Allen County seeks to fill upcoming magistrate vacancy
The Allen Superior Court is conducting a statewide search to replace retiring Magistrate Judge Jerry Ummel. The court hopes to have the new magistrate on the bench in late April.
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Marion County small claims court bill passes Senate
A proposal that would leave the long-criticized Marion County township small claims courts intact with modest changes has cleared the Indiana Senate. The bill would raise the limit on disputes from the current $6,000 to $8,000.
COA rules lack of probable cause for warrant makes evidence inadmissible
The Indiana Court of Appeals held Wednesday that a probable cause affidavit allowing police to search the home of a man suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine did not establish a confidential informant’s credibility and lacked probable cause. The majority also concluded that the good-faith exception would not be applicable in David Cartwright’s case.
Inmate entitled to hearing on damages following public records request
A Marion County court should have considered a Department of Correction inmate’s claims for civil penalties and court costs against the DOC instead of dismissing the case after the DOC produced the public records the inmate sought, the Court of Appeals ruled.
COA affirms cutting off mother’s communication with daughter
The court record is replete with evidence supporting a juvenile court’s decision that a teenage girl would be better off if communication and visits with her mother were terminated, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Wednesday. The girl, in foster care, often had detrimental visits with her mother.
Judges rule counsel was not deficient, drug conviction stands
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s conviction of Class D felony possession of marijuana in excess of 30 grams after finding that the claims he wanted his attorney to raise at trial would not have prevailed.
South Bend council urged to stop seeking police recordings
Two of the four South Bend police officers whose telephone recordings are at the center of a police wiretapping case want city council members to end their pursuit of those recordings.
Lawyers arguing mental illness in murder conviction appeal
The Indiana Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal of the conviction of a schizophrenic man serving a life sentence in the death of his mother.
Professor says verdict highlights need for Congress to revisit terrorism law
A historic $218.5 million verdict handed down Feb. 23 against Palestinian organizations for a series of terrorist attacks that killed or injured several U.S. citizens could bring unintended consequences and should cause Congress to reexamine federal terrorism statutes, according to a prominent Indiana legal scholar.
Lease doesn’t bar dentist’s slip-and-fall suit against landlord
A dentist who slipped and fell on a patch of ice outside his office may pursue a negligence and personal-injury lawsuit against his professional corporation’s landlord, the Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday.
Attorney: Settlement reached in parasailing crash lawsuit
An attorney for two Indiana teenagers who were seriously injured in a Florida parasailing crash says a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by one of the victim's parents.
Contingency fees still help to provide access to courts
Twenty-five years later, a plaintiff’s attorney says changes to statutes have impacted awards, but the system remains necessary.
Disciplinary Actions – 2/25/15
Read who’s been suspended or resigned recently from the Indiana bar.
Amended complaint: Marion County inmates held days after release ordered
Released inmates in Indianapolis are subjected to a “standard operating procedure” of re-arrest and being held behind bars – sometimes for days – after being acquitted, freed by a judge or posting bond, alleges an amended federal complaint filed against the Marion County Sheriff’s Department.
Court of Appeals finds no standing post-adoption, suggests legislative remedy
An Indiana appeals court empathized with a grandmother’s situation, but it ruled the law gave the court no choice but to strip her of visitation with her granddaughter, whose mother – the grandmother’s daughter – had died.
Rare emergency suspension issued by Supreme Court
Merrillville attorney Robert E. Stochel spent a few nights in jail after a judge found him in contempt for his evasiveness, but so far he’s avoided criminal charges despite allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients and a former associate.
Bill would let Indiana businesses battle patent trolls in state courts
A bill, authored by Bedford Republican Rep. Eric Koch, would prohibit a person from asserting a bad-faith claim of patent infringement and would enable the Indiana business accused of infringing to seek remedy in state court.
Menard: Toss Hilberts’ attorneys for wrongdoing
Lawyers for Indianapolis power couple Steve and Tomisue Hilbert are slinging “ludicrous allegations” of witness tampering just to cover up their own wrongdoing, according to the latest broadside from the attorneys representing John Menard, the Hilberts’ former business partner.
Council members: Delay justice center decision until after election
The odds the Indianapolis City-County Council will approve plans for a new criminal justice center this year are tanking fast.
Friedlander to resign from Court of Appeals
Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Ezra Friedlander will retire in August, the court announced Monday, about a year-and-a-half before he would have faced mandatory retirement.