Courts - The Indiana Lawyer

Man charged in judges’ shooting claims self-defense, says judges were aggressors

February 26, 2020 | IL Staff and Associated Press

The man charged with shooting two southern Indiana judges outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant last year claimed in a Tuesday court filing that he acted in self-defense. The notice of affirmative defense also alleges the judges were the aggressors as alleged gunman Brandon Kaiser and his nephew, Alfredo Vazquez, were stopping to eat at a downtown White Castle, where the shooting took place in the parking lot.

Lawsuit claims former ClearObject owners overstated revenue projections by millions

February 26, 2020 | Anthony Schoettle and Indianapolis Business Journal Staff

The former majority owners of Fishers-based tech firm ClearObject — including high-profile exec John McDonald — have been sued by investors who bought an 80% stake in the company in early 2019.

Dubois Co. couple gets no prison time for caging teenage girl

February 26, 2020 | Associated Press

An Indiana couple accused of locking a teenage girl in a cage and denying her food, water and clean facilities won’t serve any prison time.

Slaughter invites challenges to reviews of agency adjudications

February 25, 2020 | Olivia Covington

A Fulton County man will not be permitted to build a concrete seawall on his lakefront property after the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously denied transfer to his case. But Justice Geoffrey Slaughter wrote separately to invite legal challenges to the system for adjudicating agency legal disputes like the instant case out of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

High court closes courthouse door on slain Mexican teen’s family

February 25, 2020

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 Tuesday to close the courthouse door on the parents of a Mexican teenager who was shot dead over the border by an American agent. The case tested a half-century-old Supreme Court decision that allows people to sue federal officials for constitutional violations.

Justices grant transfer in 4 cases, deny 19 others

February 24, 2020 | IL Staff

The Indiana Supreme Court declined to hear 19 cases out of 23 petitions for transfer last week but agreed to hear cases involving post-conviction relief and termination of parental rights, among others.

DCS, trial court reprimanded in reversal of parental rights termination

February 24, 2020

A father will have his parental rights restored after an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling that reiterated the Department of Child Services does not have the authority to set policy inconsistent with the law.

Justices to hear murderer’s PCR case Thursday

February 24, 2020 | IL Staff

Indiana Supreme Court justices have agreed to hear a man’s petition after an appellate panel reversed a grant of relief from his 141-year prison sentence for murder.

Elkhart judge rejects fatal crash plea, surprising victim’s parents

February 24, 2020 | Associated Press

A northern Indiana judge has rejected a man’s plea agreement in a fatal 2015 car crash, frustrating the victim’s parents, who say they want the long-running case behind them.

CHINS statutory deadline overridden by trial rule

February 21, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

In a case of first impression, the Indiana Supreme Court found a trial rule trumped the CHINS statutory deadline after a mother was first granted a continuance, then moved to have the case dismissed because the court took longer than 120 days to complete the factfinding.

Lawyer’s lie on jury questionnaire prompts retrial in murder case

February 21, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

A lawyer who lied about her criminal history on a jury questionnaire in a murder case has divided an Indiana Court of Appeals panel, which ultimately vacated the murderer’s case for a retrial.

Reversal: Consecutive sentences inappropriate in drug-dealing conspiracy case

February 21, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a man’s consecutive sentences for his conspiracy to commit dealing convictions after determining they were inappropriate.

Justices: Seized evidence must be suppressed in GPS tracker case

February 21, 2020 | Olivia Covington

Though the ruling may result in a drug crime going unpunished, the Indiana Supreme Court has reversed the denial of a motion to suppress evidence, finding a lack of probable cause to support the underlying search warrants.

Justices return for season of big decisions, amid campaign

February 21, 2020 | Associated Press

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to issue campaign-season decisions in the full bloom of spring in cases dealing with President Donald Trump’s tax and other financial records, abortion, LGBT rights, immigration, guns, church-state relations and the environment.

Appeals panel upholds South Bend murder conviction

February 20, 2020 | Dave Stafford

A man convicted of murdering the person he believed was responsible for killing his sister failed to convince a panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals that his conviction was in any way flawed.

Reversal: Ministry’s re-entry program excepted from landlord-tenant statutes

February 20, 2020 | Dave Stafford

A South Bend ministry that provides transitional housing and job training for people re-entering society after incarceration won an appeal against a man who was awarded damages after claiming he was wrongly barred from the property and forced to come up with money to stay at a hotel.

Reversal: Driver at fault in wreck liable for repaired truck’s diminished value

February 19, 2020 | Dave Stafford

A woman whose vehicle rear-ended a pickup truck in a Bloomington wreck is liable for the truck’s diminished value after it was repaired, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a reversal.

COA rejects separation-of-powers argument in probation revocation appeal

February 19, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

A man contesting the revocation of his probation did not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that an Indiana statute violates the separation-of-powers provisions of the Indiana Constitution. The appellate court instead found, based on its own precedent, that the statute is not unconstitutional.

Reversal: Burglary conspiracy expungement petition wrongly dismissed

February 19, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

A man’s petition for expungement of his criminal record for his involvement as a lookout during a residential burglary almost 20 years ago has been reinstated after the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a southeast Indiana trial court erred in dismissing it.

7th Circuit rejects ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal

February 19, 2020 | Olivia Covington

A federal inmate who chose to raise an ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal has lost his bid to overturn his guilty plea, with the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals finding that his strategic decision to raise the issue on direct appeal led to a lack of sufficient evidence.

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