Articles

Three magistrate finalists named for Lake County judgeship

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb will select one of three magistrate judges to fill the vacancy on the Lake Superior Court created when Judge Elizabeth Tavitas was appointed to the Indiana Court of Appeals this summer. The Lake County Judicial Nominating Commission late Tuesday named magistrate judges Lisa A. Berdine, Thomas P. Hallett and Nanette K. Raduenz as finalists to succeed Tavitas in Lake Superior Court 3, family division.

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Lake County lawyers rank judicial candidates

Lake Superior magistrate judges Kathleen Belzeski and Nanette Raduenz are being described by the local legal community as best qualified for the vacancy in Lake Superior Court, family law division.

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Family of victims in Indiana cold case look to TV show for justice

Relatives of two pregnant sisters who were killed decades ago in northwestern Indiana are hoping a television program on the cold case will finally bring justice. The family of the sisters took the case to Lisette Guillen of “Case Files Chicago,” a program that highlights unsolved homicides, violent crimes and missing persons in and around Chicago.

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Private plaintiff taking public access case to SCOTUS?

After a years-long fight, the Indiana Supreme Court in February issued a ruling that affirmed what’s come naturally to generations of Hoosiers: Indiana’s beach on Lake Michigan belongs to the public.
But parties who sued to privatize the beach, whose names are the only plaintiffs listed on filings to the U.S. Supreme Court, don’t own the property. They haven’t for years.

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Indiana father charged with neglect in sons’ drownings

The father of two Indiana boys who drowned in a river has been charged with felony neglect in their deaths after allegedly telling police he had used heroin before taking his sons to the waterway. Eric J. Patillo, 34, was indicted Thursday on two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.

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Justices remove Lake superior judge from retention ballot

The Indiana Supreme Court yanked a Lake Superior Court judge from the Nov. 6 retention ballot following his retirement announcement Friday that came after the court’s office of judicial administration requested a new judge be appointed due to alleged dereliction of duty.

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Prosecutors cite ethics rules to Hill in abortion lawsuit

Three Indiana prosecutors are renewing their calls for Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill to concede on their behalf the merits of lawsuit that blocked a 2018 abortion law and told the AG's staff in an email that Hill is obligated under the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct to follow their directive as his clients. Hill, however, maintains he is authorized to defend the statute on behalf of his "ultimate client:" the people of Indiana.

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Prosecutor: Hobart lawyer shot dead by client

Authorities say a northwestern Indiana attorney was fatally shot at his home by a client. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said Hobart police have arrested a suspect in the shooting death Wednesday morning of 64-year-old T. Edward Page.

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New COA judge Tavitas brings varied experience to appellate bench

Newly-minted Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth Tavitas has done a little bit of everything throughout her legal career. She’s been a prosecutor, a public defender, a private practitioner, a referee, a trial court judge and now, a judge on the state’s second-highest court.

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Judge pro tem appointed in Lake County; Tavitas to join COA

Senior judge Thomas W. Webber Sr., will serve as judge pro tem in Lake Superior Court, Civil Division 3, replacing Judge Elizabeth Tavitas upon her appointment to the Indiana Court of Appeals. Tavitas is scheduled to be sworn in on the appellate bench next week.

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