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The top public defender in Marion County said he wasn’t forced to leave the agency for any reason, though he does worry that politics could play into the naming of his successor.Indiana Lawyer put the question to David E. Cook after reading a posting on Ruth’s Blog, a Web log devoted to news and commentary. The posting claimed that Cook was forced from his job for political reasons.While Cook is cognizant that his position is a political one and attempts have…
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer Thursday to a case in which judges were split on the duty a hospital owed to patients to prevent possible harm by refusing to release them to a suspected abuser.The high court agreed to take Ava McSwane and Danielle Hays v. Bloomington Hospital and Healthcare System and Jean M. Eelma, M.D., No. 53A04-0705-CV-243, to decide what duty Bloomington Hospital owed to Ava McSwane’s daughter, Malia Vandeneede, once it suspected Vandeneede came to the hospital with injuries…
The Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the revocation of a man's probation but disagreed as to the manner in which the appellate court was authorized to do so.
The Indiana Court of Appeals found a trial court committed a reversible error when it instructed a jury that Indiana law has a rebuttable presumption that children ages 7 through 14 can't be found contributorily negligent. The ruling came in a suit against a school for the death of a student.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer with opinion to two cases today and granted transfer to another, which it remanded to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The Indiana Supreme Court has granted transfer in a case to determine whether a defendant’s convictions were unfairly affected by taped interviews played at trial. In Brian Tyler v. State of Indiana, No. 69A04-0702-CR-120, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld Tyler’s convictions of vicarious sexual gratification and two counts of felony child molesting, as well as finding his sentence was appropriate. Tyler had exposed himself to five children in his care and touched one of the young girls. He also had the…
Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard will give his annual State of the Judiciary address Wednesday.Next week will mark the 21st time Chief Justice Shepard will give the address since assuming the court’s top position in 1987, two years after joining the appellate court. The hour-long annual address starts at 1:30 p.m. in the chambers of the Indiana House of Representatives in Indianapolis.His address typically includes a discussion of the state courts’ ongoing projects, accomplishments in the past year, and future…
Allen Circuit Judge Thomas J. Felts pleaded guilty today in Marion Superior Court to operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a misdemeanor. Marion Superior Judge William Nelson sentenced the judge to one year probation and suspended his driver’s license for 90 days, starting tomorrow. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office asked the judge to immediately suspend Judge Felt’s driver’s license, but Judge Nelson allowed for a one-day delay so that Judge Felts could drive home to Allen County, said Marion County Prosecutor’s…
The Indiana Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal by an election board and political candidates who challenged a candidate’s ability to run as an Independent because the candidate had already lost in the election when the appeal finally made it before the appellate court. The appeal, Lake County Board of Elections and Registrations, Myrna Maldonado, Richard Medina, and Juda Parks v. Anthony Copeland, No. 45A04-0710-CV-560, came before the Court of Appeals after the November 2007 election because of an error in the…
The circumstances that led to two siblings being deemed as children in need of services and the media attention their family received don't justify the trial court allowing the media access to the children's CHINS records, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.
Footnotes in at least two recent Indiana Court of Appeals decisions show how the appellate court sees state statutes governing the authority master commissioners have in carrying out trial court business.In a published opinion issued today in Denia Baniaga v. State of Indiana, No. 49A04-0801-CR-21, the three-judge panel led by Chief Judge John G. Baker attached a footnote to the first page of the case from Marion Superior Judge Steven Eichholtz and Master Commissioner Patrick Murphy. The master commissioner heard the…
Criminal defendants can waive their right to appeal a trial court’s sentencing decision as part of a plea agreement, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled today.In a unanimous ruling in Timothy Ray Creech v. State of Indiana, No. 35S02-0709-CR-376, justices affirmed a decision from Huntington Circuit Judge Thomas M. Hakes.The case stems from a six-year executed sentence on a child-molesting charge in 2006; Creech had entered a plea agreement that left the sentence up to the trial judge but capped the executed portion…
The Indiana Supreme Court reversed a defendant’s conviction of voluntary manslaughter after ruling the trial court erred by instructing the jury about voluntary manslaughter in the absence of evidence of sudden heat. In Andrew Lee Watts v. State of Indiana, No. 45S03-0611-CR-452, Watts appealed his conviction of voluntary manslaughter following a jury trial. The state charged Watts with murder following a tavern shooting, but also had the jury instructed on the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter. At trial, Watts requested jury instructions…
The five Indiana judges up for retention this November have received overwhelming support from Indiana State Bar Association members. The ISBA poll shows no judge or justice received less than 83 percent of "yes" votes for retention.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer Dec. 16 to a post-conviction case and remanded it to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Indiana became the first state to adopt the updated Great Lakes Compact Thursday. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed SEA 45, which implements added protections on Great Lakes water through the multi-state agreement. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact was first developed more than five years ago and ensures that authority over water uses from the Great Lakes stays in the region. It also provides that economic development will be fostered through sustainable use and management of the waters and that…
A broker who breaches his fiduciary duty to disclose material information to a client loses the right to collect a commission for his services, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled today. The high court unanimously reversed a trial court decision finding that although a broker breached his fiduciary duty to his client, his commission shouldn’t be revoked and be repaid to his client.In Tonda Beth Nichols v. Rex David Minnick and R. David Minnick Inc. d/b/a Commercial Properties, No. 53S01-0711-CV-515, Nichols sued Minnick…
The Indiana Supreme Court this afternoon honored 15 employees who have spent 10 to 30 years working in the judicial branch. It's a tradition for the high court to honor the long-serving employees of the courts with a plaque commemorating their loyalty.
We’d like to see the average voter know more about our appellate courts.
A prior drunk-driving conviction – reached pursuant to a state statute now repealed and recodified in a newer law – can be used in determining a person's sentence, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.