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High court hears 2 cases

Justices heard arguments this morning on two cases, one asking whether mayors have veto power over certain zoning variances approved by local officials.First arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court came in Heidbreder, Inc. v. Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Crown Point, 858 N.E.2d 1999 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). The Court of Appeals in December reversed the trial court in its decision involving a special-use variance request. The case stems from a request by Heidbreder to locate a concrete…

Split court reinstates death sentence

The Indiana Supreme Court has reinstated the death sentence for a Vanderburgh County man who a lower court judge found was mentally retarded and should be sentenced to life without parole for the killing of his wife and two young children.A split court issued the 19-page opinion today in State v. Paul M. McManus, No. 82S00-0503-PD-78, with Justices Ted Boehm and Robert d. Rucker dissenting from the majority of Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, and Justices Brent Dickson and Frank Sullivan.McManus…

Committed defendant can be charged

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a pre-trial motion to dismiss a pending felony criminal recklessness charge against a defendant, ruling the length of time incompetent defendants are committed to a mental health institution does not allow for dismissal of charges. In State of Indiana v. Charlene Davis, 49A02-0706-CR-545, the state argued the trial court did not have the legal authority to dismiss a Class D felony criminal recklessness charge against Davis. Davis was found to be incompetent to stand…

International law lecture Monday

“Poodles and Bulldogs: the U.S., Britain and the International Rule of Law” is a public lecture by Philippe Sands, Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington’s 2007 Addison C. Harris Lecturer, to be presented in the Moot Court Room at noon Sept. 24. A reception will follow.Sands is professor of law at University College London. A practicing barrister, Sands has extensive experience litigating cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International…

Indiana Black Expo offers look at legal world

Visitors to the Indiana Black Expo this weekend will have a chance to see how being a lawyer is cool.Aside from games, giveaways, and the usual expo events, mock trials will be part of the Indianapolis Bar Association’s booth during the final weekend of this year’s expo, which is Friday through Sunday.For two hours each afternoon, teens from Reach for Youth’s Teen Court program will conduct the mock trials, serving as judge, jury, attorneys, and the accused. Audience participation will also…

Law school announces directors, meeting

A proposed law school for Indianapolis, the Abraham Clark School of Law, has selected its board of directors and set its next informational meeting.The board is composed of attorneys Jerrold Abramowitz, Richard Bash, Susan Williams, and Patrick Brown; Greg Kranz, who is in the information technology field; and Sonja Brown, a business owner and part-time legal assistant. Mark Montefiori is the founder and director of the law school with 13 years of experience in higher education. There is also an informal…

Court criticizes appellate attorney for not citing material

The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s decision that a man convicted of felony forgery must submit a DNA sample.But that’s only part of today’s seven-page decision in James Keeney v. State of Indiana, No. 21A01-0611-CR-495, which goes on to admonish an appellate attorney who filed a brief with uncited material.In this case, Keeney challenged last year Fayette Circuit Judge Daniel Pflum’s order, which said Keeney needed to submit a DNA sample after pleading guilty to forgery and…

Court rules on Merit Board election

The Court of Appeals ruled today that John Buncich can retain his elected position on the Lake County Sheriff’s Merit Board. In Lake County Sheriff’s Merit Board v. John Buncich, et al., the court affirmed the trial court’s decision in favor of Buncich’s complaint for declaratory judgment and preliminary injunction, and in the alternative a temporary restraining order to prevent a new election. Buncich ran for a vacant position on Lake County Sheriff’s Merit Board in June 2006 and received 83…

Former lawmaker, public defender champion dies

A former state senator who’d served the legal community as a public defender and lobbyist for the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association has died.Robert Hellmann, D-Terre Haute, died late last week at his home after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 60.Once minority leader in the Indiana Senate, Hellman had been a part of state government since the early 1980s. He was a member of the House of Representatives for four years before being elected to the Senate in 1986, where…

Legal services keeps funding in Hammond

The city of Hammond will continue to give $20,000 to the local office of Indiana Legal Services Inc. after city officials initially recommended the council cut the funding entirely.The city council voted 5-4 Monday to distribute funds from a federal Community Development Block Grant. The ILS office has received $20,000 for several years from the disbursement; however, the city received less CDBG money than in previous years and reduced funding for several agencies.Richard P. Komyatte, an attorney who practices in Highland…

