7th Circuit reverses benefits denial; judge chastises process
Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner had harsh words for the Social Security Disability Office regarding vocational expert testimony: clean up your act.
Courts
Articles
Attorney to seek venue change in southern Indiana crash
A southern Indiana judge is scheduled to hear arguments next month on whether the trial of a man accused of driving while intoxicated in a deadly crash should be moved to another county because of media attention.
DNA evidence properly excluded in rape trial
A trial court was correct in not allowing evidence in a rape trial that DNA of an unknown male was collected from the victim two days after the incident, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed.
Woman breached settlement in trail construction dispute
The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that a Yorktown resident breached the terms of a settlement she reached with the town over easements to construct storm sewers and a residential trail when she declined to donate the easement for the trail unless other conditions were met.
Erroneous jury instruction leads to DWI conviction reversal
A jury instruction given at a man’s drunken-driving trial resulted in fundamental error because it contained a constitutionally impermissible evidentiary presumption, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded. As such, the court reversed the man’s conviction.
Erroneous jury instruction leads to DWI conviction reversal
A jury instruction given at a man’s drunken-driving trial resulted in fundamental error because it contained a constitutionally impermissible evidentiary presumption, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded. As such, the court reversed the man’s conviction.
COA: property conveyed with a restrictive covenant
The Indiana Court of Appeals Friday had to determine whether the conveyance of a school for park and recreational use was done so by a restrictive covenant or a fee simple with condition subsequent.
Judge: Tax board correctly reduced shopping center’s assessment
The Indiana Board of Tax Review did not err when it reduced the real property assessment of an Indianapolis shopping center by reinstating the previous year’s assessment, the Indiana Tax Court held Thursday.
City workers lose challenge to law, must quit to take office
Five Lake County civil servants lost their lawsuit challenging a state law that forbids them from serving in elected office in the same city that employs them.
District will comply with court order on Christmas show
A northern Indiana school district banned by a federal judge from including a live Nativity scene as part of its annual Christmas show says the show will go on without it.
35-year sentence sought for former head of Jared Foundation
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence the former director of a foundation created by longtime Subway spokesman Jared Fogle to 35 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for providing homemade child pornography to his former boss.
Justices to decide dealership relocation dispute
The Indiana Supreme Court is going to decide whether a Toyota dealership can relocate from Anderson to Fishers over the objections of three existing greater Indianapolis Toyota dealers.
Comment sought on reappointment of magistrate
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana wants to know whether a magistrate judge should be reappointed to a new eight-year term.
COA affirms dismissal of will contest
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a man’s will contest action involving his siblings, but for a different reason than the trial court.
Oscar Pistorius conviction: Explaining the law behind it
The heart of the murder case against Oscar Pistorius has relied on a section of South African criminal law known by the Latin term of dolus eventualis. The Supreme Court of Appeal decided Thursday that a lower court's reading of that was faulty and overturned its manslaughter conviction against the athlete, convicting him of murder.
Judge recuses self in suspected Indiana serial killings case
A man charged with strangling two women and suspected in the deaths of five other women whose bodies were found in abandoned homes in Gary is getting a new judge.
Target settles with banks over 2013 breach for $39M
Target Corp. will pay about $39 million to banks and credit unions to resolve losses from a 2013 holiday- season data breach, as retailers and financial institutions continue to grapple with the costs of major hacker attacks.
Forget the lawyers: Here’s what will decide the Volkswagen suits
Since the day it came out that Volkswagen AG cheated diesel-emissions tests, U.S. consumers have been suing and lawyers have been wrangling over where the cases will be heard. But for the cars’ owners and Volkswagen, that fight – the centerpiece of a hearing Thursday in New Orleans –doesn’t matter so much because the legal case is actually quite simple.
‘Elkhart Four’ ruling stands
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied the state’s petition for a rehearing in the "Elkhart Four" felony murder case.
Insurance agents denied summary judgment in lawsuit filed after fire
A man’s lawsuit will continue against an insurance agent and his agency after they insured his rental property but then denied coverage after a fire, alleging the man misrepresented the property’s condition.