Articles

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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Lake Circuit asbestos abatement may alter proceedings

The main courtroom for Lake Circuit Court in Crown Point began a four-month asbestos abatement Monday that may change the location of some court dates, Circuit Judge Marissa McDermott announced in a letter to the bar. The courtroom — Room B-203 — will be under construction, which may affect the proceedings of the Lake Circuit and probate courts

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Family questions use of force in arrest of teen at festival

The family of a 15-year-old boy who was arrested at a festival in Hammond says officers used excessive force by restraining the teen on the ground and placing their knees on his back. Hammond police, however, say they did nothing wrong in arresting the boy Wednesday for disorderly conduct while breaking up a fight between two girls at the Festival of the Lakes.

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