Attorney registration fees set to increase nearly 25 percent will cover shortfalls in the judiciary programs they fund and give a temporary emergency boost to the state’s pro bono districts.
Children become consenting adults when they turn 18, but that’s also the age at which a few will seek to legally become someone’s son or daughter. Adult adoptions are fairly rare, but they’re sought for a host of reasons from the sentimental to the sensible, family law attorneys say.
Prosecutors, public defenders and judges around the state have been attending special seminars, updating computer programs and reading through the new criminal code in preparation for the switch. Many say they will need about six months before they feel comfortable with the new code, and they expect they will be juggling cases charged under the old code for at least another 12 to 18 months.
A task force at the recommendation of the Indiana Supreme Court recently looked at five areas concerning pro bono work and the reporting of hours, including whether attorneys' reported pro bono hours should be disclosed publicly.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Henry L. Shell, Jr. v. State of Indiana (NFP)
52A02-1307-CR-598
Criminal. Affirms aggregate 21-year sentence and convictions of Class B felony neglect of a dependent, Class D felony battery and Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.
Indiana Supreme Court and Indiana Tax Court issued no opinions by IL deadline Monday.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Center for Inquiry, Inc., and Reba Boyd Wooden v. Marion Circuit Court Clerk and Marion County Prosecutor
12-3751
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Reverses the denial of an injunction to prevent the state from enforcing the marriage solemnization statute. Rules Indiana’s statute that prohibits officials of secular groups such as humanist societies from solemnizing marriages violates the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
A long-running dispute between the owners and former owners of a home with electrical and structural issues will return to the Indiana Supreme Court, one of four cases justices added last week
Finding that Indiana’s statute specifying who many solemnize marriage “discriminates arbitrarily among religious and ethical beliefs,” the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state must allow certified secular humanist celebrants to perform wedding ceremonies.
A dispute over work done on a 1973 Dodge Challenger led the Indiana Court of Appeals Monday to find the car’s owner may challenge a mechanic’s lien that a shop used to auction the car.
As the Indiana Supreme Court continues to consider mandating all Indiana attorneys report the number of pro bono hours they work, a task force has proposed that the donated hours be disclosed publicly only in an aggregate form rather than identifying the number of pro bono hours performed by an individual or a firm.
U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett announced Monday he is resigning from office effective July 31 after leading the federal prosecutor’s office for the Southern District of Indiana since October 2010.
Attorneys on Friday asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to step in on behalf of hundreds of same-sex couples who were wed before a federal appeals court stayed an order striking down Indiana's gay marriage ban.
A juror who gave the lone vote to acquit and eventually refused to deliberate did not meet the criteria for removal, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Indiana Court of Appeals
In the Matter of the Adoption of D.M.B., D.P.B. (Father) v. T.M.N. (Stepfather) (NFP)
53A01-1312-AD-547
Adoption. Affirms grant of stepfather’s petition of adoption.
Andrea M. Fears and Edwin G. Fears v. Charles W. Asxom and Peggy L. Axsom as Trustees of the Charles W. Axsom and Peggy L. Axsom Revocable Trust (NFP)
07A04-1305-PL-243
Civil plenary. Affirms denial of the Fearses’ motion for summary judgment.
Racxon Cruze McDowell v. State of Indiana (NFP)
82A01-1311-CR-492
Criminal. Affirms conviction of murder.
In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: D.R., Minor Child, and A.R., Father v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (NFP)
79A04-1312-JT-614
Juvenile. Affirms involuntary termination of father A.R.’s parental rights to D.R.
Damon Quarles v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1306-CR-588
Criminal. Affirms denial of petition for credit time not previously awarded.
The Indiana Supreme Court and Tax Court posted no opinions by IL deadline. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals posted no Indiana opinions by IL deadline.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Scott A. Wright v. State of Indiana
45A05-1310-CR-526
Criminal. Vacates Wright’s conviction of Class A felony child molesting and remands for a new trial. Finds the trial court erred in replacing a juror during deliberations. The juror was the lone vote to acquit and had stopped deliberating but he was not prejudicing the other jurors nor impairing Wright’s right to a trial by jury. Moreover, the trial court failed to explain to the jury that the removal of the single juror was not because the court agreed or disagreed with the juror’s views.
The next chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court will be chosen by the Judicial Nominating Commission Aug. 6, the court announced Friday.
While a majority of the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed an Indianapolis man’s trespassing conviction, another judge warned in dissent that the ruling went against the tenet of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
A former federal prosecutor is being hired by Ball State University to review the handling of fraudulent investments that cost the school $13.1 million.
Attorneys for a central Indiana county treasurer want charges that he mishandled public money dismissed, arguing that other officials who've done the same thing haven't been prosecuted.
An injunction against an employee who allegedly told a company therapist that he was going to blow his supervisor’s head off is void because it arose from a labor dispute, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.