Michael W. Hoskins

The Indiana Supreme Court today affirmed the convictions and post-conviction relief denial for a death row inmate convicted of murdering three people in Evansville in 1996.The 43-page ruling in Stephenson v. State, No 87S00-0106-PD-285 (http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/04260701trb.pdf), affirms the post-conviction court ;s denial of relief for John Matthew Stephenson, who is sentenced to die for the 1997 convictions of burglary, theft, and the murders of John “Jay” Tyler, his wife, Kathy Tyler, and Brandy Southard relating to a drug-ring operation. He was sentenced…

Parents who successfully challenged the constitutionality of Evansville school fees have won another victory in Indiana appellate courts, this time relating to attorney fees.The Indiana Court of Appeals issued a 21-page decision today in Frank Nagy, et al. v. Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation, No 82A05-0609-CV-488, which involves a new issue stemming from an Indiana Supreme Court ruling last year. The case arose after the local district began charging every student a $20 student-services fee in fall 2002 as a way to make…

A decision now rests with Gov. Mitch Daniels of who will be the next judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals.After interviewing seven semi-finalists this morning and deliberating this afternoon, the Judicial Nominating Commission chose Dubois Superior Judge Elaine B. Brown, attorney Leslie C. Shively of Shively & Associates in Evansville, and Dearborn Superior Judge G. Michael Witte as finalists for the state’s second highest appellate court.The governor has 60 days to make a decision on who will succeed retiring Judge…

A Warrick County court reporter won’t be held in contempt for not finishing the trial transcript in a two-month, triple-murder trial early last year.Warrick Superior 2 employee Mary Kennedy finished typing the transcript by the end of the business day Monday – the last-minute of her three extensions from the Indiana Supreme Court.The eight-week, high-profile trial of David Camm, a former state trooper, concluded in March 2006 with a guilty verdict in the 2000 murders of his wife and their two…

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected one of the last appeals attempts by a man set to die Friday for the execution-style shooting death of a Muncie police officer in 1990.A five-page unanimous decision by the three-judge panel in the federal appeals court in Chicago rejected Michael Allen Lambert’s claims for relief in Lambert v. Edwin G. Buss, Nos. 03-1015 and 05-2610. The ruling upholds the judgment by U.S. District Judge Larry McKinney in Indianapolis.In its opinion, the panel…

A Tippecanoe County judge has denied the request of a convicted sex offender wanting to stay in his Lafayette home as the court considers his lawsuit to no longer be deemed a danger to children.Superior Judge Don Johnson issued a two-page order this week denying a request by John Doe, a 56-year-old man being ordered to move so that he’s not within 1,000 feet of children-saturated areas, such as a school or church.An Indiana law that took effect July 1, 2006,…

Lawmakers met Tuesday for what is known as Organization Day, the first day of its 2008 session.But the mostly ceremonial day wasn’t without drama because the opening moments of one legislative body have sparked threats of a potential lawsuit reminiscent of a two-year-old federal suit that continues playing out in appeals. Indiana may soon see the second round of a legal battle involving legislative prayer.The Indiana Senate opened its proceedings with a prayer to Jesus Christ, with Senate President Pro Tempore…

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued an immigration ruling today reiterating a message that the justice department isn’t giving asylum cases enough review.The opinion is one of an already long list of examples where Circuit Courts slam the nation’s immigration court system, a mostly administrative process flowing through the U.S. Department of Justice. The 7th Circuit has been especially critical of the system.In its three-page decision in Hanna Youssef Mekhael v. Michael B. Mukasey, No. 06-4285, opinion author Judge…

Attorney John C. Trimble, a partner at Indianapolis firm Lewis Wagner, has been chosen to be one of the newest members on two key judicial commissions focused on nominating new appellate judges and ethical, qualification issues for judges statewide.Starting in January, Trimble will be one of seven voices on the Judicial Nominating and Qualifications commissions. Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard chairs the commissions, which include the same members. State law requires that three commissioners be attorneys while three others are lay…

A handful of Hoosier counties got a nod from a legislative study commission for new courts and judicial resources this week, and those recommendations will now go to lawmakers for consideration in the next General Assembly session.The Commission on Courts met Monday to discuss and vote on several measures that include new courts or judicial officers, but Marion County and the Indiana Court of Appeals are not on the list of recommendations.The commission did not bring up or vote on a…

The Indiana Supreme Court today affirmed the life sentence of a man convicted of killing a 10-year-old girl in Jackson County.A unanimous opinion in Anthony Stockelman v. State of Indiana, 36S00-0608-CR-285, affirmed the trial court was correct in weighing aggravators more heavily than proffered mitigators and that the sentence of life without parole was appropriate.Stockelman pleaded guilty to charges of murder and child molesting arising out of Katlyn Maria Collman’s murder in Crothersville in January 2005. Following her disappearance, state police…

Northern Indiana ;s U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen faced the U.S. Senate ;s Judiciary Committee this morning in his confirmation hearing for a federal judgeship opening in Hammond this summer.President George W. Bush nominated Von Bokkelen to replace retiring Judge Rudy Lozano, who plans to take senior status in July.During the hearing, Von Bokkelen and three other nominees for judgeships: Debra Ann Livingston for 2nd Circuit judge, Roslynn Renee Mauskopf for district judgeship in the Eastern District of New York, and…

Debate over land once earmarked for the 1960s expansion of Interstate 64 through New Albany has gone to the Indiana Court of Appeals, which ruled today in that case.The three-judge panel ruled in Donald Jensen, et al. v. The City of New Albany, et al., holding that a reversionary clause in a 1960 deed was unenforceable after land was transferred to the state more than four decades ago.Land in question was 5.82 acres known as the Fawcett property, which the original…

A federal suit filed this week in Indianapolis accuses a school district of violating teachers’ constitutional rights by blocking access to two political Web sites relating to the board’s actions and removal of the superintendent.This is the third suit lodged against the Perry Township School Board since November, when the board voted to place Superintendent H. Douglas Williams on paid administrative leave pending a review of his performance.Filed by Perry Education Association President Terry Rice and Southport Elementary School teacher Sherrie Williamson,…