Courts

Indiana’s highest jurists today questioned attorneys about whether any arresting authority exists for those who didn’t take an official oath for the recently created Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.Justices’ pointed questions go to the heart of State v. Cheryl Oddi-Smith, 49A05-0708-CR-445, a drunk driving case that Marion Superior Judge Rueben Hill ruled on in early August, throwing out a woman’s arrest because of the oath-taking issue. The Indiana Attorney General’s office filed a petition in August to appeal the case directly to…

The federal constitutional right to self-representation requires a defendant who is competent to stand trial be allowed to proceed pro se, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled. Justices granted transfer and issued a unanimous decision Thursday afternoon in Ahmad Edwards v. State of Indiana, No. 59S02-0705-CR-202. Justice Theodore Boehm wrote the 10-page opinion summarily affirming the Indiana Court of Appeals’ rationale in a September decision that reversed the convictions for attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon and now means…

The Commission on Courts – the legislative interim study committee that considers issues instrumental in court operations – gathered Tuesday to hear about technological initiatives under way in the state courts and expanding the jurisdiction of courts issuing driver’s licenses because of hardship.Mary DePrez, director and counsel of trial court technology for the Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee, told the commission about new initiatives launched recently on a protective order registry and e-traffic citations, all of which will eventually…

An Indianapolis fast-food restaurant didn’t owe a patron the duty of protecting him from attack just because it had placed a table on the sidewalk outside, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.A three-judge panel issued a decision David Schlotman v. Taza Café, d/b/a Gyro Joint , 49A05-0608-CV-475. The judges heard arguments in the Marion County case May 22.This case addressed whether the carryout restaurant Gyro Joint had a common-law duty to protect patron Scholtman, who was harassed and hit in…

The Supreme Court of the United States has decided against taking two Indiana cases that involve free-speech issues.At its conference last week when the high court decided to examine Indiana’s two-year-old voter identification law, justices also declined to hear James G. Gilles v. Bryan K. Blanchard, et al., 06-1617, and Deborah A. Mayer v. Monroe County Community School Corp., et al., 06-1993. The court posted an order denying the cases Monday.The denials mean the previous decisions from the 7th Circuit Court…

Criminal defendants who plead guilty have the right to make statements in allocution prior to sentencing, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled.The unanimous opinion authored by Justice Robert D. Rucker came late Wednesday in Nicholas Biddinger v. State of Indiana, No. 49S05-0608-CR-305.Biddinger was arrested and charged with various felonies, including murder, in 2004; he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery during the trial in October that year. The agreement provided that parties could argue positions on sentencing, but the executed range could…

The Indiana Court of Appeals will consider a case Tuesday that asks whether a county can establish a special economic development area that includes land a municipality has already started to annex.Arguments are set for 2 p.m. in Brenwick Assoc. et al v. Boone Co. Redevelopment Commission, 06A04-0611-CV-682. The case arose in July 2006, when Whitestown began the process of annexing unincorporated land in Boone County. After the annexation process had started, but before being complete, county officials adopted a resolution…

 A split decision by the Indiana Supreme Court today allows the state to seek the death penalty a third time against a man convicted of shooting a Gary police officer in a robbery gone bad in 1981.The 3-2 decision came late this afternoon with Justices Theodore Boehm and Robert Rucker dissenting in separate opinions. Justice Frank Sullivan authorized the majority’s 22-page opinion. The ruling in State of Indiana v. Zolo Agona Azania, No. 02S03-0508-PD-364 (http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05100701fsj.pdf), reverses a trial court decision and…

An Indiana Court of Appeals panel found itself today determining the legislature’s intent in revising a statute on nonpayment of child support, an issue it describes as having little to no precedent.Though its analysis ended with little answer, the appellate court applied the doctrine of amelioration to conclude a defendant should receive a lower class of felony on nonpayment of about $13,000 in child support from Class C to Class D.The decision released today is Bobby Lee Turner, Jr. v. State…

Don’t expect to be able to use the Indiana Supreme Court Law Library as soon as planned.The library on the second floor of the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis will be completely closed starting today through June 25 for restorative painting, according to librarian Terri Ross. The library has been open intermittently throughout May for an ongoing building-wide heating and air conditioning renovation, she said.Originally, the plan was for closing between April 30 and June 11; now the closing will continue for…