COA to hear license plate args in Greencastle
The Indiana Court of Appeals travels to Greencastle Oct. 14 to hear arguments in a case involving Indiana's "In God We Trust" license plates.
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Justices deny transfer in Home Place appeal
The Indiana Supreme Court won’t consider the annexation battle between Carmel and Home Place.Attorneys received notice March 4 about the court’s 5-0 transfer denial in City of Carmel, Indiana v. Certain Home Place Annexation Territory Landowners, No. 29A04-0510-CV-578, which an online docket entry shows the court made Feb. 28.This means the Oct. 17, 2007, decision by the Court of Appeals stands. The appellate court had ruled in favor of Carmel, holding the city adequately proved it could afford to annex the 1.6-square-mile…
Split court chooses suspension, not disbarment
The Indiana Supreme Court today suspended a Bloomington attorney for at least three years, though the chief justice and another justice wanted disbarment because this is the lawyer’s fourth disciplinary proceeding since being admitted in 1970.The disciplinary decision came in the form of an 11-page per curiam opinion, In the Matter of David J. Colman, No 53S00-0607-DI-248. The court found that Colman engaged in attorney misconduct in several estate planning tasks: by participating in preparation of a will for a non-relative…
Judges differ on insurance coverage
A panel of Indiana Court of Appeals judges disagreed about whether a school bus driver who also worked as an independent farmer over the summer should be covered by the school corporation's insurance following a car accident while hauling grain.
Court suspends Evansville attorney
The Indiana Supreme Court today suspended an Evansville attorney who pleaded guilty to methamphetamine charges and received a six-year sentence in June.In its interim suspension notice dated July 14 In the Matter of Teresa L. Perry, No. 82S00-0806-DI-00307, the court ordered that the attorney is immediately suspended. Perry had been practicing law in the state since November 2000. The order remains in effect until further notice from the court.Perry had pleaded guilty in April to two counts of dealing a controlled…
Attorney killed in car accident
Merrillville defense attorney Garry Weiss, 53, was killed Tuesday night in a car crash in northern Indiana. Police responded to the three-car crash around 10 p.m. Tuesday in Merrillville. The preliminary investigation shows a Jeep Grand Cherokee ran a stop sign and struck two cars, one of which Weiss was driving. The driver of the Grand Cherokee and the two people inside the Chevy Blazer were also killed. Police believe speed was a contributing factor in the crash. Weiss had his…
Circuit examines ministerial exception
Two former administrators of Salvation Army thrift stores in Indianapolis are appealing their lawsuit against the non-profit organization on grounds that they were wrongly denied overtime pay in violation of a federal labor law.But at issue in their federal case is whether they’re classified as “employees” and whether a religious freedom exception barring courts from getting involved in church management can be applied to their employment law claims.The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday in Steve and Lorrie Schleicher…
Justices rule on ‘workplace bullying’ case
The phrase “workplace bully” was applicable to a plaintiff’s claims of assault and is an entirely appropriate consideration in determining issues before a jury, ruled the Indiana Supreme Court April 8. However, the court did not define in the opinion what makes a “workplace bully.” The majority of Indiana Supreme Court justices affirmed the trial court jury verdict of $325,000 and judgment on a claim for assault against a surgeon.In Daniel H. Raess, M.D., v. Joseph E. Doescher, No. 49S02-0710-CV-424, Dr. Raess…
Justices: Arrest was valid
The Indiana Supreme Court has reversed a Marion County judge’s ruling that officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department don’t have arresting authority because they didn’t take an official oath following a merger.A unanimous ruling came today in State v. Cheryl Oddi-Smith, 49S00-0710-CR-396, which stems from Marion Superior Judge Rueben Hill’s decision involving a three-car accident and subsequent drunk driving arrest a year ago. He ruled that Oddi-Smith’s arrest was illegal because the arresting officer was not sworn in after the Jan….
