Courts

A Terre Haute newspaper is asking the judge who presided over a libel trial against the paper to set aside the $1.5 million jury verdict. The Tribune-Star Publishing Company Inc., which produces the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, filed its 39-page brief to support a motion to correct errors Aug. 22 in Sullivan Circuit Court.In July, a jury awarded Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Maynard $500,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit against the newspaper, Jeff…

Front-seat passengers in cars must have their seatbelts properly fastened when the car is in motion, meaning the lap belt must be fastened and the shoulder belt across his or her shoulder, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. The appellate court examined Indiana Code Section 9-19-10-2 to come to the conclusion that to avoid being stopped by a police officer for a seatbelt violation, a person must have both the lap and shoulder harnesses fastened and placed properly on the…

The Indiana Court of Appeals late this afternoon has affirmed a preliminary injunction allowing the operation of three early-voting locations in Lake County. In John B. Curley, et al. v. Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, et al., No. 45A03-0810-CV-512, the appellate court held the trial court’s order wasn’t clearly erroneous when the court determined the offices of the Circuit Court Clerk in Hammond, East Chicago, and Gary are not “satellite” offices and that Indiana Code Section 3-11-10-26(a)(1) doesn’t restrict the…

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a defendant’s convictions of child molestation and child exploitation, but it adjusted his sentence after finding a mathematical error by the trial court. In Roy Bennett v. State of Indiana, No. 79A05-0705-CR-240, Bennett appealed his convictions and sentence for two counts of Class D felony child exploitation and three counts of Class C felony child molestation. Bennett’s adopted daughter accused him of sexually molesting her and police searched Bennett’s home, finding several computer discs containing pornographic…

The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned a defendant’s drug conviction because the traffic stop that led to his arrest was unconstitutional; the police officer who pulled the car over didn’t have reasonable suspicion there was criminal activity going on in the car. Damen Holly appealed his conviction of possession of marijuana as a Class A misdemeanor in Damen Holly v. State of Indiana, No. 49A02-0711-CR-930. Holly was pulled over by a police officer after the officer ran a license plate check of…

In a case of first impression, the Indiana Supreme Court held complaints made by current students under a university’s anti-harassment policy are protected by absolute privilege.The Supreme Court granted transfer to Virginia Hartman and Suzanne Swinehart v. Dr. Gabe Keri, No. 02S03-0706-CV-233, to determine whether Hartman and Swinehart’s statements alleging sexual harassment against professor Keri were granted absolute privilege or qualified privilege. Keri was a professor in the education department at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (IPFW), and Hartman and Swinehart…