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Court allows relief under Crime Victims Statute

Contract provisions that exempt a party from liability under the Indiana Crime Victims Statute are void when the party violates public policy, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday. In The State Group Industrial (USA) Unlimited v. Murphy & Associates Industrial Services, No. 82A04-0703-CV-158, State Group appealed the trial court judgment denying the company’s request for relief under Indiana Code 34-24-3-1, the Crime Victims Statute. The trial court awarded State Group actual damages, but denied relief under the statute based on a…

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Professor entitled to unemployment benefits

University professors who do not have their fixed-termed contracts renewed after the contract expires are entitled to unemployment benefits because their resulting unemployment isn’t voluntary, ruled the Indiana Supreme Court Tuesday. In Indiana State University v. William C. LaFief, et al., No. 93S02-0801-EX-17, William LaFief was hired by Indiana State University as an assistant professor for one academic year and was reappointed for the following year. After his second academic year at the university, LaFief was told by the school he would…

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Restitution continues beyond probation period

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed today that trial courts must inquire about a defendant’s ability to pay when they order restitution as a condition of probation or a suspended sentence and a restitution obligation continues beyond the end of a probationary period. However, in Jeffrey Pearson v. State of Indiana, No. 45S03-0712-CR-574, the high court affirmed the trial court’s order for Pearson to pay at least $150 a month in restitution as a condition of his probation even though the trial court…

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COA: Offender residency law not OK

The Indiana Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court’s ruling that the state’s law prohibiting violent and child sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or public area where children congregate is unconstitutional.The ruling came in State of Indiana v. Anthony W. Pollard, No. 05A02-0707-CR-640. Judges heard arguments in the case March 31. The state argued that Indiana Code Section 35-42-4-11 was not considered ex post facto law as applied to Pollard, but the appeals court disagreed and…

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Chief public defender delays departure

Expect to see David E. Cook’s face at the Marion County Public Defender Agency a little longer than anticipated.The chief public defender is delaying for a month his departure – originally planned for Feb. 15 – to help make sure the agency has adequate leadership while its board of directors searches for a successor. Cook is stepping down after 12 years as the county’s top public defender to work for immigration firm Gresk & Singleton in Indianapolis.Because the agency needed leadership…

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No summary judgment in mailbox case

The owners of a mailbox struck by a woman's car that left the road inexplicably aren't entitled to summary judgment on the woman's negligence claim, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed today.

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Termination of rights affirmed despite error

A trial court erred when it failed to follow Indiana Code in a termination of parental rights hearing, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. Because the appellate court found the error to be harmless, it affirmed the involuntary termination of a father's parental rights.

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Appeal moot, but attorney fees allowed

The Indiana Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal as moot but awarded the defendant appellate attorney fees and costs because the plaintiff engaged in procedural and substantive bad faith during the appeals process. In Samuel Lesjak v. New England Financial, No. 29A02-0706-CV-499, Lesjak appealed the trial court’s order that he arbitrate a claim filed against him by New England Financial in a forum other than the National Association of Securities Dealers. Lesjak worked for New England Securities as a broker/dealer. He registered…

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SCOTUS set to start term

Next week will be a big one for Indiana in the Supreme Court of the United States.The nation’s highest court will hear six arguments next week, including a much-anticipated and publicized case involving Indiana’s voter identification law, and another state’s case that has Hoosier interest on the constitutionality of lethal injections.On Tuesday, the justices will take on a pair of Indiana cases. The combined cases are Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, No. 07-21, and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, No….

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Court rules on 2 water-related cases

The Indiana Court of Appeals decided two environmental cases today involving issues pertaining to lake levels and the rights lakefront property owners enjoy.In Center Townhouse Corp., et al. v. City of Mishawaka, No. 71A04-0612-CV-707, the court tackled an issue it hasn’t specifically dealt with before and decided not to expand Indiana’s riparian rights, or those privileges extended to waterfront property owners, to include the right of unobstructed view of the water.A group of eight townhome owners brought an inverse condemnation action against…

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School, student settle pledge suit

Within a week of filing a federal lawsuit, a settlement has been reached on a case involving a high school student who was punished for not standing during the Pledge of Allegiance.The Franklin Community School Corp. superintendent said the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has agreed to drop the lawsuit. The school district will pay the student’s $1,000 in attorney fees, clear his school record, and not require participation by standing or any other way during the Pledge of Allegiance…

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SCOTUS denies Vanderburgh County case

The nation’s highest court won’t take a Vanderburgh County case decided last year by the Indiana Supreme Court, which by a split vote reinstated the death sentence for a man convicted of murdering his wife and two young children.At its weekly private conference March 28, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Paul M. McManus v. State of Indiana, No. 07-8435. After ruling in State of Indiana v. Paul M. McManus, No. 82S00-0503-PD-78, June 27, 2007, the Indiana Supreme Court denied a…

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High court overturns confidentiality order

The Indiana Supreme Court today overturned a Marion Superior Court's approval of a "Confidentiality Stipulation and Order," clearing the way for hundreds of documents to be opened and available for public inspection.

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Justices to hear 2 arguments

The Indiana Supreme Court will hear two arguments Thursday morning.At 9 a.m., justices will hear a direct appeal in David Camm v. State, No. 87S00-0612-CR-499, which comes from Warrick Superior Court and involves a former state trooper convicted two years ago of murdering his family.Camm is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole following his second conviction in the September 2000 murders of his wife and their two children, 7-year-old Bradley and 5-year-old Jill, in southern Indiana. The Indiana Court…

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Courts may modify custody upon relocation

Trial courts are not required to order a change in custody upon a parental relocation under a 2006 Indiana statute, the Indiana Supreme Court decided today. The high court ruled trial courts are allowed to modify custody arrangements at their own discretion. In Valerie Raich Baxendale v. Samuel Raich, III, No. 64S05-0709-CV-372, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the Indiana Court of Appeals decision, finding the trial court’s balancing of relevant considerations in granting physical custody of A.R. to Raich was not erroneous….

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