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Indiana RV makers being sued over hurricane-issued trailers

More than a dozen RV manufacturers that supplied the Federal Emergency Management Agency with trailers following Hurricane Katrina are being sued in federal court in Louisiana, including a handful based in Indiana.A suit filed this week in the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans accuses the manufacturers of using inferior construction materials in a profit-driven rush to build the trailers for the federal government. The 63-page filing includes nearly 50 pages of more than 500 plaintiffs who’ve lived in the…

Court rules on habeas corpus competency case

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a case of first impression today regarding a prisoner’s competency to continue on with habeas corpus proceedings. In its decision, the Circuit Court remanded to the District Court. Circuit Judge Richard Posner wrote the court finds it odd to think that someone who initiates a habeas corpus proceeding can then later freeze it by claiming to be mentally incompetent. That is what Eric Holmes is claming in Eric D. Holmes v. Edwin G….

Supreme Court revises rules, creates new committees

The Indiana Supreme Court has created two new committees to study issues relating to pro se litigants and child advocacy.The Planning Committee on Self-Represented Litigants will provide a long-range strategy for improving access to justice for pro se litigations, including protocols for judges and clerks or general guidance to courts, legal service providers, and public organizations. This group will meet at least four times a year and recommend policy or procedure changes to the Supreme Court.The number of members isn’t outlined,…

First female partner in Evansville wins Greshem Award

The Evansville Bar Association presented Evansville attorney Sheila M. Corcoran with the James Bethel Greshem Award at the bar association’s annual Law Day dinner. Corcoran practices with Berger & Berger in Evansville. The James Bethel Greshem Freedom Award recognizes and honors individuals who have distinguished themselves in activities or careers that have elevated respect for the law, promote freedom, or further the ideals of Law Day. The award’s namesake lived in Evansville from 1901 to 1914 and is believed to have…

Court rules on genetic testing on deceased

The Court of Appeals ruled today that the interests and parties involved in a deceased person’s estate must be represented when an order for genetic testing is given. In the case, In the Matter of the Paternity of C.M.R., a child born out of wedlock, http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/08070701tac.pdf Kari Schenkel brings an interlocutory appeal from the trial court’s order for the genetic testing of her and her two children to determine if Joseph Miller, who is deceased, fathered C.M.R., the child of Jennifer…

High court denies recount issues

The Indiana Supreme Court won’t get involved in a recount challenge to Terre Haute’s mayoral election.Justices voted 5-0 Thursday to deny both a writ of prohibition and writ of mandamus requested by Terre Haute attorney James Bopp Jr., who represents the man who’d won the Nov. 6 mayoral election.Republican Duke Bennett won by 106 votes and was challenging recount petitions filed by incumbent mayor, Democrat Kevin Burke. Bopp argued Burke’s petitions weren’t valid and that Vigo Circuit Judge David Bolk didn’t…

Parents sue over school uniform policy

The newest First Amendment and freedom of expression case is playing out over mandatory school uniforms in Anderson.Parents Scott and Laura Bell filed a suit in Madison Circuit Court on Tuesday against the Anderson Community School Corp., claiming that a policy set to start next month would violate the constitutional right of children for a free education.The dress code, which is similar to those implemented in other Hoosier school districts such as the Indianapolis Public Schools, limits students to black, navy,…

Court grants absolute privilege case

The Indiana Supreme Court will consider whether absolute privilege exists for communications made in the course of official proceedings brought under a university’s anti-harassment policies.The court granted transfer Wednesday in Virginia Hartman and Suzanne Swinehart v. Dr. Gabe Keri , No. 02A03-0603-CV-135, which comes from Allen Superior Judge David Avery.Keri became an assistant professor of education in August 2000 at Indiana University-Purdue University – Fort Wayne and was notified in April 2003 that his contract wouldn’t be renewed because of unsatisfactory…

Court upholds dismissal of battery claim against medical student

An emergency medical technician student sued for battery after incorrectly performing a procedure on a patient did not commit battery, the Indiana Supreme Court has decided.The 5-0 decision came in W. Ruth Mullins and Johnce Mullins, Jr. v. Parkview Hospital, Inc., et al., http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05020701fsj.pdf, No. 02S04-0608-CV-292, reversing a Court of Appeals decision that the student had battered patient Ruth Mullins, who was undergoing a hysterectomy in 2000 at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. During the procedure, the student, LaRea VanHoey, performed…

Justices accept 3 cases this week

The Indiana Supreme Court will consider cases involving payments under the Worker’s Compensation Act and also how to determine whether someone is a sexually violent predator, justices decided this week.Two transfers came Thursday in Christopher Brown, DDS, Inc. v. Decatur County Memorial Hospital, 93A02-0703-EX-236, and Alan C. Jones v. State of Indiana, 61A01-0704-CR-174. Justices also granted another case, Aaron Reid v. State, with an opinion that reduced an Anderson man’s sentence by 20 years in a murder for hire plot.In Brown, the court…

