Articles

Judge: Woman can’t keep pet pigs in Anderson

A judge has ruled that a woman can’t keep her three miniature pigs within the city limits of her central Indiana community. Madison Circuit Court Judge George Pancol rejected Lily Harsh’s appeal of a 2017 decision by the Anderson Board of Zoning Appeals to deny her a zoning variance to keep the pet pigs.

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High court rejects request to reinstate murderer Baer’s death sentence

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request by Indiana’s attorney general’s office to reinstate the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a central Indiana woman and her 4-year-old daughter. Monday’s decision leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that threw out Frederick Baer’s death sentence because he had ineffective legal counsel. He’ll now be resentenced by an Indiana court.

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Supreme Court sends bar fees case back for further look

The U.S. Supreme Court is telling a lower court to take another look at a case challenging mandatory fees lawyers pay to a state bar association. The case sent back Monday involves a North Dakota attorney who sued after learning that bar fees were being used to oppose a ballot measure he supported. The justices said the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals should reconsider the case in light of a recent ruling about fees paid to unions, Janus v. AFSCME.

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Drug convictions tossed over suspicionless search

Although caught by Tippecanoe County Community Corrections with his ex-wife in the attic and drugs in the basement, a man had his convictions overturned after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined his consent to warrantless searches did not include suspicionless searches.   

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7th Circuit revives Indiana wine retailer’s challenge to Illinois liquor laws

Finding the arguments needed to be allowed to ferment a little while longer, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has returned a dispute involving an Indiana wine retailer and Illinois’ liquor laws back to the district court for further proceedings. The case, Lebamoff Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. Bruce V. Rauner, et al. and Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois, 17-2495, raises the oft-asked question of how far states can go under the 21st Amendment in regulating alcohol within their borders.

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Carmel spine surgeon wins $112M verdict in royalty battle with Medtronic

Dr. Rick C. Sasso, an Indiana spine surgeon and inventor, has won a sweeping, five-year legal battle against medical-device giant Medtronic, with a jury this week awarding him $112 million in damages. Sasso, president of  Indiana Spine Group, claimed Medtronic had violated a contract by not paying royalties he was due for spinal implants and screw-implant systems he had invented and licensed to the company more than a decade ago.

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Judge strikes lethal injection secrecy law, says lawmakers ‘overstepped’

The Indiana Department of Correction has again lost a suit in which it argues to keep secret the drugs it would use in a lethal injection. The judge in the case extraordinarily outlined how the DOC, the governor’s office, and the Indiana General Assembly appeared to directly undermine her order that the department disclose the drugs it might use in a potential execution.

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Suspended lawyer accused of forgery disciplined again

The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday again suspended from the practice of law a northern Indiana lawyer who is charged with felony forgery and was found to be noncooperative with another Disciplinary Commission investigation of a grievance against her.

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Valpo lawyer suspended 1 day after conviction

The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a Valparaiso attorney who faced multiple criminal charges of violating protective orders and was convicted of one count in a bench trial a day earlier.

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COA affirms possession of tossed firearm by felon

A man convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon after he allegedly tossed a pistol from his car during a police stop failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that the evidence against him was insufficient.

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Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress

In a surprise appearance in a New York courtroom Thursday, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia.

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COA orders judgment for insurer after fatal shooting

An insurance company is under no obligation to defend or indemnify a southern Indiana father whose son shot and killed a man on their property, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled, reversing a trial court order denying summary judgment for the insurer.

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Conviction vacated for man who opened fire over iPad

A man who opened fire in a busy Indianapolis intersection after he claimed he was trying to make a citizen’s arrest of a suspected iPad thief was improperly convicted of one of two charges that may have constituted double jeopardy, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

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