The nation's highest court hasn't yet ruled on an East Chicago case involving money laundering, but that could be because justices are waiting to hear a similar case before making a decision.Indianapolis attorney Todd Vare with Barnes & Thornburg argued before the Supreme Court of the United States Oct. 3, but so far the court hasn't issued a decision on U.S. v. Efrain Santos, No. 06-1005.Ten of the 14 cases argued that month have been ruled on, as well as other...

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that a state may require a criminal defendant who suffers from a mental illness to have a lawyer rather than allowing that person to act as his or her own defense counsel, even when the individual is competent to be tried.Vacating an Indiana Supreme Court ruling from more than a year ago, the nation's highest court today issued its 7-2 ruling in Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards, No. 07-208. Justices remanded the case to Marion Superior Court...

A deputy Allen County prosecutor died suddenly March 16 after a short illness. John William Archer was 58. Archer, a lifelong Hoosier, was born in Hartford City and earned his bachelor's degree at Wabash College. He earned his J.D. at Valparaiso University School of Law. He spent 20 years in the Allen County Prosecutor's Office and served as section head of the misdemeanor court. Prior to that, he owned Ruby Red Hot Records, a reflection of his love of music. He is survived...

An Indianapolis personal injury lawyer will spend time in prison for committing tax fraud by underreporting his income.U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney of the Southern District's Indianapolis Division sentenced Robert E. Lehman to eight months in prison and six months of home detention after he pleaded guilty to making a false federal income tax return.Lehman filed false personal income tax returns with the IRS in 2002, 2003, and 2004, by understating his business income. When he paid his clients from...

Business is going on as usual this morning for the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana, despite a historic moment that's happened in the court.The U.S. Senate voted unanimously about 5 p.m. Thursday to confirm Magistrate Judge William T. Lawrence as a federal judge, meaning he'll be the Southern District's first-ever magistrate to be elevated to the constitutionally established Article III judge status.Senators took a break from discussion on wiretapping to talk about judicial nominations, and held a roll-call vote...

A Marion County public defender faces felony charges after being arrested Sunday following an undercover child sex sting by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.Ryan Snyder, 29, was arrested about noon on the south side of Indianapolis, according to a police report. He is accused of using the Internet to set up a meeting with a 15-year-old girl for sex, the report said. A detective posed as the teenager and arrested him, as well as another man during the weekend sting. Police...

A federal jury decided in less than three hours that a former Ball State University police officer isn't liable in the fatal shooting of a drunken, unarmed student four years ago.An eight-person jury returned Monday evening with a verdict in about 2 ½ hours, after hearing 10 days of arguments and testimony in the case of McKinney v. Robert Duplain in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. Jurors determined that Duplain wasn't liable for Michael McKinney's death.More than 50 people - mostly...

The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer Wednesday in a case involving environmental cleanup costs and which party would be liable to incur those costs. At issue in Dreaded Inc., v. St. Paul Guardian Insurance Co., et al., No. 49A02-0701-CV-78, is whether St. Paul is liable for environmental cleanup defense costs incurred prior to receiving notice of potential liability from Dreaded about an environmental claim. Dreaded received a claim letter in 2000 from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management demanding the company do...

Defendants are entitled to fair trials, not perfect ones, and the imperfections of one defendant's trial didn't deprive him of a fair trial, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals. The court upheld the murder conviction of John Myers II, who was convicted two years ago of killing IU student Jill Behrman in 2000. Authoring Judge Cale Bradford wrote in the 44-page opinion, John R. Myers II v. State of Indiana, No. 55A05-0703-CR-148, the court acknowledges there were certain discrete imperfections at Myers'...

Geography is the main sticking point that has split the Indiana Supreme Court on determining reasonableness of non-compete covenants as they relate to physicians and medical practices.With its 3-2 ruling March 11 in Central Indiana Podiatry v. Kenneth Krueger, Meridian Health Group PC, No. 29S05-0706-CV-256, the court held that employment contracts between doctors and medical practice groups don't absolutely go against public policy and are enforceable if written reasonably.But views on what's "geographically reasonable" in the latter part of the holding is what...

Relying on caselaw from the 19th century, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a trial court's decision to dismiss a battery charge against a teacher for striking a student in gym class. Judges Patricia Riley and Melissa May agreed with the trial court in State of Indiana v. Paula J. Fettig, No. 49A02-0709-CR-807, that gym teacher Fettig was protected from prosecution because state statute gives authority to school personnel to discipline students. Citing Indiana Code Sections 20-33-8-8(b) and 20-33-8-9, Judge Riley wrote...

The three-judge panel of L. Mark Bailey, Cale Bradford, and Melissa May travel to southern Indiana to hear arguments before the Sherman Minton Inns of Court in Jeffersonville on April 9. The judges will hear the case Indiana Department of Natural Resources v. Lake George Cottagers Association, No.76A03-0708-CV-381, at 5:30 p.m. at the banquet hall Kye's I, 500 Missouri Ave., Jeffersonville. At issue is who owns the land beneath a dam - the state or the Cottagers Association - and who...

