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New legal center opens in Marion County

The Marion Superior Court Family Resource Center – created by the Family Court Project for families with legal disputes – opens Monday and will offer easier access to information about legal and social services resources. The center will provide resources and referrals for various services such as domestic violence, protective orders, substance-abuse treatment options, and how to find an attorney. Residents filing pro se will be able to view videos that walk them through the self-representation process, as well as use…

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Lack of surgery doesn’t support jury instruction

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a jury award and remanded for a new trial after ruling there was insufficient evidence to support an affirmative defense of a failure to mitigate damages instruction to the jury because a plaintiff failed to have surgery. In Elwood and Lila Simmons v. Erie Insurance Exchange, No. 32A04-0710-CV-552, the couple appealed a judgment awarding them each $10,000 following an automobile accident involving Elwood and another driver, who was at fault. They filed a complaint seeking underinsured…

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Former Marion Superior Court judge dies

A former Marion Superior Court judge and Indianapolis City-County councilor died March 5 of natural causes. Judge Z. Mae Jimison was the first African-American woman to serve as judge in Marion Superior Court. Judge Jimison, 64, served on the bench from 1996 to 2002 and spent much of that time creating and supervising Marion County’s Drug Court. In 1999, she applied to become a justice on the Indiana Supreme Court after Justice Myra C. Selby announced she would step down to return to…

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Tinder authors first 7th Circuit opinion

Judge John Tinder, formerly of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana, now on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, released his first authored opinion today with the federal appellate court. Judge Tinder joined the 7th Circuit in January. Judge Tinder wrote the 22-page opinion in Jeanette Petts v. Rockledge Furniture LLC, a division of Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., No. 07-1989, in which he and Judges Kenneth Ripple and Diane Sykes affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court, Western…

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Profession marks 50th Law Day today

Bar associations and courts in Indiana and nationwide are celebrating Law Day this week. Today marks the official 50th anniversary, according to the American Bar Association, which has named this year’s theme, “Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity.”Today, Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard was scheduled to speak at a luncheon and award presentation in Fort Wayne, while members of the St. Joseph and Lake County bar associations, among other attorneys around Indiana, will speak to high school and junior high…

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Parts of Indiana Code now in Spanish

Select portions of the 2006 and 2007 Indiana Code have been translated into Spanish, the Indiana Supreme Court has announced. An alphabetical index of terms and a glossary outlining topic areas also were translated. The goal of the translation is to better serve the Spanish-speaking population and those who represent them. By translating some of the basic codes, interpreters will be able to use the same terms for charges and it will create a standard document of legal terminology. The translations…

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COA panel to consider public access

A three-judge Indiana Court of Appeals panel wants to know why parties have not submitted what it calls “a meaningful public access set of briefs” related to product-liability claims against Indianapolis-based Guidant Corp. The state’s second highest appellate court has a public hearing scheduled for 11 a.m. March 25 in Allianz Insurance Co., et al. v. Guidant Corp., et al., No. 49A05-0704-CV-216, where judges will consider the balance of public interest for access with the need for restricting access relating to the Marion…

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Allen County judge regrets misconduct

An Allen County judge has publicly expressed his deep regret for failing to control his emotions late last year when he verbally berated members of a defendant’s family following a sentencing hearing.Allen Superior Judge Kenneth R. Scheibenberger filed a formal answer Aug. 8 to the charges lodged against him July 15 by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications. The judicial disciplinary body has charged him with four counts of misconduct for his behavior in a fellow jurist’s courtroom in November.At that…

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Justices rule on sentencing scheme

The Indiana Supreme Court has once again influenced the state’s criminal sentencing scheme in a pair of rulings that are the latest in a post-Blakely world.Justices issued decisions Thursday in Rosalio Pedraza v. State of Indiana, No. 49S04-0711-CR-516, and Michael Sweatt v. State of Indiana, No. 49S02-0805-CR-290, which when read together offer trial courts guidance about using a person’s criminal history and enhancing penalties.The court held that double enhancements are allowed using a single element of criminal history, but consecutive sentences can’t be…

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Post-conviction relief case gets transfer

The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer May 2 to a case in which the defendant was denied post-conviction relief. In Roderick Lee v. State of Indiana, No. 27A04-0705-PC-257, Lee filed a petition for relief asserting he received ineffective assistance from his trial and appellate counsel. The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected Lee’s arguments that his trial and appellate counsel – the same attorney – was ineffective because the attorney failed to argue that entering judgments on Lee’s convictions of burglary and attempted robbery violate…

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Court amends public accessibility, other rules

The Indiana Supreme Court has revised its administrative and appellate rules governing how trial courts make records publicly accessible and how appeals are handled in certain cases requiring confidentiality.

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ACLU wins day-old political-sign suit

Within a day of filing a federal lawsuit regarding Plainfield's ordinance restricting political campaign signs, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana can claim another win on an issue that's becoming more prominent statewide.

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Judge argues for suspension, not removal

A Marion Superior judge who's been suspended from the bench pending a final decision from the Indiana Supreme Court believes his penalty should fall somewhere between a public reprimand and removal.

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Future SCOTUS justices topic of event

With at least two anticipated vacancies on the United States Supreme Court within the next four years and numerous more vacancies at the Circuit and District Court levels, President-Elect Barack Obama will possibly appoint two U.S. Supreme Court justices in his first term in office.

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Judge: Sex offender law goes too far

Those registered sex offenders who’ve served their time and are no longer on probation or under court supervision cannot be required to give blanket consent to authorities for home and computer searches, the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana’s chief judge ruled late afternoon on June 24.U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton in Indianapolis struck down a major portion of a new law set to take effect July 1, which would have required all convicted sex offenders to agree to…

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Governor appoints Bluffton judge

Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed a new Bluffton City Court judge Feb. 28, choosing a retired car dealership owner. Robert J. Bate succeeds Judge Gary Markley, who resigned Jan. 15.Bate was owner and president of Bob Bate Chevrolet Inc. in Ossian from 1979 to 2000. He was elected five times to serve on the Bluffton City Council between 1987 and 2007. Bate’s appointment is effective immediately.

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Technical glitch, now fixed, hits revised opinions

Attorneys who logged on this morning to the Indiana Judiciary Web site to read and print opinions were met with a challenge: you could view, but couldn’t print.The first Court of Appeals opinions of the New Year were password protected and locked so that people accessing the online opinions were unable to print them.That was an internal, unintended glitch and the problem’s been resolved, according to Supreme Court Administrator and Appellate Clerk Kevin Smith.The opinions posted earlier this morning disappeared temporarily…

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Non-violent orders challenged

The Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence with the assistance of pro bono attorneys in Baker & Daniels’ Indianapolis office filed notice of appeal July 22 for two non-violent contact orders issued in Marion County. The non-violent distinction means that the respondent can have contact with the petitioner as long as it isn’t violent contact. Earlier on the same day in Indianapolis, Carl Wills allegedly killed his ex-wife, April Wills, her boyfriend, and then killed himself. Records show that Carl had a history of…

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