COA affirms for biological father in paternity dispute
A mother contesting a paternity petition concerning her child could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday that her motion for summary judgment was wrongly denied.
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Federal defenders decry ‘structural racism’ after George Floyd’s killing
A sweeping majority of the nation’s federal public defenders – including for the Southern District of Indiana – are calling with a unified voice for reforms of a criminal justice system they say “turns a blind eye to oppressive structural racism.”
Pandemic means a silent June at the Supreme Court
The coronavirus pandemic has kept justices of the United States Supreme Court from their courtroom since March and forced them to change their ways in many respects. Now, in their season of weighty decisions, instead of the drama that can accompany the announcement of a majority decision and its biting dissent, the court’s opinions are being posted online without an opportunity for the justices to be heard.
Grandfather’s sexual misconduct with a minor conviction upheld
A man who sexually abused his granddaughter and tried to allege that her father could have been the “source” of her resultant pregnancy had his convictions upheld by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
7th Circuit affirms firearms convictions in light of key SCOTUS ruling
In what it called its first precedential decision concerning convictions upon jury verdicts in federal firearms cases after a key US Supreme Court decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the convictions of three men who argued that their indictments and jury instructions were missing an element.
Divided 7th Circuit reinstates manufacturing sales commission dispute
A divided panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated a sales commission dispute, though the dissenting judge would hold that the Northern District of Indiana’s grant of summary judgment was proper.
Supreme Court declines to take Bernie Madoff trustee case
The Supreme Court of the United States is leaving in place a ruling that allows the trustee recovering money for investors in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme to pursue more than $4 billion that went to overseas investors.
New judge for suit seeking to remove AG Hill might come from justices
The Marion County clerk — or maybe the Indiana Supreme Court — will have to appoint a new judge to hear a case challenging Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s eligibility to continue to serve in office as he serves his suspension from the practice of law related to accusations of groping and sexual misconduct.
Supreme Court expands trial court tolling amid COVID-19 backlog
The Indiana Supreme Court is taking steps to help trial courts handle the coming backlog of cases, extending certain emergency operations due to the COVID-19 public health emergency through as late as January 2021.
Supreme Court upholds Puerto Rico financial oversight board
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the oversight board established by Congress to help Puerto Rico out of a devastating financial crisis that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak, recent earthquakes and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017. The justices reversed a lower court ruling that threatened to throw the island’s recovery efforts into chaos.
Ex-Indiana prisons worker charged with murder in stabbings
A former Indiana Department of Correction worker is charged with murder and other offenses in the stabbing earlier this month of three people, two of them fatally, according to documents released Friday during a hearing.
SCOTUS rejects challenge to COVID-19 limits on church services
A divided Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal by a California church that challenged state limits on attendance at worship services that have been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Appeals court again denies injunction in Lake Monroe logging case
The Indiana Court of Appeals has again rejected a Monroe County resident’s requested preliminary injunction that would prevent logging from taking place on land near his home.
Justices strip award of attorney fees in Utica billboard dispute
The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday threw out an award of more than $237,000 in attorney fees in a lawsuit over seven billboards outside Utica, Indiana. Justices found the Clark Circuit Court lacked a basis for awarding fees to the parties who sued a regional development entity that sought to restrict billboards along State Road 265 just north of Louisville.
Fired IDEM employee loses appeal in whistleblower dispute
A former environmental chemist who was fired from his longstanding position at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management could not convince a panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals that he was terminated for being a whistleblower.
Suspect who claims self-defense in judges’ shooting jailed without bond on minor violation
The man accused of shooting two judges during an Indianapolis altercation more than a year ago — and whose attorneys unsuccessfully pressed for the release of surveillance video of the incident they say backs up his self-defense claim — is back behind bars, held without bond after a minor pretrial release violation. The arrest on a warrant appears to conflict with an Indiana Supreme Court order for trial courts to issue arrest warrants only in emergency cases due to concern about the spread of COVID-19 behind bars.
Appeals court affirms for used car buyer in defaulted sales contract dispute
An auto dealer couldn’t sway an appellate court’s ruling for one of the dealer’s customers after the court found the man who immediately had problems with the vehicle hadn’t defaulted on his sales contract because payment was not due.
Word substitution causes trouble, but plea agreement stands
A Fayette County man’s confusion about a state statute complicated by a prosecutor’s poor word choice drew some sympathy from the Indiana Court of Appeals but was not enough to win a reversal.
Appellate court dismisses case involving father’s DCS dispute
An appellate court has dismissed a case involving allegations made against a father to the Indiana Department of Child Services, finding that it doesn’t have jurisdiction over the proceedings in his case.
Hammond zoning suit over deck near property line goes back to trial court
A zoning lawsuit over a deck that violates Hammond’s zoning ordinance by being too close to a neighbor’s side yard was reinstated by the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday. The appeals court found that in dismissing the suit, judges had misapplied an affirmative defense that the landowner had not pleaded.