Articles

Man gets 5 years for threatening to bomb Lafayette courthouse

A man who threatened to bomb a northwestern Indiana courthouse, prompting the building’s evacuation, has been sentenced to five years in prison. A special judge sentenced 48-year-old Michael Battering on Friday after detailing the lengthy criminal history he had amassed before he threatened to bomb the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette.

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Indiana couple accused of ditching adopted girl, moving to Canada

Indiana prosecutors have charged a couple with abandoning their adopted daughter in 2013 and moving to Canada, renting an apartment in Lafayette for the then-11-year-old girl but otherwise leaving her to fend for herself. Prosecutors in Tippecanoe County filed neglect charges Wednesday against 45-year-old Kristine Elizabeth Barnett and 43-year-old Michael Barnett.

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Bloomington, Lafayette attorneys honored by ISBA

Attorneys from opposite ends of the state were honored for their contributions to the legal profession Friday during the Indiana State Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Conference. Joseph D. O’Connor, an attorney with Bunger & Robertson in Bloomington, and Jack L. Walkey of Ball Eggleston P.C. in Lafayette each received the GP Hall of Fame Award from the ISBA’s General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section.

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Judgment for INDOT upheld in fatal crash litigation

Even though the Indiana Department of Transportation declined to install a traffic signal at a Tippecanoe County intersection where a deadly crash later occurred, the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld summary judgment for the department, finding it was immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act.

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Dismissal of lawyer’s defamation suit against magistrate affirmed

A Lafayette attorney alleging a Tippecanoe County magistrate defamed him by reporting he was carrying a firearm in court in violation of state law lost his appeal of the dismissal of his defamation case when the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded the magistrate was acting within her judicial capacity.

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Jurors deadlock on life sentence for 2 slayings in Indiana

Jurors have deadlocked on whether to recommend a sentence of life in prison for a 24-year-old Evansville man convicted of murder and robbery in the 2017 slayings of two people in southwest Indiana. Jurors were dismissed Thursday after deadlocking on the question. They convicted Deshay Hackner on Wednesday in the deaths of 29-year-old Dewone Broomfield and his girlfriend, 28-year-old Mary Woodruff.

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Settlement allows anti-abortion ad to run on Lafayette buses

An anti-abortion group’s advertisement depicting a growing fetus is being allowed on public buses in a northwestern Indiana city following the settlement of a free speech lawsuit. Court documents filed Monday show Lafayette’s public bus service, CityBus, agreed to run Tippecanoe County Right to Life’s ad on a bus for up to 16 months.

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