A minimum-coverage insurance company's policy language that excludes coverage for leased vehicles in certain circumstances isn't contrary to Indiana Code, the Court of Appeals ruled today. In the appeal of Safe Auto Insurance Co. v. Enterprise Leasing Company of Indianapolis, et al., No. 01A02-0712-CV-1120, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Enterprise Leasing on Safe Auto Insurance's complaint for declaratory judgment. Safe Auto filed the complaint arguing its policyholder, Jeffrey Harrison, was not...

The Marion County juvenile detention facility is conducting a nationwide search to find a new superintendent to replace Richard L. Curry, who will join the Indiana Department of Correction at the beginning of September.Earlier this month, Curry was named Indiana Department of Correction director of staff development and training. Curry was appointed the superintendent of the Marion County juvenile detention center in 2007. Curry took over as superintendent at a time when the juvenile detention center experienced numerous issues highlighted in...

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management was correct in interpreting a federal safe drinking water act to mean that a public water system can be composed of separate, unconnected wells serving a larger area together, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.In IDEM v. Construction Management Associates L.L.C. and Hilltop Farms, No. 52A02-0711-CV-994, a three-judge panel reversed a Miami Circuit judge's ruling that the state agency had incorrectly determined that separate, unconnected wells constituted a public water system and required the apartment...

Nine people will soon decide whom they want to see as the next chief public defender for Indiana's largest county.The Marion County Public Defender Agency's board of directors conducted second interviews March 4 with two applicants who want to succeed Chief Public Defender David E. Cook when he leaves the agency. A third had withdrawn his name prior to those interviews, according to board chairman Jimmie McMillian.He declined to release any names and would only say the second interviews "went well." The board...

A federal judge in South Bend is allowing a civil suit to proceed to trial in a case involving a once-controversial school mental-health screening where parents weren't informed.U.S. District Judge James Moody for the Northern District of Indiana issued a 45-page ruling Tuesday in Teresa and Michael Rhoades v. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, et al., No. 3:05-CV-586. The case dates to a St. Joseph County student's suicide in 2003, which spawned the creation of a suicide-prevention pilot program the following year involving...

The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer Thursday to two cases dealing with belated appeals. The high court granted transfer with opinion in Demond Hughes v. State of Indiana, No. 49S04-0802-CR-86. At issue was whether Hughes was allowed to file a belated appeal to challenge the appropriateness of his 40-year concurrent sentence. Hughes pleaded guilty to felony murder and Class A misdemeanor reckless possession of a handgun. Initially, the trial court sentenced Hughes to a 50-year concurrent sentence, with five years suspended. Hughes...

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a former Lake County Recorder's convictions of extortion, but remanded so that his sentence could be revised because the District Court placed too much weight on following the sentencing guidelines.In United States of America v. Morris Carter, No. 06-2412, Morris Carter challenged his three convictions and sentence of 51 months of incarceration on extortion charges. Carter was found guilty of violating the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 1951(a) while he was still county recorder....

It was bad enough that Cecilia Means had to watch as her grandmother's casket was pulled from a waterlogged gravesite where it had been buried for 17 years. On that day in March 2007, the southeast Indiana woman stood covering her mouth and sobbing as workers pulled the stainless steel casket from several feet of muddy brown water and a steady stream of water leaked from where the lid joined the sides. That day seemed liked a nightmare at the 40-acre...

The deadline to RSVP for the conclave on the delivery of pro bono services in Indiana has been extended through Monday, April 14. A subcommittee of the Indiana State Bar Association's Pro Bono Committee has organized the all-day event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25 at Barnes & Thornburg Conference Center, 11 S. Meridian St., Indianapolis. Event organizers extended the deadline to RSVP after realizing some people were on spring break this week. The event will feature education and...

Hoosier voters should be ready to show their government-issued photo identification at the polls next week after the Supreme Court of the United States gave a green light to Indiana's voter ID law. Other states may follow suit following the high court's ruling Monday that upheld Indiana's three-year-old statute.But voters and the legal community should be just as ready for a new wave of Election Day regulation and subsequent litigation because six justices agreed to some extent that voters could...

An Allen County judge was arrested in Indianapolis for allegedly driving drunk and is scheduled to appear in Marion Superior Court Wednesday.Indiana State Capitol Police, a division of the Indiana State Police, stopped a car driven by Allen Circuit Judge Thomas Felts early on the morning of July 18 for a traffic violation in downtown Indianapolis. As the police officer began to get out of his car, Judge Felts' car backed up and struck the police vehicle, according to a police...

A Porter County sewer company must receive prior approval from the Environmental Protection Agency per a federal consent decree in order to be able to expand its services, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled. The appeal from the Indiana Regulatory Commission, Application of South Haven Sewer Works, Inc., City of Portage v. South Haven Sewer Works, Inc., No. 93A02-0703-EX-204, came before the court because the City of Portage believed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission's grant of a certificate of territorial authority...

Indiana Supreme Court justices this morning listened to arguments in the cases of two convicted sex offenders who are challenging a state law requiring them to register for life on a public database, even though they weren't required to do so at the time of their criminal convictions.The arguments came in the combined case of Todd L. Jensen v. State and Richard P. Wallace v. State, No. 02S04-0803-CR-137, which delves into issues with the state's sex-offender registry the court hasn't explored...

