ACLU poll finds wide support for prosecutorial reform
Likely voters overwhelmingly support prosecutors who will work to end mass incarceration, alternatives to prison and reducing racial bias, according to polling results released Tuesday.
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Supreme Court stays consideration of appeal
After determining a Monroe County appeal that came before the Indiana Court of Appeals was not an appeal of a final judgment, the Indiana Supreme Court has stayed its consideration of the case and remanded for the trial court to decide if it will enter a final appealable judgment.
Indiana Court Decisions, Nov. 22-Dec. 5
Read the Indiana appellate court decisions from the latest reporting period.
Judge pro tempore appointed for judge facing sex-based harassment claims
The Indiana Supreme Court has appointed a judge pro tempore to fill an upcoming vacancy in the Huntington Circuit Court as a sex-based harassment case against the current sitting judge continues to play out in federal court.
Indianapolis real estate attorney Karl Haas dies at 57
Indianapolis commercial real estate attorney Karl Haas died last week at the age of 57, his colleagues announced Monday.
COA affirms involuntary commitment
A Marion County man must remain in involuntary mental health commitment after the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld findings that he is gravely disabled and a danger to others.
Plaintiff in federal civil forfeiture case loses appeal
A Marion County defendant whose federal lawsuit caused a district court judge to throw out parts of Indiana’s civil forfeiture statute as unconstitutional has lost his appeal of his underlying conviction in state court.
Supreme Court declines to hear malpractice case
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied transfer to a legal malpractice case stemming from the fraudulent actions of now-disgraced Indianapolis attorney William Conour, letting stand a grant of summary judgment to a former Conour associate.
Civic education endowment started in McKinney’s honor
To support its civic education programs, the Indiana Bar Foundation is starting an endowment and will name it after one of the civic education’s biggest cheerleaders – the late Larry McKinney, senior judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Indianapolis mayor eyes anti-crime steps
Indianapolis officials say they’ll continue boosting the size of the city’s police force and expanding support for neighborhood anti-crime efforts in response to a seven-year trend of increasing homicides.
Opioid crisis strains foster system
The case arrives with all the routine of a traffic citation: A baby boy, just 4 days old and exposed to heroin in his mother’s womb, is shuddering through withdrawal in intensive care, his fate now here in a shabby courthouse that hosts a parade of human misery.
Legal tech experts: Virtual reality is coming to courts
Though the prospect of virtual reality as a litigation tool seems improbable now, legal tech experts predict that in coming years, VR will appear regularly in courtrooms. That time is likely still years away, they said, but predecessor technology is already popping up in court now, preparing jurors, judges and attorneys for the day when futuristic technology becomes commonplace.
Holcomb doubles Pence’s 4-year total of pardons in one day
Gov. Eric Holcomb issued six pardons on Nov. 20 — twice the absolutions granted by his predecessor, now-Vice President Mike Pence, during his four years as governor.
SCOTUS to decide whether patent challenges must be heard in court
In the wake of hefty attorney fees and an onslaught of what was viewed as unnecessary litigation filed by “patent trolls,” Congress authorized the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to begin conducting inter partes reviews of patent challenges in 2012 as an efficient and cost-effective alternative to patent litigation. But now, the popular IPR process could be in jeopardy as the United States Supreme Court considers whether federal law requires patent challenges to be adjudicated in court.
Task force researches improving Indiana’s public defender system
On the heels of criticism from a national organization and multiple lawsuits challenging Indiana’s public defender system, Indiana lawmakers and legal stakeholders are beginning to review the state’s public defense mechanisms to identify strategies for improvement.
COA overturns summary judgment in contract dispute
In the second appeal stemming from a cancelled contract between Lake County and a delinquent tax collector, the Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the county based on its precedent from a previous 2015 decision.
7th Circuit upholds qualified immunity
The Department of Correction’s religious director was entitled to qualified immunity on a complaint alleging he violated two Jewish plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by failing to delay their transfer to a facility that did not offer Jewish group worship services, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
COA throws out handgun, driving with suspended license convictions
After determining an inventory search of a man’s car was actually investigatory in nature, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned Monday the man’s conviction of possession of a handgun without a license. The court also threw out the man’s conviction of driving with a suspended license for lack of evidence.
Hill moves to intervene in case restricting local ICE detentions
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has filed a motion to intervene in a federal immigration case after a district court judge entered a consent decree barring the Marion County Sheriff’s Office from detaining illegal immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a warrant or probable cause. The decree implicates the state’s ability to enforce its own statutes, Hill argued, thus creating the need for the state to intervene and file an appeal.
7th Circuit upholds Armed Career Criminal Act sentence
An Indiana man sentenced to 15 years under the Armed Criminal Career Act has lost his appeal of his sentence after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined he met the requirements of three prior violent offenses to warrant the Act’s mandatory 15-year minimum.