Justices decide on 3 death penalty cases

The Indiana Supreme Court justices have the state’s death penalty system on their minds.Three rulings handed down this week have involved capital cases, including one that sets a new execution date for a condemned inmate. But some of the written rationale shows reluctance on at least two justices’ parts to impose the death sentence.In a ruling dated May 21in Michael Allen Lambert v. State of Indiana http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05210701ad.pdf, No. 18S00-0412-SD-503, the court denied the latest appeal and ordered a new execution date…

COA: Guidant suit to stay in Indiana

The state’s second-highest appeals court is allowing a class-action lawsuit involving Guidant Corp. defibrillators to proceed in Marion County, though the ruling won’t affect similar federal or state suits.A three-judge Indiana Court of Appeals panel ruled Thursday in Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. v. Ryan Terry and Linda Mason, No. 49A04-0704-CV-240, that Terry and Mason could continue a class-action product-liability lawsuit against Guidant over now-recalled defibrillators or pacemakers.Minnesota-based Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., a subsidiary of Guidant, manufactured the devices and wanted to get involved in…

Kids in custody must be read Miranda

Everyone being taken into custody must be advised of the Miranda rule, no matter what age the person is, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals in overturning a nine-year-old child’s adjudication as a delinquent child. In C.L.M. v. State of Indiana, 35A05-0706-JV-342, C.L.M., appealed the ruling that he was a delinquent child for committing what would have constituted as a Class C felony child molestation if it was committed by an adult, arguing he was never read his Miranda rights while being…

ND Law hosts “What is war?”

“What Is War?” is the name and subject of a conference at the Hesburgh Center for International Studies Auditorium at the University of Notre Dame Sept. 14 and 15. The University of Notre Dame Law School, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University are sponsoring the conference. It is free and open to the public.The discussions will feature Gen. Sir Michael Rose (British Forces, retired), and Gen. William…

Court rules on unemployment benefits case

Individuals who voluntarily quit a job in order to take care of a physically disabled relative are not entitled to unemployment benefits, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. In Mildred Whiteside v. Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Unemployment Insurance Review Board and Division of Family & Children, 93A02-0703-EX-229, Whiteside appealed the decision of the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to deny her claim for unemployment benefits, saying the denial was contrary to Indiana law. Whiteside was a…

Judicial free-speech cases dismissed

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, which ruled the “pledges” and “commitments” clauses of Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct were unconstitutional.In Indiana Right to Life, et al. v. Randall T. Shepard, et al., 06-4333, the Circuit Court dismissed Indiana Right to Life’s complaint against the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications and the Indiana Disciplinary Commission that Canon 5A(3)(d)(i) and (ii) is unconstitutional, stating the group had no standing…

Diversity conference addresses issues

The Marion County Bar Association and Indiana Lawyer partnered to raise awareness and provide best practices regarding diversity and inclusion in the legal and business communities during the first Diversity in Practice conference.”Diversity in Practice: Building a Culture of Inclusion” was in Indianapolis Sept. 27 and 28 and featured keynote speakers Edward James Olmos, noted actor/director and civic activist, and Roderick Palmore, executive vice president and general counsel for Sara Lee Corp., as well as educational breakout sessions. Also several individuals…

Construction changes after-hours appeal filings

Anyone making after-hours filings in Indiana’s appeals courts will notice a change in procedure this week.It’s back to the old way, or at least one that closely resembled how the process worked before security measures altered that system earlier this year.Construction started Monday on the east doors of the Indiana Statehouse, which is where the legal community has been allowed to enter after hours for “Rotunda filing” of court documents for the Indiana Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Tax Court….

COA corrects, clarifies issues in taillight case

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05210701mgr.pdfThe Indianapolis law professor who challenged in court the ticket he received for a broken taillight in Fort Wayne petitioned for a rehearing, and the Court of Appeals today issued an opinion that affirms but corrects and clarifies its earlier ruling.On May 21, the COA reversed and remanded Joel Schumm’s case, Schumm v. State, to Allen Superior Court for a new trial. In that opinion, the appellate judges found the trial court improperly denied Schumm’s Baston challenge.Schumm recently petitioned for a rehearing…

Former lottery chief discriminated, suit claims

The Hoosier Lottery’s former corporate general counsel is suing the lottery, claiming she was discriminated against because she is disabled.Janna J. Shisler, a quadriplegic, asserts in the suit that former lottery director Esther Q. Schneider made working conditions so intolerable that she quit. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Schneider lottery director in January 2005. Her successor, Kathryn Densborn, was appointed last December. Lottery spokesman Andrew Reed would not discuss the suit, saying the Lottery doesn’t comment on pending litigation.The suit, filed Sept….