A federal judge in Indianapolis has ordered a new trial for Cinergy Corp because the energy company now owned by Duke Energy committed misconduct earlier this year and tainted the liability phase of the litigation. U.S. District Judge Larry McKinney issued a 29-page decision in U.S., et al. v. Cinergy Corp, et al., 1:99-cv-1693, on Thursday, unsealing it and making the ruling public Dec. 22. "In summary, the Court concludes that Cinergy's misrepresentations about payment of one of its fact...

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court grant of summary judgment because there is a genuine issue of fact as to why a firefighter was demoted. In Jeffrey Kochis v. City of Hammond, Indiana, et al., No. 45A03-0709-CV-445, Kochis appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Hammond in his complaint that he had been demoted even though no charges had been filed against him and that he didn't receive due process. Kochis had been a firefighter with the...

An Indiana high school junior who was prevented from trying out for her school's baseball team because she is female will now be allowed to participate in tryouts. Heather Bauduin, a baseball player who relocated to Wabash, Ind., from California, was not allowed under an Indiana High School Athletic Association rule to try out for Wabash High School's baseball team. Public Justice, a public interest law firm in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia firm Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, represented Bauduin and...

The Supreme Court of the United States has found that a criminal defendant who's been declared competent to stand trial does not necessarily have the right to represent himself.About 10 minutes into its public sitting that started at 10 a.m., the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 7-2 ruling in Indiana v. Edwards, No. 07-208. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion, with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissenting. Opinions are typically posted on the high court's Web site within an hour of...

Breaking News: April 4, 2008 A Marion County judge and his part-time commissioner face nearly a dozen judicial misconduct charges each for delays and dereliction of duty that resulted in an Indianapolis man staying in prison for almost two years after DNA testing cleared him of a 1984 rape.The Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission late Wednesday afternoon filed charges against Marion Superior Judge Grant W. Hawkins and Commissioner Nancy L. Broyles, relating to their involvement in a post-conviction case for Harold D....

The Indiana Supreme Court has cut an Indianapolis child molester's prison sentence in half from 120 to 60 years, reanalyzing the penalty he received for being convicted of multiple counts of victimizing his stepdaughter.But one of the state's top jurists objected to the court accepting this sentencing case, emphasizing that reviewing and revising this penalty goes against the high court's role as one of "last resort" and could lead to trial judges being less cautious and measured in sentencing.A 4-1 ruling...

Addressing the issue for the first time, the Indiana Court of Appeals supported a juvenile court's decision to place an illegal immigrant juvenile delinquent with the Department of Corrections instead of deporting him back to his home country. In J.S. v. State of Indiana, No. 15A01-0706-JV-276, J.S., a 15-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, appealed his placement in the DOC. The boy, who had already once illegally entered the U.S. and was arrested in Kentucky for driving without a license and deported, was...

The Peace and Justice Studies Program at Marian College will present Global Peace and Justice Day at the college April 30. The event, which is free and open to the public, includes participating organizations such as Amnesty International USA, Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center, and Veterans for Peace. The event features art, drama, workshops, and videos to address the themes of peace and justice. Dori Dinsmore, director of Midwest Amnesty International USA, will give a keynote address, "Human Rights Violations: The...

Simply parking on a public street and watching someone's home doesn't alone fall within the definition of "impermissible" conduct and can't be considered stalking, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.In a case of first impression, the appellate panel ruled 2-1 on Donald D. Vanhorn v. State of Indiana, 84-A01-0711-CR-505, overturning the Terre Haute man's conviction for felony stalking. At issue in the case was the interplay between "harassment" and "impermissible contact" and whether enough evidence existed to support a stalking conviction.Donald...

In a case of first impression, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today that retroactivity doesn't apply to a year-old Indiana Supreme Court decision that held charging information must be amended within 30 days before the omnibus date.As a result of the ruling, a Hendricks County man convicted of child molesting doesn't get relief.At issue in Terry Leatherwood's appeal in Terry Leatherwood v. State of Indiana, No. 32A05-0710-PC-573, is whether the post-conviction court erred in refusing to apply the holding of Fajardo...

The newest Indiana Court of Appeals judge will formally join the court Friday. Judge Elaine Brown's robing ceremony will be in the courtroom of the Indiana Supreme Court. Judge Brown's first day on the court was May 5. Chief Judge John Baker will preside over the ceremony, and Gov. Mitch Daniels will join Judge Brown's family, colleagues, and special guests to administer the oath of office. Judge Brown was named to the Indiana Court of Appeals by Gov. Daniels earlier this...

An Indiana Supreme Court decision Feb. 27 regarding the state's racketeering laws creates a larger net of potential defendants that can be charged under it. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that under Indiana's RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, a person can be implicated under the state act even if he or she doesn't participate in directing the racketeering activity. In Linda Keesling, Harold Lephart, et al. v. Frederick Beegle III, John Bucholtz, et al., No. 18S04-0704-CV-150, the high court accepted...