proceed in Lake Superior Court is the "most orderly approach."

Judge dismisses prisoner suit

A federal judge in Fort Wayne has dismissed a pro se complaint against a local sheriff and jail officials because it doesn’t adequately state a claim to recover for alleged sexual harassment during a weapons strip search.U.S. District Judge Philip Simon ruled in Nathan W. Romine v. Nick Yoder, et al., No. 1:08-CV-036 PS, which involved a suit from an Adams County Law Enforcement Center inmate. Romine said he was sexually harassed at the jail during a strip search for…

Court split on mother’s battery conviction

In a split decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals, the majority upheld a mother's conviction of battery against her daughter, but one judge felt her conviction had to be overturned in light of a recent Indiana Supreme Court decision.

Judge crosses out cell tower dispute

A federal suit is going back to Jeffersonville to decide whether a wireless carrier can put up a cell tower disguised as a Baptist church cross.U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker Thursday remanded the case Sprint Spectrum v. City of Jeffersonville Board of Zoning Appeals, No. 4:05-cv-00154-SEB-WGH, issuing a final judgment and denying cross-motions for summary judgment from both parties. The nearly three-year-old suit was filed in the Southern District of Indiana New Albany Division.Sprint wanted to build a “stealth facility”…

Courts leave election law questions unanswered

In the days leading up to an Election Day where thousands of Hoosier voters had already cast ballots before polls even opened, Indiana's appellate judges issued a pair of election law rulings that leave more questions than answers and will likely lead to further review.

Grant available for Family Court Project

A one-year grant of up to $40,000 is available to launch a Family Court Project. The grant is an opportunity for county governments to get funding for a project that provides judicial coordination of multiple cases involving the same family. Last year, only two new projects received funding for the 2008 year, so the Indiana Supreme Court had an extra $40,000 to include in the 2009 budget, said Loretta Olesky, Family Court manager. Typically, the grants run on two-year cycles; however,…

Supreme Court grants 2 transfers

The Indiana Supreme Court granted two transfers Sept. 4, including one involving whether a juvenile court can order probation after a juvenile is ordered to commitment in the Department of Correction.

Death penalty film, discussion Thursday

The death penalty is the topic of a film screening and discussion May 22 presented by the Indiana Coalition Acting to Suspend Executions (InCASE), Indiana University School of Law -Indianapolis’ Law Students Against Capital Punishment, and the Independent Film Channel. The film, “At the Death House Door,” is a personal and intimate look at the death penalty in Texas from the perspective of Carroll Pickett, a pastor who served 15 years as the death house chaplain in a Huntsville prison unit and presided…