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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…
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.
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…
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.
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."
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…
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.
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”…
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.
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,…
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.
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…
For the second time this month, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled on media access of CHINS records in a high-profile case involving the death of a child.
The Indiana Supreme Court Feb. 26 granted transfer and dismissed a case involving state officials who violated the law by not following the public bidding process when they attempted to privatize a Fort Wayne development center that housed developmentally disabled adults. In Anita Stuller, et al. v. Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., et al., No. 02A05-0601-CV-22, the high court dismissed the case as moot “because of events that transpired after the appeal was initiated,” according to the order.The development center at issue in the…
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana will conduct a free CLE event next week in New Albany regarding judicial restraint.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted three transfers late last week, including one in which the court will re-examine a 2007 decision involving child support and incarcerated parents.
A newly formed coalition of Indiana University School of Law alumni of the Indianapolis and Bloomington law schools will launch the IU Alumni for International Human Rights Law organization Thursday – Thanksgiving – as "human rights pilgrims" for "active nonviolence."
Indiana Senate assistant majority floor leader and attorney Sen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, is hospitalized and awaiting news from his doctors regarding his health.Ford, 58, was hospitalized Jan. 15 in Fort Wayne and underwent surgery Jan. 18, the same day he and Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, announced they would postpone town hall meetings scheduled for Jan. 19.A four-term senator, Ford represents Senate District 19, which covers Adams, Allen, Blackford, Grant, and Wells counties. He chairs the Technology Subcommittee of the Senate…
Indianapolis defense attorney Robert J. Hill Jr. is poised to be the next top public defender in the state’s largest county.The Marion County Public Defender Agency’s governing board voted March 12 for him to lead the agency after David E. Cook resigns for private practice in mid-April. Cook notified the nine-member board of his decision in December to leave the office after 13 years at the helm, setting in motion a search for his successor.To help facilitate the transition, Cook agreed today to…
A Terre Haute newspaper is asking the judge who presided over a libel trial against the paper to set aside the $1.5 million jury verdict. The Tribune-Star Publishing Company Inc., which produces the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, filed its 39-page brief to support a motion to correct errors Aug. 22 in Sullivan Circuit Court.In July, a jury awarded Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Maynard $500,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit against the newspaper, Jeff…