Prosecutor: No more charges for Nassar despite new reports
Michigan prosecutors aren't planning to bring additional sexual assault charges against imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar, even though abuse allegations are still being reported.
Courts
Articles
Summary judgment vacated for prison officers accused of beating prisoner
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated summary judgment for two correctional officers accused of attacking a prisoner unprovoked, determining the evidence could support the inference that the prisoner did all he could to exhaust his administrative remedies, yet was prevented from doing so.
COA reverses restitution for public transportation, pain and suffering
An Indiana trial court abused its discretion in ordering a man to pay restitution on the costs a woman incurred for having to take public transportation after he criminally damaged her car and the costs of her pain and suffering, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Facebook defamation judgment may set precedent, Indiana lawyers say
Southern Indiana attorneys who won defamation damages over a defamatory Facebook post say the court’s monetary award appears to set a precedent as the first reported judgment of its kind in the nation.
Guatemalan man charged in crash that killed Colts linebacker
State and federal authorities have filed criminal charges against the Guatemalan man illegally living in Indiana who is suspected of driving the vehicle that struck and killed Indiana Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and his Uber driver on Sunday morning.
COA upholds dismissal of claim against construction company
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a White County woman’s fraud and damages claim against the construction company that built her home, finding the woman’s claims were barred by the doctrine of res judicata based upon an earlier small claims judgment.
COA: State can’t demand jury trials in misdemeanor cases
When prosecuting misdemeanor cases, the state does not have the right to demand a trial by jury, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in a Tuesday opinion upholding the denial of the state’s request for a jury trial in a misdemeanor case.
Judiciary committee to vote on Sweeney nomination
The nomination of James Sweeney II to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is scheduled for a vote Thursday by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Gerrymandering challenges keep rising
Attorneys at Faegre Baker Daniels LLP are part of the legal team representing Michigan voters who filed a complaint in December over partisan gerrymandering. The suit brought to seven the number of such challenges filed since 2016 and fueled hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule the practice unconstitutional and offer guidance for how to draw district lines.
Panel recommends 6-day suspension for Blackford judge
A state panel has recommended that an Indiana trial court judge be suspended for six days without pay, following charges filed by the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission pertaining to a dispute with the former county clerk.
COA traveling to Vermillion County
The Indiana Court of Appeals will travel to Vermillion County this week to hear oral arguments in a case challenging a resisting law enforcement conviction.
Probate question to come before Supreme Court
Oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court this week will focus on the question of when family members can enter into settlement agreements regarding the distribution of an estate’s assets.
COA grants summary judgment to teacher, school corporation
A Fort Wayne mother’s claims of battery and constitutional violations against her daughter, a first-grader, will not proceed after the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled the teacher and school corporation were entitled to summary judgment on those claims.
Excessive force case will proceed against officer who shot unarmed robbery suspect
An excessive force claim against a Fort Wayne police officer who shot an unarmed robber will continue after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana denied the officer’s motion for summary judgment.
Former sports doctor Nassar sentenced to 40 to 125 years in prison
The former sports doctor whose serial sexual abuse of girls and young women upended the gymnastics world was sentenced Monday to a third prison term of 40 to 125 years behind bars for molesting young athletes at an elite Michigan training center.
Judge to rule on motion to dismiss prisoners’ labor trafficking, ADA claims
Prisoners in the New Castle Correctional Facility’s Mental Health Unit are fighting a motion to dismiss their complaint against the private contractor that operates the facility, alleging they sufficiently pleaded facts to support their claims of involuntary servitude, peonage and labor trafficking.
Fair Housing suit alleges racial discrimination after foreclosures
A national coalition of fair housing advocates has filed a complaint in federal court alleging intentional and discriminatory violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 against minority communities across the country, including communities in Indiana.
COA denies parental privilege defense, upholds father’s battery conviction
The defense of parental privilege did not apply to a man accused of battering his 14-year-old son because the evidence in the case could support a conclusion that the father’s actions were inspired by anger, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in a Friday opinion.
COA reverses grant of specialized driving privileges in Noble County
A northern Indiana man whose driving privileges were suspended for life in Noble County must petition the court in that county for specialized driving privileges, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
German company loses appeal of denial of protective order modification
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a German company seeking to modify a protective order that kept confidential certain discovery documents used in European trade secrets litigation, finding the company failed to show good cause to modify the order.