April 4, 2012
Michael HoskinsA Hendricks County judge did not err in denying a man’s motion that his criminal case be discharged because the state
failed to conduct a speedy trial within one year of charges being filed, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
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March 12, 2012
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Supreme Court has affirmed the award of attorney fees to an Indiana town, although two justices disagreed and
would have reversed the trial court.
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February 13, 2012
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that a Monroe Circuit judge abused her discretion in denying a motion to recuse in
a small claims case that involved an attorney who previously served as the judge’s election campaign committee chair.
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February 7, 2012
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals was presented a novel jurisdictional issue Tuesday: whether a municipal land use case can
come within the exception to the doctrine of mootness for cases that are capable of repetition yet elude review.
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January 27, 2012
Jenny MontgomeryThe Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court’s finding that a man was not entitled to damages for taking
care of a blighted property.
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January 25, 2012
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals found a Marion Superior judge did not err when she rejected a master commissioner’s sentence
of a man who pleaded guilty to a drunk-driving charge because the master commissioner didn’t have the authority to enter
a final judgment on the sentence.
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January 25, 2012
Jennifer NelsonIndiana Tech officials announced Tuesday that the school will build a 70,000-square-foot, $15 million facility on its main
campus in Ft. Wayne to house its new law school.
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January 16, 2012
IL StaffIndiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law will host a lecture by Leymah Gbowee, joint recipient of the 2011 Nobel
Peace Prize, on Feb. 16.
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January 16, 2012
IL StaffThe Allen County Bar Association will host its Bench/Bar Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at Grand Wayne Center,
120 W. Jefferson Blvd., Fort Wayne.
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January 13, 2012
Michael HoskinsState law allows a trial court to decline to hold a jury trial and limit its review of a local municipality’s administrative
decision, according to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
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January 11, 2012
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed that a contractor and insurance company owe the city of New Castle more than $900,000
in damages and attorney fees for breaching a construction contract.
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January 11, 2012
Jennifer NelsonThe Roanoke attorney who stole more than $200,000 from his clients will not have his sentence reduced, the Indiana Court of
Appeals decided Wednesday.
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January 6, 2012
Jenny MontgomeryAttorney Edgar Bayliff, former president of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, died Jan. 4. He was 84.
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December 30, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Court of Appeals has overturned a Lake County judge in an estate case involving a personal representative who
conducted banking transactions for an elderly man before his death.
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December 30, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that M&I Bank was allowed to evict two residents of a home that had been foreclosed
because they were leasing and the bank had become owner in a sheriff’s sale.
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December 30, 2011
Michael HoskinsPolice were justified in handcuffing a woman who they felt was a safety risk inside her home during an investigation, the
Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
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December 29, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Court of Appeals has reinstated the direct appeal of a LaPorte County man convicted of felony robbery and attempted
robbery in 2004, finding that he should not receive a new trial for receiving ineffective assistance of appellate counsel
the first time he tried to challenge his convictions and sentence.
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December 28, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed ex-East Chicago Mayor George Pabey’s convictions of embezzling government
funds and conspiring to embezzle and found the District Court didn’t err when it sentenced him to 60 months in prison.
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December 28, 2011
Jennifer NelsonThe Indiana Tax Court ruled that a government agency incorrectly calculated a Marion County school district’s capital
project fund levy property tax rate for 2011, and it has ordered the Department of Local Government Finance to recalculate
the tax rates going back to 2007.
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December 23, 2011
Michael HoskinsThe Indiana Supreme Court has accepted a certified question from a federal judge in Indianapolis that asks whether a township
can reorganize into a city in a way that deprives some residents of their statutory rights to vote for mayor and city council.
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December 22, 2011
Jennifer NelsonHamilton Southeastern Schools has prevailed on appeal that it does not have to reimburse two parents for their son’s
special education at another institution because they claimed the school system wasn’t providing a free appropriate
education to their son, who had a traumatic brain injury.
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December 22, 2011
IL StaffIndiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has appointed Jean Northenor, of Warsaw, to the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission.
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December 20, 2011
Scott OlsonA Hamilton Superior judge has awarded Marsh Supermarkets Inc. a total of $19.5 million in damages in a soured sublease deal
with Swiss pharmaceutical- and medical-equipment-maker Roche.
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December 20, 2011
Michael HoskinsHammond City Court Judge Jeffrey A. Harkin will begin serving his 60-day unpaid suspension on Dec. 27 as a result of an agreement
he reached with the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications and approved by the state’s highest court.
