Courts

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld fines against two men convicted of defrauding investors, finding a reasonable jury would have found them guilty of scienter even though the defendants didn’t take the stand. In Thursday’s ruling in United States Securities and Exchange Commission v. Melvin R. Lyttle and Paul E. Knight, Nos. 07-2466, 07-2467, Melvin Lyttle and Paul Knight appealed the $110,000 fines each got following a grant of summary judgment in favor of the SEC on a variety of…

The Indiana Supreme Court threw out a life-without-parole sentence for felony murder because there wasn’t proof the killing was “intentional,” as state law requires for that penalty.In Hobert Alan Pittman v. State of Indiana, No. 31S00-0610-CR-355, Hobert Alan Pittman appealed his convictions and sentence of two consecutive life sentences for murdering his father and stepgrandmother, as well as a 73-year sentence for convictions of attempted murder, theft, auto theft, and conspiracy to commit burglary. Pittman’s stepmother, Linda, and stepgrandmother, Myrtle, were returning…

A group of about two dozen public administrators from Kazakhstan are in Indianapolis today learning about the state and local courts systems. The group visited the Marion County courts this afternoon.Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of Marion Superior Court welcomed them and gave an introduction about Marion County courts. She discussed the election process and the day-to-day work of a judge. After learning about our judicial system, the group toured several courtrooms and watched a jury trial, said Marion County Court Administrator Glenn…

An Indiana attorney convicted of sexual battery, criminal confinement and interference with reporting of a crime was sentenced March 6 in Porter Circuit Court. Michael Haughee had been found guilty of assaulting a woman in a wheelchair. Haughee received a concurrent sentence on all three counts of one year in jail and one year supervised probation. The Griffith attorney wasn’t immediately taken into custody because Porter Circuit Judge Mary Harper agreed to consider whether to stay his jail sentence pending an appeal, said Porter…

Frustrated with the parties involved in the litigation, the Indiana Court of Appeals April 17 reversed a trial court’s ruling in a case involving public-access laws, fraud, and an insurer’s duty to defend.In Allianz Insurance Company, et al. v. Guidant Corporation, et al., No. 49A05-0704-CV-216, Chief Judge John Baker wrote the unanimous opinion regarding the “monstrosity of a litigation that has crossed state lines” is a straightforward dispute about when and whether an insurer’s duty to defend had been triggered. The judge cited the…

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a magistrate judge’s ruling in favor of a Michigan company on claims that it was negligent in managing an Indiana trust that eventually collapsed. Magistrate Judge John Paul Godich, of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana’s Indianapolis Division, granted summary judgment in favor of Benefit Actuaries on Indiana Funeral Directors Insurance Trust’s claims that Benefit violated its fiduciary duty under ERISA, and negligently failed to provide competent advice while managing the trust.The…