Justices vacate transfer in pot bust case heard in Merrillville
A divided appellate court ruling upholding a marijuana conviction resulting from a tip that led to a traffic stop will stand after the Indiana Supreme Court vacated transfer.
Indiana Supreme Court
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Justices reinstate COA decision in Simon defamation suit
The Indiana Court of Appeals opinion reversing a Marion Superior judge’s denial of a California attorney’s motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Herbert Simon will stand. The state’s highest court split evenly over whether the trial court should have denied that motion.
Inbox: Court guts medical hearsay exception for children
Laurie Gray, a former prosecutor, writes about the recent Indiana Supreme Court decision’s impact on medical hearsay exception for child victims.
Lawyer who emailed nude film clip to harm ex-intern suspended 3 years
Indianapolis attorney Arthur J. Usher IV’s rejected romantic advances toward a summer intern led him to have his paralegal email more than 50 attorneys a video clip purporting to depict the former intern nude in a film, according to the Indiana Supreme Court. Usher’s bid to discredit and humiliate her while she was seeking employment resulted in a three-year suspension on Friday.
Class A felony sentences not inappropriate under Appellate Rule 7(B)
Two convicted child molesters will spend more time incarcerated after the Indiana Supreme Court ruled their sentences were not inappropriate under Appellate Rule 7(B).
Justices block Schiralli’s Lake County bench transfer
The Indiana Supreme Court blocked the transfer of a judge who sought to replace former Lake Superior Juvenile Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura after her appointment to head the Department of Child Services.
Justices rule in favor of Vincennes Girl Scouts in dispute over camp
Indiana Code 32-17-10-2 is unconstitutional as applied retroactively to a land-use restriction in a Vincennes Girl Scout organization’s deed requiring an Illinois Girl Scout group to use deeded land as a camp for 49 years.
Justices: Punitive damages cap, allocation do not violate Indiana Constitution
The Indiana Supreme Court unanimously reversed a Marion Superior judge’s 2011 decision in a sex-abuse case that held the statutes that cap punitive damages and dictate their allocation violate the Indiana Constitution.
Justices take commitment case involving man with Alzheimer’s disease
The Indiana Supreme Court will take a case that divided the Court of Appeals: whether a trial court is required to have a man with Alzheimer’s disease committed once an incompetency finding is made.
Sullivan: Mediation between Lake County judges, magistrates fails
Mediation ordered by the Indiana Supreme Court failed to settle a dispute among Lake County judges over a juvenile court vacancy, according to a report filed Wednesday by the former justice who tried to resolve the matter.
Justices suspend attorney for history of ‘unethical litigation practices’
The Indiana Supreme Court has handed down a three-year suspension to an Indianapolis attorney whose conduct “far exceeded zealous advocacy and included repeated abuse of the tools of the legal system.”
Rockport on the rocks
The Indiana Legislature leaves the fate of a derided coal gasification plant proposal to justices.
On the road, jurists give public access to appellate cases
It’s no accident that on a college campus in Richmond recently, the Indiana Supreme Court heard a case that involves allegations of hazing and potential liability for an incident at a Wabash College fraternity.
Justices take Star appeal regarding naming of online commenter
The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether the Indianapolis Star must reveal the identity of an online commenter in a long-running defamation case filed by a former executive of a nonprofit organization.
Justices will visit Lake County for arguments in drug case
The Indiana Supreme Court travels to Merrillville High School May 9 for oral arguments dealing with the admittance of drug evidence after a vehicle search.
Justices order new molestation trial after nurse’s statements admitted improperly
Ruling that statements two 6-year-olds made regarding alleged molestation to a nurse should not have been admitted under the hearsay exception in Ind. Rule of Evidence 803(4), the Indiana Supreme Court reversed two child molesting convictions and ordered a new trial.
Justices focus on hazing, duty in Wabash fraternity case
Indiana Supreme Court justices on Tuesday quizzed attorneys about what constitutes hazing and whether Wabash College and a fraternity chapter owed a duty to protect a pledge injured when fraternity brothers placed him in a chokehold then dropped him.
Women Lawyers Association to honor Rush, female jurists
The Lake County-based Women Lawyers Association will pay tribute to Indiana Justice Loretta Rush, the state’s second female justice, during a reception next month.
Indiana Supreme Court adds 2 cases, denies 22
The Indiana Supreme Court will review the case of a man whose attempted child exploitation convictions for secretly photographing minor girls in their underwear were overturned by a divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Justices suspend Bloomington attorney who arranged drug buy
Bloomington attorney David Schalk, who arranged a drug buy in 2007 in an attempt to impeach a witness’s credibility at trial, has been suspended for at least nine months by the Indiana Supreme Court.