Articles

Judge who heard Nassar case won’t disqualify herself

A Michigan judge who held an extraordinary hearing before sentencing sports doctor Larry Nassar to prison for sexually assaulting female athletes refused to disqualify herself from the case Friday if higher courts send it back to fix any errors. Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said some of her courtroom comments about Nassar were “perhaps inartful,” but she denied any bias.

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Man gets 60 years in USI student’s slaying

A man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend in southwestern Indiana. Isaiah Hagan was sentenced Thursday for murder, robbery and obstruction of justice convictions in connection with the April 2017 slaying of Halee Rathgeber.

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Judge to hear Nassar’s request that she disqualify herself

A judge who sentenced disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar to prison for molesting girls will hold a hearing on a request that she disqualify herself from his appeal of the sentence. Nassar’s court-appointed appellate lawyers said the judge was biased, citing comments such as saying she would allow someone “to do to him what he did to others” if the constitution allowed.

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Indiana man convicted in double slaying wants 100-year sentence cut

A northeastern Indiana man convicted as a teenager in his mother and stepfather’s 1994 slayings is seeking to have his 100-year sentence shortened. Aaron Brown’s request for post-conviction relief contends court rulings have found that imposing a “de facto life sentence” on a juvenile is improper when their juvenile status isn’t considered.

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Supreme Court remands sentence modification cases after new statute takes effect

The Indiana Supreme Court has remanded two cases that it previously granted transfer to back to the Indiana Court of Appeals for reconsideration in light of a new statute addressing permissible sentence modifications. The cases of State v. Stafford and Rodriguez v. State were sent back to the lower appellate court on Thursday after the 2018 version of Senate Enrolled Act 64 took effect on July 1.

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Nursing home fraud scheme’s ‘CFO’ gets 5 years in prison; lesser player gets 4 months

A federal judge on Monday sentenced Steven Ganote, a key player in the massive American Senior Communities overbilling and and kickback scheme, to five years in prison and ordered him to pay $7 million in restitution. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt also doled out punishment to Joshua Burkhart, sentencing him to four months in prison and ordering him to pay $420,000 in restitution for his role in the scheme.

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COA: Enhanced sentence not fundamental error

A man who sought a second resentencing after his 2003 murder convictions unsuccessfully argued that he was denied fundamental due process rights 15 years after being sentenced for four counts of murder.

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Former nursing home executive handed 57-month prison sentence

Daniel Benson, the former chief operating officer of American Senior Communities, was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in federal prison for his role in a massive kickback scheme at Indiana’s largest chain of nursing homes. Indiana Southern District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced Benson to a 57-month sentence as part of a plea agreement.

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Conour agrees to dismiss third appeal of wire fraud conviction

Convicted fraudster and former Indianapolis attorney William Conour has agreed to dismiss a third appeal of his 10-year federal prison sentence stemming from a 2012 wire fraud conviction for stealing more than $6 million from his personal-injury and wrongful-death clients.

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Fort Wayne crash that killed 73-year-old leads to probation

An 18-year-old Fort Wayne man has been sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty in a crash that killed a 73-year-old man. Liam B. Burke was given his punishment Friday after earlier entering the plea to felony reckless homicide and criminal recklessness and misdemeanor criminal recklessness.

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