Holcomb appoints DeBoer to fill coming Porter Circuit vacancy
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed a magistrate judge and former deputy prosecutor to a judicial vacancy in the Porter Circuit Court, his office announced Wednesday.
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Tech company stockholders’ $3.1M award in earnout dispute upheld
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed a more than $3 million award to stockholders of a technology company in a purchase agreement dispute.
New Albany lawyer agrees to probation, will pay $15K for shoddy accounting
A southern Indiana lawyer who for a decade mismanaged his firm’s trust accounts has agreed to a probationary period of at least three years, staying a nearly six-month suspension, under terms of an attorney discipline agreement approved Wednesday by the Indiana Supreme Court. The attorney also agreed to pay more than $15,000 in costs to the disciplinary commission and court.
Reversal: New crime exception nulls ‘taint’ on traffic stop
The grant of a motion to suppress an allegedly unconstitutional traffic stop has been overturned, though the Indiana Court of Appeals did not reach the constitutional question in reversing the trial court.
Tax Court grants judgment to real estate company in withholding dispute
The Indiana Tax Court has granted summary judgment to a real estate company after finding it was entitled to a refund of money levied out of its bank account by the Indiana State Department of Revenue.
Jacobs apologizes for Indianapolis shooting, says he ‘nearly lost’ everything
As he prepares to begin a 30-day, unpaid suspension, Clark Circuit Judge Bradley Jacobs is publicly apologizing for the first time for a night of drinking that led to him being critically wounded in a downtown Indianapolis shooting.
Probation revocation following positive drug tests affirmed
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the revocation of a Kentucky man’s previously suspended sentence for an Indiana conviction after he admitted to violating his probation when he tested positive for illegal substances.
COA rules for law firm in unpaid fee dispute
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed judgment for a Fort Wayne law firm after one of its clients refused to pay attorney fees she found to be unreasonable.
New trial ordered for man denied counsel in criminal case
A man who asked for legal counsel that was not appointed in his misdemeanor invasion of privacy case will get a new trial, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
US Supreme Court denies former Kentucky judge’s petition
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request by a former Kentucky judge to delay an ethics case against her. The judge faced potential removal for attempting to help her ex-husband after his 2017 arrest on drug possession charges. She has been charged with forgery and records tampering.
Supreme Court weighs whether Mexican family can sue in US
The Supreme Court’s left-leaning justices on Tuesday appeared willing to allow a lawsuit filed by the parents of a Mexican teenager shot over the border by an American agent, but the case will depend on whether they can persuade a conservative colleague to join them.
Honoring the honorable: Marshall added, Dred Scott author removed from Southern District mural
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, arguably best known for authoring the notorious 1857 majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sanford, used to be featured in an Indiana Southern District Court mural. But his name was recently replaced with “Marshall,” representing longest-serving Chief Justice John Marshall and Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, the court’s first African-American justice.
SCOTUS calendar includes multiple immigration issues
As the nation gears up for the 2020 presidential election, the United States Supreme Court is preparing to review some of the most controversial elements of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
‘Incredibly lucky breaks’: Massa recalls going from journalist to justice
Indiana Supreme Court Justice Mark Massa didn’t follow a traditional path into the law, but he says a series of “incredibly lucky breaks” propelled him forward in the profession.
Help renewed for Hoosiers facing loss of their home
The Indiana Supreme Court is working to help troubled homebuyers, and possibly prevent another flood of empty houses, by relaunching the Mortgage Foreclosure Trial Court Assistance Project. A $115,000 grant from the Indiana Bar Foundation will provide funding to pay for facilitators to work with borrowers and lenders to try to get them to reach an agreement that will avert a foreclosure.
Van Tyle: Working with vulnerable immigrant populations amid change
For good or for bad, immigration policy can often change day-to-day. Rules and regulations recently have been introduced, only to be temporarily halted by injunction days before implementation.
Stafford: Justices can’t kick Indiana’s civil forfeiture addiction
The term “excessive fine” is understandable. Unless you are a member of the Indiana Supreme Court. Then, in the context of civil asset forfeiture, the term becomes an enigma to be parsed in three dozen pages of ridiculous legal logic that even one of the five justices confessed he could not comprehend.
Parrish: Students find clerkships in smaller counties rewarding
This summer’s Rural Justice Initiativesought to expose students who are committed to public service to different facets of rural and smaller-city practice while helping trial court judges with their heavy workloads in counties where that help is needed most. The goal was to underscore to students the benefits of clerking after graduation, to help improve access to courts and expand legal services, and to inspire some students to consider pursuing careers in rural Indiana.
Justices answer juvenile ineffective assistance of counsel question
Indiana Supreme Court justices have affirmed the placement of a teenage boy in the Indiana Department of Correction, finding he was not provided ineffective assistance of counsel.
Justices steer defective dump-truck suit back to trial court
A lawsuit alleging an Indianapolis manufacturer delivered dozens of defective dump trucks in 2005 has taken a U-turn back to the trial court after the Indiana Supreme Court found it could not grant summary judgment sought by the truck builder in litigation brought against it by the truck buyers.