Courts

Indiana House Bill 1016 proposes to let court staff provide some rehabilitative services and collect fees for them.

Disciplinary Actions

Disciplinary Actions - 2/13/13

February 13, 2013

IL Staff

Read who's resigned from the Indiana bar.

7th Circuit affirms District Court in long-running nursing home litigation

February 12, 2013

More than a decade’s worth of litigation was tied up in a 21-page opinion from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, which affirmed decisions in favor of a landowner against the owners of a nursing home lessee.

Supreme Court affirms what is said in mediation, stays in mediation

February 12, 2013

Marilyn Odendahl

A husband will not be able to offer as evidence comments made during a mediated settlement conference with his ex-wife, the Indiana Supreme Court has affirmed.

Transfer vacated, justices take no new cases

February 12, 2013

IL Staff

The Indiana Supreme Court last week vacated transfer in a criminal case and took up no new cases.

Sun Capital execs 'shocked' by Marsh financials

February 12, 2013

Any feelings of satisfaction that executives of Sun Capital Partners had after completing its acquisition of Marsh Supermarkets Inc. quickly turned to “shock and surprise,” a managing director of the private-equity firm told jurors Tuesday.

Bill enabling legislators to fight for immigration law in court gets hearing

February 12, 2013

State senators who are fighting to go to court to defend parts of Indiana’s immigration law – a law that Attorney General Greg Zoeller concluded could not withstand constitutional scrutiny – will hear a bill Wednesday that would give them the power to defend their measures in such cases.

Marsh pilot says he flew former CEO to see mistresses

February 11, 2013

Don Marsh’s personal pilot told jurors Monday morning that he ferried the former CEO of Marsh Supermarkets Inc. to New York City at least twice a month in a year’s span to visit one of his mistresses.

Fraud victim files civil suit against ex-councilor

February 11, 2013

Cory Schouten

An Indianapolis physician who lost $1.7 million in a fraud scheme orchestrated in part by former Democratic City-County Councilor Paul C. Bateman Jr. has sued Bateman and two associates in Marion Circuit Court.

Prosecutor requesting life without parole for 3 defendants in Indianapolis explosion

February 11, 2013

Marilyn Odendahl

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry has decided to request life sentences without parole, instead of the death penalty, for the three defendants charged in the Richmond Hill subdivision explosion.

Court error denying police deposition in drug case harmless, COA rules

February 11, 2013

A Marion Superior Court should have allowed a defendant to play parts of a police officer’s deposition for impeachment purposes, but the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that failing to admit his inconsistent statement was harmless error.

In affirming DUI on appeal, judges include predictive warning

February 11, 2013

An argument made on appeal in a drunken-driving case that the person who certified the operating condition of a breath-test machine should have been required to testify was rejected Monday by the Indiana Court of Appeals, which also warned in a footnote that such a ruling could cost criminal defendants.

Applications open for St. Joseph judgeship

February 11, 2013

IL Staff

Applications are being accepted for a forthcoming vacancy on the St. Joseph Superior Court, the Indiana Supreme Court has announced.

Thief who aimed to teach victim ‘lesson’ gets no relief on appeal

February 8, 2013

An Indianapolis man who said he stole a video monitoring system and car wash tickets to teach the victim a lesson about leaving valuables in an unlocked car lost his appeal Friday.

Former Marsh CFO sought out bankruptcy lawyers

February 8, 2013

A former top executive of Marsh Supermarkets Inc. became so concerned about the company’s deteriorating finances less than a decade ago that he took the desperate step of meeting with bankruptcy lawyers.

Jury: Real estate execs Bales, Spencer not guilty of fraud

February 8, 2013

Cory Schouten

John M. Bales lifted his crossed hands to his face and began to cry Thursday evening as a federal judge read the same jury verdict on each of 13 fraud counts against the real estate broker and his partner: Not guilty.

Marsh defense: Travel was integral to company success

February 7, 2013

Without membership in certain international business organizations, Don Marsh says he could not have built his grocery chain into a billion-dollar company.

Bales trial in jury's hands after colorful closings

February 7, 2013

Cory Schouten

The jury began deliberations Thursday in the federal fraud trial of Indianapolis real estate broker John M. Bales and partner William E. Spencer after three hours of spirited closing arguments Wednesday.

Judges uphold man’s 151-month sentence

February 7, 2013

A judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals believed a defendant was entitled to resentencing because the District judge could only view him through “career-offender tinted glasses” even though the career offender distinction did not ultimately apply to him.

District judge incorrectly dismissed prisoner’s suit for length and unintelligibility

February 7, 2013

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered U.S. Judge William T. Lawrence to take another look at a federal prisoner’s Bivens lawsuit against prison staff and other unnamed defendants, finding that the lawsuit is actually written clearly and not as long as the judge believed when dismissing it.

Woman’s sentence revised because she is not among ‘worst offenders’

February 7, 2013

A home health care nurse whose flight from police while high on drugs and with her 89-year-old patient in the car had her sentence reduced because the Court of Appeals concluded she is not among the “worst offenders.” The high-speed chase led to a crash and the death of the patient from injuries she sustained.

Court split over denial to commit man with dementia

February 7, 2013

Although the majority on the Indiana Court of Appeals acknowledged it would have been better for the trial court to follow the statutory commitment procedures instead of outright denying the state’s motion to commit, it affirmed the trial court’s conclusion.

Judges uphold convictions stemming from bank robbery

February 7, 2013

Terry Smith made five arguments to the Indiana Court of Appeals as to why his convictions of robbery and other charges related to his robbing of an Indianapolis bank should be thrown out, but the judges weren’t persuaded to reverse his convictions.

Defendant entitled to resentencing under Fair Sentencing Act

February 7, 2013

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a northern Indiana man’s convictions of distributing crack cocaine and conspiracy to distribute the drug, but found that he is entitled to resentencing under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.

Prisoners can seek reductions of crack cocaine sentences

February 7, 2013

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded two judges in the Northern District of Indiana should take another look at two defendants’ requests to have their sentences for crack cocaine offenses reduced based on revised sentencing guidelines.