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order granting a husband relief from judgment because the order modified the parties' original property settlement, which wasn't allowed under Indiana Statute or Trial Rule 60(B). In Janet L. Dillard v. Donald S. Dillard, No. 36A01-0712-CV-606, Donald Dillard filed for divorce from his wife, Janet Dillard, in July 2006. The parties agreed in December 2006 to a property settlement, which stipulated the marital home would be sold and Donald would receive 25 percent...

The Indiana Court of Appeals will hear arguments in Valparaiso Monday in a case involving an automobile accident and the statute of limitations to amend a complaint.The panel of Judges John Sharpnack, Nancy Vaidik, and Michael Barnes will be asked to decide in Tim Sinks v. Krista L. Caughey, 49A04-0709-CV-502, whether the trial court erred in denying Sinks' motion to dismiss and allowing Caughey to amend her complaint. Caughey was rear-ended by a pickup truck, and she relied on the information...

More than a year after hearing arguments in a Carmel mining-regulation case, the Indiana Supreme Court decided Thursday that municipalities can regulate mining and don't have to rely on a zoning process to do so.The unanimous decision came in City of Carmel v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., No. 29S04-0611-CV-469. Justice Frank Sullivan authored the ruling in Carmel's favor after considering the validity of a 2005 city ordinance exerting control over the 50-year-old mining operation by regulating issues such as the mine's hours...

The Indiana Court of Appeals today affirmed summary judgment for the city of Hammond, where an attorney who practices law there contested an ordinance that would charge a fee to have a business license. The lawyer claimed the fee was tantamount to a tax.In the opinion, David Paul Allen v. City of Hammond, 45A03-0708-CV-372, it states that on July 28, 2005, Allen filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against the city to invalidate the ordinance requiring businesses to have a license....

The Indiana Supreme Court has suspended Marion Superior Judge Grant Hawkins from the bench until the court is able to decide his final penalty resulting from a disciplinary action against him.Justices issued an order this afternoon suspending Judge Hawkins with pay, effective today. A second order appoints Indianapolis attorney James Osborn as judge pro tempore until justices issue a final resolution. Osborn was elected this year as a new Marion Superior judge and is slated to take the bench in January.This is the...

The U.S. Senate is about to vote on whether a federal magistrate in Indianapolis will be elevated to a constitutionally established judgeship. The senators started to voted after 4:30 p.m. Around 4:15 p.m. the senators started discussing the nominees in executive session. The session can last up to an hour, after which they will come back for a public confirmation vote. Just before 4 p.m., the U.S. Senate took a break from discussion on wiretapping to move on judicial nominations. A unanimous confirmation appeared on...

Harold D. Buntin is a focal point of the judicial misconduct investigation into a Marion Superior Court judge and his part-time commissioner, but the Indianapolis man could be just the tip of the iceberg for what's been happening in that criminal court.The nearly dozen charges brought separately Wednesday against Marion Superior Judge Grant W. Hawkins and Master Commissioner Nancy L. Broyles, both assigned to Criminal Court 5 since January 2001, not only deal with a single case of possible wrongdoing but...

Construction is set to begin this summer on the new federal courthouse in Terre Haute. The project is expected to be complete by summer 2009. The new courthouse will have 14,000 square feet of rentable space and will house the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District, clerks' offices for both courts, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District, U.S. Probation Office, and U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. General Services Administration spokesperson David...

A former Marion Superior judge and deputy prosecutor died May 2 after a long battle with cancer. Judge John R. "Jack" Barney Jr., 73, also served as a senior judge for Marion Circuit and Superior courts.Judge Barney, an Indianapolis native, earned his law degree from Indiana University School of Law in 1962 and joined his father's law firm, Barney & Hughes, after graduation. He practiced at the firm, which later became Barney & Barney, until 1984. Judge Barney was a Marion...

A Carroll Circuit judge received a public admonition from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications today in lieu of filing formal disciplinary proceedings. Hon. Donald Currie was arrested in December 2007 for public intoxication after a police officer saw the judge outside of his car near Interstate 65 in Boone County. The judge pleaded guilty to the Class B misdemeanor in Boone Circuit Court and is currently serving a one-year probationary sentence in Boone County. According to the public admonition, both...

In an issue that hasn't been decided by Indiana courts, the Court of Appeals ruled that the "rescue doctrine" applies to people who are injured after stopping to help direct traffic after a car accident or other traffic issue. There is no clear answer in Indiana caselaw or other jurisdictions as to whether someone who helps direct traffic is considered a "rescuer" entitled to a rescue doctrine jury instruction, wrote Judge Michael Barnes in Star Transport, Inc. and Jeffrey Cottingham v. Hervey...

A defendant's appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise a Blakely claim on appeal because raising the issue was outside his counsel's objective prevailing professional norms at the time, ruled a majority of an Indiana Court of Appeals panel today. However, the dissenting judge cited numerous examples of other counsel amending appeals with a Blakely claim during the same time period. In Steven Kendall v. State of Indiana, No. 49A05-0707-PC-391, Kendall appealed the denial of his post-conviction relief petition by...

Police and animal control officers were justified in removing malnourished animals from a property without a warrant, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals today. The court also overturned a Bartholomew County man's convictions of neglect on four dead horses because of lack of evidence they died of neglect.In Terry Baxter v. State of Indiana, No. 03A04-0710-CR-596, Terry Baxter appealed his convictions of four counts of Class D felony failure to properly dispose of a dead animal, and 12 counts of Class...