Justices grant two transfers

The Indiana Supreme Court has decided to consider whether trial courts can order restitution without determining a defendant’s ability to pay, and an annexation case involving land in Boone County.Justices granted transfer this week in Brenwick Associates LLC, First Industrial Acquisitions Inc., and Town of Whitestown, Indiana v. Boone County Redevelopment Commission and the Board of Commissioners of Boone County, Indiana, No. 06A04-0611-CV-682; and Jeffrey Pearson v. State of Indiana, No. 45A03-0610-CR-507.In Brenwick, the court will get involved in a land dispute involving…

Justices will consider corporal punishment case

The Indiana Supreme Court will take up the issue of a mother’s authority to discipline her child by applying corporal punishment, paving the way for justices to analyze the legal line between parental control and child battery.Justices granted transfer Wednesday in Sophia Willis v. State of Indiana, No. 49A02-06110-CR-982, which the Indiana Court of Appeals had decided May 17. Appellate judges affirmed the Marion Superior Court judgment finding sufficient evidence to convict Willis, mother of an 11-year-old, of misdemeanor child battery…

Former Allen County judge dies

Allen County has lost a former judge who served with distinction in the military’s legal arm in the 1950s and returned to serve the county’s legal community for four decades as an attorney and jurist.Senior Allen Superior Judge Vern E. Sheldon, who retired in 1998 after more than a decade on the bench, died in his home Sunday after a short illness. He was 77.Judge Sheldon was appointed to the bench in 1985 and elected in 1990, then re-elected without opposition…

Marion judges choose court administrator

An Indianapolis law firm partner who has led three state agencies is the new administrator for Marion County courts. On Monday, the four-judge executive committee chose Glenn R. Lawrence to fill the position, which has been vacant since the former administrator Ron Miller resigned in late March. Since then, Senior Judge Richard Good has been filling in as interim administrator.The committee offered Lawrence the $93,500-salary job Monday afternoon, according to presiding Superior Judge Gerald Zore. Judges had received about 20 applications…

Second lobbyist leaves Indianapolis-based firm

Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburgh has lost two of its lobbyists who have been linked to a congressional bribery and corruption scandal surrounding jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.Kevin A. Ring resigned Friday from the Washington, D.C., office, managing partner Alan Levin said. This comes more than a year after another lobbyist, Neil Volz, severed his ties with the firm ;s Washington office.The resignation comes amid an ongoing corruption investigation with congressional ties, and Ring ;s background working at Abramoff ;s law firm in…

Evansville attorney suspended from practice of law

The Indiana Supreme Court Monday suspended Evansville attorney Bradley Happe from the practice of law, effective immediately until further order of the court. Happe was arrested in March, accused of having a meth lab in his law office and apartment.Indiana Lawyer reported in its May 2 issue that on April 26, the Disciplinary Commission asked the Supreme Court to issue an order of interim suspension because two-thirds of the commission voted that Happe may pose a threat to his clients, and…

Judge: Wine shipping law unconstitutional

Indiana’s law prohibiting out-of-state wineries from shipping to Hoosier customers without face-to-face contact is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Indianapolis has ruled.U.S. District Judge John D. Tinder issued a 71-page decision http://www.insd.uscourts.gov/News/Baude.pdf, and a separate four-page judgment http://www.insd.uscourts.gov/News/BaudeJudgment.pdf and injunction late Wednesday in Patrick L. Baude et al. v. David L. Heath and Wine and Sprits Wholesalers of Indiana, No. 1:05-cv-0735-JDT-TAB.At issue in this case was whether state statute involving direct wine shipment violated the out-of-state wineries rights by barring them…

3 names for the governor

It’s now up to Gov. Mitch Daniels to decide who will be the next Indiana Court of Appeals judge.

COA rules on home improvement fraud

When two parties knowingly enter into a contract for home improvements that will not be done, the contractor cannot be charged with home improvement fraud under Indiana Code 35-43-6-12(a)(4), the Court of Appeals ruled today. In Lawrence Golladay v. State of Indiana, 08A02-0701-CR-93, the court reversed Golladay’s conviction for home improvement fraud under subsection (4)(a), which states, “A home improvement supplier who enters into a home improvement contract and knowingly: uses or employs any deception, false pretense, or false promise to…