Indianapolis real estate attorney Karl Haas dies at 57
Indianapolis commercial real estate attorney Karl Haas died last week at the age of 57, his colleagues announced Monday.
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COA affirms involuntary commitment
A Marion County man must remain in involuntary mental health commitment after the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld findings that he is gravely disabled and a danger to others.
Plaintiff in federal civil forfeiture case loses appeal
A Marion County defendant whose federal lawsuit caused a district court judge to throw out parts of Indiana’s civil forfeiture statute as unconstitutional has lost his appeal of his underlying conviction in state court.
Supreme Court declines to hear malpractice case
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied transfer to a legal malpractice case stemming from the fraudulent actions of now-disgraced Indianapolis attorney William Conour, letting stand a grant of summary judgment to a former Conour associate.
Civic education endowment started in McKinney’s honor
To support its civic education programs, the Indiana Bar Foundation is starting an endowment and will name it after one of the civic education’s biggest cheerleaders – the late Larry McKinney, senior judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Indianapolis mayor eyes anti-crime steps
Indianapolis officials say they’ll continue boosting the size of the city’s police force and expanding support for neighborhood anti-crime efforts in response to a seven-year trend of increasing homicides.
Opioid crisis strains foster system
The case arrives with all the routine of a traffic citation: A baby boy, just 4 days old and exposed to heroin in his mother’s womb, is shuddering through withdrawal in intensive care, his fate now here in a shabby courthouse that hosts a parade of human misery.
Federal Circuit decision nudges patent examiners to be reasonable
Although it only affirms what has been said before, a September decision from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals is nevertheless surging in popularity among inventors and their attorneys because it reminds the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the standard of “broadest reasonable interpretation” for evaluating patent applications does not mean “broadest possible interpretation.”
Holcomb doubles Pence’s 4-year total of pardons in one day
Gov. Eric Holcomb issued six pardons on Nov. 20 — twice the absolutions granted by his predecessor, now-Vice President Mike Pence, during his four years as governor.
COA overturns summary judgment in contract dispute
In the second appeal stemming from a cancelled contract between Lake County and a delinquent tax collector, the Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the county based on its precedent from a previous 2015 decision.
7th Circuit upholds qualified immunity
The Department of Correction’s religious director was entitled to qualified immunity on a complaint alleging he violated two Jewish plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by failing to delay their transfer to a facility that did not offer Jewish group worship services, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
Hill moves to intervene in case restricting local ICE detentions
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has filed a motion to intervene in a federal immigration case after a district court judge entered a consent decree barring the Marion County Sheriff’s Office from detaining illegal immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a warrant or probable cause. The decree implicates the state’s ability to enforce its own statutes, Hill argued, thus creating the need for the state to intervene and file an appeal.
7th Circuit upholds Armed Career Criminal Act sentence
An Indiana man sentenced to 15 years under the Armed Criminal Career Act has lost his appeal of his sentence after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined he met the requirements of three prior violent offenses to warrant the Act’s mandatory 15-year minimum.
Citing civil forfeiture ruling, trial court returns seized property
Nearly four months after a district court judge struck down portions of Indiana’s civil forfeiture statute as unconstitutional, the effects of that decision are now being felt in Indiana’s trial courts, where a judge has ordered the return of seized property pursuant to the district court’s ruling.
COA grants rehearing, but declines to reconsider October opinion
After a granting petitions for rehearing and clarifying its instructions to the trial court on remand, the Indiana Court of Appeals declined Monday to reconsider its original October opinion in an appeal stemming from a series of eight robbery-related charges.
Court upholds sentences for OWI, driving with forfeited privileges
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the sentences imposed on a man convicted of driving while intoxicated and with a forfeited license, finding the man failed to prove his sentence was inappropriate.
South Bend prosecutor looking into untested rape kits
A northern Indiana county prosecutor says he doesn’t know why hundreds of rape kits were not sent away to a crime lab for testing.
Michigan man sentenced for nearly $1M Indiana fraud scheme
A Michigan man has been sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison for a fraud scheme in which authorities say he stole nearly $1 million from people investing in his Indianapolis-based business.
Fraternity appeals school’s decision after hazing probe
A fraternity at the University of Southern Indiana is appealing the school’s decision to withdraw recognition of the organization’s chapter following hazing and alcohol violations.
7th Circuit gives new remand instructions on petition for rehearing
After withdrawing a September opinion to correct an error in remand instructions, a panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has once again ordered a district court judge to partially vacate two men’s child pornography convictions in order to correct a double jeopardy violation.