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December 20, 2011
Michael HoskinsA special judge in Henry County has dismissed a challenge to the New Castle mayor’s election, finding that mayor-elect
Greg York is able to become the city’s top executive because he didn’t violate the state’s residency requirement
by keeping two homes and splitting where he spent his time.
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G. Michael Witte letter states he's suspended for three years. The case that got him suspended is identical to my estate case, including havin the Late Judge Deiter recuse himself because Newman had a conflict of interest with the judge. His Modus Operandi is nearly identical.
SIGNED BY G. MICHAEL WITTE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY INDIANA SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION DATED MAY 17, 2012.
Your 6th complaint against Lawrence T. Newman filed on 4/12/2012. On 1/31/12, the Indiana Supreme Court entered an order suspending Lawrence T. Newman’s law license for a period of three years. More important, even after three years, Lawrence Todd Newman will not get his license back unless and until he goes through a separate proceeding to prove that he is fit to practice law. This is not an easy process, and the burden is upon Lawrence T. Newman to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is fit to return to practice.
Because of the length of Lawrence T. Newman’s license suspension and the fact he may never succeed in getting his law license reinstated, we are not opening an investigation file at this time.
Should Lawrence T. Newman seek reinstatement in the future, we will open your file and ask Lawrence T. Newman to address your grievance as part of his burden of proving fitness. We have attempted to notify Lawrence T. Newman that this will be required of him.
It may disappoint you to hear that we will be doing nothing on your grievance at this time. However, the most our office can ever accomplish is to take away a lawyer’s license to practice law. We have already done that, albeit as a result of misconduct in cases other than your own. It makes better sense for our office to focus its limited resources on cases where the lawyers are still actively practicing law.
Is there any justice in the Marion County Superior Court Civil Division? I am the unfortunate victim of a retaliatory lawsuit brought by Lawrence Todd Newman, the attorney from an estate case on which I worked as a unsupervised personal representative in 2006. The contract agreement for that case stated that the estate would be responsible for all attorney fees, but Newman refused to close the nearly insolvent estate when my duties were complete and his fees were paid. Instead, he tried to extort additional attorney fees from me by keeping the case open to address a wrongful death claim, despite the estate’s heir’s lack of interest in pursuing it and an expert doctor’s opinion that it would not be worth doing so. He also knowingly deceived me into believing that a “closing statement” was needed to close the estate, even though this requirement had actually been waived by the estate’s heir. The heir’s attorney filed a motion to have Newman removed from the case. After the court closed the probate case with prejudice (barred from further litigation) Newman illegally re-opened the case in another courtroom.
As a result of complaints filed against him for these and similar actions, Newman has been suspended from practicing law for 18 months by the Indiana Disciplinary Commission. In retaliation, he has filed suit against me demanding additional attorney fees for the 2006 estate case, despite the fact that I made no agreement stating that I would pay any fees from my own assets on behalf of the estate. This lawsuit violates the rules of ethics, due process of law, and equal protection of law. Newman has been allowed to file ridiculous pleadings at an alarming rate and has been supported by a biased court system. Judge Carroll refuses to recuse himself from the case despite the fact that, by his own admission, he intends to grant Newman sanctions regardless of the evidence. When my former counsel discovered that the previous judge on the case, Judge Sosin, was a long-time close friend of Newman’s family, Judge Carroll commented for the record during a hearing that Judge Sosin in so many words “he finds the door “was weak for recusing himself from the case as a result of this obvious conflict of interest.
This case is a public policy issue. Statutes put in place to protect unsupervised personal representatives in probate matters are being ignored. This case will affect thousands of individuals involved in probating and the personal representation of estates. Justice cannot possibly be served as long as a biased judge is allowed to defend a “vexatious litigant,” as Newman has been described by Judge Logan in Bradenton, Florida court. If there is any justice in the Marion County Superior Court Civil Division, this case against me will be dismissed with prejudice.
Every affront to decency and every style adopted by criminals is not per se a constituttional violation. Only fools believe or espouse that.
This was an unnecessary change in law, a needless fiddling with a tax that impacted very very few hoosiers, but one that erodes a tax base benefitting very many hoosiers. Just because some people wanted to chalk up a "tax cut" on their legislative brag-list, and didnt give a fig about replacing the revenue any other way. Really stupid. I am a republican my whole life and this just shames me like hell. I have to use a fake name over this because I know my fellow republicans are all brain washed over tax cutting too.