Decades in prison for man who killed Indianapolis clerk
A man who pleaded guilty to killing an Indianapolis store clerk during a robbery in 2014 has been sentenced to 52 years in prison.
Courts
Articles
Allen County commissioners vote to ban swingers clubs
Commissioners in northeastern Indiana’s Allen County have voted to implement rules that would prohibit swingers clubs and other businesses involving live sex acts.
Judge blocks Indiana law banning second-trimester abortion procedure
A federal judge late Friday issued an injunction blocking a new Indiana law from taking effect that would have prohibited the most common procedure used to perform second-trimester abortions. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker’s 53-page order blocks enactment of House Enrolled Act 1211, which she noted banned “an abortion procedure known to medicine as ‘dilation and evacuation’… and referred to by its political opponents as ‘dismemberment abortion.’”
Judicial Qualifications Commission moves to suspend judge charged in Indianapolis shooting
The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications has filed a motion to suspend Clark Circuit Judge Andrew Adams with pay following his Friday indictment on charges related to a downtown Indianapolis shooting he was involved in earlier this year. The commission filed a Notice of Criminal Charges and Request for Suspension seeking Adams’ suspension immediately upon learning of the felony indictment.
Attempted murder conviction vacated for double jeopardy violation
Though there was sufficient evidence to uphold an attempted murder conviction after a Tippecanoe County driveway shooting, the conviction was nevertheless reversed Friday on double jeopardy grounds.
COA: Evidence sufficient for church intimidation conviction
A man’s felony conviction for intimidating members of his former church will stand, but his case has been remanded to clarify he is not permitted to have a firearm during probation.
Man who brutally beat wife loses intimidation, sentence appeal
A Fort Wayne man sentenced to 12 years in prison after he broke his divorcing wife’s jaw in a brutal domestic violence assault, in which he also threatened her with a knife, lost his appeal Friday.
COA upholds denial of guilty plea withdraw in attempted murder case
Two attempted murder convictions entered in a Brown County court will stand after the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with a trial court that the offender did not provide a “fair and just reason” to withdraw his guilty pleas.
Reversal: COA enters judgment for providers in med-mal case
A woman’s medical malpractice claim over a failed femur rod was filed too late and should not have been allowed to proceed, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday, reversing a northern Indiana trial court.
Gambler dad not in contempt over horse saddle dispute
A father ordered to purchase a horse for his daughter in a paternity order cannot be held in contempt for failing to first buy a saddle if he wasn’t held in contempt for failing to buy the horse, an appellate court held Friday.
7th Circuit: Finish Line, resale company’s breach dispute rightly tossed
A shoe resale company couldn’t convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that its contract with Indianapolis-based Finish Line Inc. was breached, or that the language of the parties’ agreement was ambiguous and provided for an extension.
Majority of Indiana justices rule for NIPSCO in rate fight
Asserting in a 3-2 decision that allowing a group of angry industrial ratepayers to prevail could cause the lights to go out and the furnace to switch off, a split Indiana Supreme Court has upheld a utility’s petition to raise customers’ electric bills. The NIPSCO Industrial Group had challenged Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s second […]
Land sale proceeds ordered released in long-running Bloomington dispute
The Monroe Circuit Court’s latest orders in a real estate dispute dating to 2002 were largely affirmed Friday, but the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered the trial court to release proceeds of a land sale that it had been retaining.
Cass County prosecutor elected to lead IPAC board
A new chair has been chosen to lead the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council’s Board of Directors following an election that took place last week.
Applications being taken for PACER review committee
The federal judiciary is seeking members for the new Electronic Public Access (EPA) Public User Group, which is being formed to provide advice and feedback on the court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. Up to 12 individuals will be selected from the legal sector, media, academia, government agencies, the public and other entities that use PACER to serve for two years on the group.
Retired Lake County judge certified as senior judge
The Indiana Supreme Court has certified a new senior judge to serve in Indiana courts.
Divided Supreme Court upholds civil forfeiture reimbursement of law enforcement
The practice of diverting civil forfeiture proceeds away from the Common School Fund to reimburse law enforcement costs is constitutional under Article 8, Section 2 of the Indiana Constitution, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled, answering the longstanding question of whether the constitution requires all forfeiture proceeds to go to the Common School Fund.
Justices: Principal office, not agent location, determines venue
A divided Indiana Supreme Court has determined that an organization’s principal office, not the location of its registered agent, is the appropriate preferred venue. The ruling in similar consolidated medical malpractice cases affirms one trial court and reverses another.
Supreme Court rejects DCS ‘piecemeal litigation’ in CHINS cases
In response to the question of whether the Department of Child Services can file successive CHINS petitions based on evidence available at the time of the original petition — a practice that has drawn ire from the Indiana Court of Appeals — the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that such a practice is barred. However, the specifics of the case the court addressed Thursday did not require reversal.
COA orders hearing, possible release, for man in custody
Under unusual circumstances, the Indiana Court of Appeals is asking the state to explain why a man is in custody after a chain of events stemming from charges upon which he has not been arrested.