Indiana

Public defender’s text to prostitute on phone in police possession leads to suspension

An Indiana public defender whose troubles began when he texted a prostitute’s cellphone while it was in police possession has been suspended from law practice for a year, without automatic reinstatement. The Indiana Supreme Court suspended Christopher Hollander in a March 24 opinion noted by the Legal Profession Blog. Hollander…

Mar 30, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Homeless man gets job offers after he seeks maximum sentence for bank robbery

A homeless man in Indiana is getting some job offers after telling a judge he would plead guilty to bank robbery if he got the maximum sentence. David Potchen was on probation for a prior bank robbery and working as a welder when he was laid off from his job…

Mar 3, 2015 8:05 AM CST

Cop uses crowdfunding to pay for DNA test and gets pulled from case

An Indianapolis police detective exceeded his financial goal on Tuesday when he used crowdfunding to raise money for a DNA test in a cold case murder. But it’s unclear whether police officials will authorize the test by a Utah lab that uses DNA to identify genetic descent, the Indianapolis Star…

Feb 27, 2015 9:15 AM CST

NFL launches ‘Deflategate’ probe of Patriots win; could Super Bowl be disrupted?

The NFL is investigating to determine whether under-inflated footballs were used by the New England Patriots in the team’s winning AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday. The Patriots are cooperating with the NFL in the “Deflategate” probe, which could potentially disrupt the scheduled Feb. 1 Super Bowl…

Jan 21, 2015 12:15 PM CST

Indiana University law professor William Henderson named ‘most influential’ person in legal ed

Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor William Henderson has been named the year’s most influential person in legal education by the National Jurist magazine. Henderson, a staunch believer in the need for change in legal education, is no stranger to the list. He placed second in the magazine’s rankings…

Jan 8, 2015 3:30 PM CST

‘Tis the season for lawsuits over holiday displays

A Florida city began litigating in February over the expected holiday display extravaganza at the Plantation Acres home of Mark and Kathy Hyatt, who were featured last year in The Great Christmas Light Fight but lost the $50,000 contest to a family in Georgia. Nonetheless, the case is still ongoing…

Dec 19, 2014 4:10 PM CST

Odor in the court! Another judge complains of ‘repugnant stench’ from filing by state AG’s office

It wasn’t the legal arguments made by the Indiana attorney general’s office that caused several state appeals judges to sniff out a problem with its legal briefs. The filings literally stink, the jurists complained, comparing the smell to cigarette or pipe smoke, according to Above the Law and the Indianapolis…

Dec 18, 2014 4:40 PM CST

Mayor says FBI cleared 2 officers in chaotic arrest after seat-belt stop, returns them to duty

Two police officers in Hammond, Indiana, who were involved in a chaotic arrest after stopping a car because the driver and a front-seat passenger weren’t wearing seat belts, have been returned to duty. The family, who are black, allege in a federal civil rights suit that the officers, who are…

Nov 25, 2014 4:40 PM CST

Lawyer is reprimanded for including noncompete provision in associate’s contract

An Indiana lawyer has been reprimanded for including a noncompete clause in an associate’s contract and telling clients after firing the associate that he would be taking over their cases. Lawyer Frank Hanley was reprimanded Nov. 6. The Legal Profession Blog noted the case and linked to the order (PDF).…

Nov 19, 2014 1:14 PM CST

Lawyer couple are charged in home invasion and stabbing

Two Virginia lawyers who are husband and wife are accused in the home invasion and stabbing of a couple at their McLean home Sunday. Lawyers Alecia Schmuhl, 30, and Andrew Schmuhl, 31, of Springfield, Virginia, are charged with abduction and malicious wounding in the Sunday night incident, the Washington Post,…

Nov 12, 2014 1:00 PM CST

Ex-Navy SEAL sues lawyer, says bad advice about best-selling Osama bin Laden book cost him millions

Recently profiled on 60 Minutes, a former Navy SEAL who wrote a best-selling book about the U.S. government raid that killed Osama Bin Laden wound up being federally investigated, his lawyer says. The issue: Whether Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pen name “Mark Owen,” revealed government secrets in violation of…

Nov 6, 2014 10:50 AM CST

Judge blames defense lawyers for talk recorded by police, says they should have sought private room

An Indiana judge has refused a defense request to dismiss a manslaughter case because of an attorney-client conversation that was recorded by police and reviewed by a prosecutor. Instead, LaPorte County Judge Kathleen Lang said former defense lawyers for John Larkin were to blame for the recording, because they failed…

Oct 29, 2014 6:15 AM CDT

Man who reportedly confessed to multiple slayings is held in contempt for silence in court hearing

A man who has been charged with murder in one woman’s death last week and reportedly confessed to six more slayings after he was arrested over the weekend isn’t talking now. Darren Deon Vann, 43, was held in contempt by an Indiana judge on Wednesday after he refused to speak…

Oct 22, 2014 12:30 PM CDT

Police say man arrested in one slaying led them to 6 other bodies; he is now charged with murder

A registered sex offender convicted in Texas of aggravated rape was quickly linked by police in Hammond, Indiana, to the slaying of a prostitute at a motel there Friday. But when Darren Deon Vann, 43, was taken into custody Saturday, police said he confessed not only to killing Afrikka Hardy,…

Oct 21, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

Police stop over unbuckled seat belts leads to chaotic arrest and federal civil rights suit

A police stop of a family in Hammond, Indiana, over two unbuckled seat belts last month ended in emotional chaos after the officers broke a window and used an electronic stun gun on a passenger. What exactly led to the escalation is in dispute: A federal civil rights lawsuit filed…

Oct 8, 2014 5:55 PM CDT