Court affirms probation revocation
The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the revocation of a man’s probation and imposition of a 12-year sentence for his probation violation even though the trial court erred in not allowing him to explain why he missed his mandatory drug screenings. In Brian Woods v. State of Indiana, No.49S04-0808-CR-469, the court examined the concept and implications of a “strict compliance” probation, which Woods was on after previously failing to make mandatory drug screenings. The trial court warned him that if he violated his…
COA travels to Muncie, Oakland City
The Indiana Court of Appeals will make stops this week in Muncie and Oakland City to hear arguments in a public intoxication appeal and a negligence suit.On Tuesday, the appellate court visits Pruis Hall at Ball State University to hear arguments in Melissa Christian v. State, 49A02-0803-CR-272, in which Melissa Christian is appealing her Class B misdemeanor public intoxication conviction. She argues that because she was found by police in a parking area adjacent to a private residence, there is insufficient…
SCOTUS hears pro se competency case
The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments this morning in its third Indiana case in the past six months, pondering whether defendants found competent to stand trial maintain a right to represent themselves.In its first case of the morning at 10 a.m., justices took on Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards, No. 07-208, delving into what the Sixth Amendment dictates regarding competency standards for pro se litigants. Indiana Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher argued for the state and shared his time…
Justices split on rental restriction case
In a ruling that could be the first of its kind in the nation, a divided Indiana Supreme Court Thursday afternoon reversed a lower court’s ruling that a Kokomo subdivision’s covenant restricting rentals violated the federal Fair Housing Act because of potential racial implications.The state’s highest court has been quiet on the issue since hearing arguments in October 2006, but it simultaneously decided to grant transfer and issue an opinion in the case of Villas West II of Willowridge v. Edna…
Federal magistrate faces Senate committee
A federal magistrate nominated to become a Southern District of Indiana judge went before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday afternoon.Magistrate William Lawrence from Indianapolis faced committee members in Washington, D.C., to discuss why he should be promoted within the federal court’s ranks. President George W. Bush selected him in February to succeed Judge John D. Tinder, whom the Senate confirmed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last year. Magistrate Lawrence was appointed in November 2002 but had worked at…
Judicial nominees submitted to governor
The St. Joseph Superior Court Judicial Nomination Commission submitted five names today to Gov. Mitch Daniels to fill an upcoming vacancy after St. Joseph Superior Judge William T. Means retires Sept. 30.
Indiana has voice in Second Amendment case
For the first time in 70 years, the U.S. Supreme Court is testing the scope of the Second Amendment and could decide what “the right to keep and bear arms” means for the 21st century.Justices will consider the question Tuesday morning in District of Columbia v. Heller, 07-290, which involves a citizen’s challenge to a Washington, D.C., law banning him from keeping a handgun in his home.At issue is to what extent the gun rights amendment to the Constitution applies to…
Settlement may be largest of its kind: State agency resolves federal lawsuit that began with legal malpractice claim
An Indianapolis law firm has been holding its breath for two years. Ever since getting hit with a potentially devastating $17.9 million jury verdict on a legal malpractice claim in state court, the 45-year-old law firm Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Towe hasn’t been able to put the focus on its daily client business without acknowledging that dark storm cloud hovering overhead. Now, the storm cloud has dissolved. In what may be the state’s largest-ever liquidation return of its kind, the Indiana…
Magistrate up for nomination vote
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday morning on whether a federal magistrate in Indianapolis should be elevated to district judge for the Southern District of Indiana.A nomination vote for Magistrate William Lawrence is on the committee’s agenda for the 10 a.m. meeting. The Indianapolis magistrate, who’s been on the bench since 2002, went before the Senate committee in early May for his confirmation hearing. The president had selected him in February for the seat.If affirmed by the…
Test run for SCOTUS arguments
An Indiana case goes up to the U.S. Supreme Court in the final week of March to determine whether a man who’s been found competent to stand trial is competent to represent himself in those court proceedings.Before that happens, though, the defense team representing the Indianapolis man is at the University of Illinois College of Law in Chicago getting a test run today in a mock argument of Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards, No. 07-208, which will go before the nation’s highest court…
Fishers company loses Marilyn Monroe suit
An intellectual property licensing firm in Fishers has lost a federal lawsuit involving iconic images of the late actress Marilyn Monroe and the right of publicity.