Prosecutors indict 36 in alleged insurance fraud scheme
Federal prosecutors have indicted 36 people in an insurance fraud scheme alleging that they staged car crashes and filed false insurance claims.
Evansville
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Judge: Private Facebook messages fair game at arson trial
A judge has declined to prevent private Facebook messages from being considered as evidence at the trial of two people charged in an Evansville marina fire.
SWAT busted in ‘disturbing’ Evansville home raid
A violent, destructive and ultimately misguided SWAT team search of an Evansville home captured on helmet-cam video was “disturbing” and “cannot have helped race relations in Evansville,” a federal appeals court said July 31.
Judge seats accused Best Chairs trademark infringer in Indiana
Online merchants who have sold more than $6 million worth of chairs with names that allegedly infringe on a longtime Indiana manufacturer’s trademarks will have to answer the claims in federal court in Evansville, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Local efforts to limit Fourth of July festivities fizzle
Not everyone is having a blast over the explosion of fireworks use in Indiana in recent years. But local attempts so far to curb the concussions have bombed.
ITCA does not apply to lawsuit challenging local firearm law
An Evansville man suing the city for enforcing a local law prohibiting firearms in public parks is not effectively bringing a tort claim, as the city argued in its motion on the pleadings. The Court of Appeals affirmed denial of the city’s motion, finding the claim is being brought pursuant to I.C. 35-47-11.1-5, which creates a private right of action for individuals to enforce that statute’s provisions.
Proposed rule bans T-shirts, gum-chewing in courtrooms
A new rule being considered by judges in a southwestern Indiana county would prohibit lawyers, litigants and spectators from wearing T-shirts or shorts or chewing gum in courtrooms.
Courts closed in southern Indiana due to weather
Severe weather and emergency travel restrictions have closed several federal courts in southern Indiana. The Evansville and New Albany offices of the U.S. District and Bankruptcy courts for the Southern District of Indiana are closed Thursday. The Clark County Government Building, which houses the Circuit courts, is also closed.
Justices affirm death penalty for man who killed 2 children
A Vanderburgh County man convicted of the murders of his girlfriend’s eight- and five-year-old children after setting fire to hishome in 2010 will remain on death row. The Indiana Supreme Court declined to reverse his convictions or revise his sentence.
Ex-Martin County judge pleads guilty to failing to pay income tax
One-time Martin Circuit judge and county prosecutor Robert J. Howell pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he failed to pay more than $66,000 in taxes on receipts from his law firm in Loogootee.
Ex-Evansville official gets 4 years for money laundering
A federal judge has sentenced a former Evansville Redevelopment Commission member to four years in prison for money laundering.
Defense wants statements omitted at Indiana fatal fire trial
Defense attorneys for an Evansville man accused of starting a deadly March fire have asked a judge to keep statements he made to police from being used at trial.
Woman can sue Evansville over bungled SWAT raid
A woman who was 68 years old when her home was raided in 2012 by an Evansville SWAT team tracking down online threats against police can sue the city for unreasonable use of force, a federal judge has ruled.
Artwork honoring Shepard has ‘stalled’
A plan by the inaugural class of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Leadership Development Academy to honor retired Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard has unraveled, and class members are preparing to consider several options for moving forward, including scrapping the project altogether.
Keeping death certification accessible is ‘victory for the public’
Both the Hoosier State Press Association and the Indiana attorney general are applauding the Indiana Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday that cause of death information is public.
Unanimous Supreme Court holds death certificates are public records
Taking what it called a “plain reading” of the state statute, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled death certificates which include the cause of death are public records and should be available to anyone who requests access.
Evansville’s Rudolph Fine merges with Jackson Kelly
A 20-lawyer firm in Evansville announced its merger with one of the nation’s 250 largest law firms effective July 1.
Church lacks standing to appeal order preventing erection of crosses on city property
An Evansville church that sought to display multiple six-foot-tall crosses along the city’s public Riverfront cannot appeal the court order that prevents the city from allowing the display, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
Pawn shop owner loses case based on ‘class-of-one’ theory
An Evansville pawn shop owner couldn’t convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that the state singled him out for disparate treatment without a rational basis when it initially denied his application for a pawnbroking license.
Justices reverse, reinstate wrongful death claim against nursing home
The estate of a woman who died in a nursing home after an attack by another resident may pursue a wrongful death claim, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The family was initially told the woman suffered a fall but learned of the attack years later.