JUNE 2004 SITTING OF THE INDIANA SUPREME COURT




Thursday, June 17, 2004

9:00 a.m.     Joseph E. Corcoran v. State

After appellant’s murder convictions and death sentence were affirmed on direct appeal, post-conviction proceedings were instituted. The Allen Superior Court ruled that appellant was competent to waive further review of the conviction and sentence. This appeal arises from that ruling.


                Attorneys for Appellant
                    Susan Carpenter
Joanna McFadden
                    Laura Volk
                    Indianapolis, IN

                    Attorney for Appellee
                    Steve Carter
Stephen Creason
                    
                    

                    





Thursday, June 17, 2004

10:05 a.m.     PSI Energy, Inc. v. William Lee Roberts, et al.

A former asbestos worker who developed mesothelioma sued a number of defendants, including PSI Energy, Inc., at whose facilities he had often worked. The Marion Superior Court entered judgment on a jury verdict allocating thirteen percent of the fault to PSI. The Court of Appeals affirmed. See PSI Energy, Inc. v. Roberts, 802 N.E.2d 468 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), vacated. The Supreme Court has granted a petition to transfer the case, thus vacating the opinion of the Court of Appeals, and has assumed jurisdiction over the appeal.

                    Attorneys for PSI
                    Robert K. Stanley
                    Kevin M. Toner
                    Kathy L. Osborn
                    Meg A. Gallmeyer
                    Indianapolis, IN

                    Eric M. Cavanaugh
                    Plainfield, IN

                    Attorneys for Roberts
                    Linda George
                    W. Russell Sipes
                    Indianapolis, IN



Wednesday, June 23, 2004

9:00 a.m.     Governor of the State of Indiana, et al., v. Miller Citizens Corporation

On a complaint by a group of residential taxpayers, the Lake Superior Court entered a judgment that denied the State's motion to dismiss, declared certain reassessment statutes unconstitutional and enjoined the Lake County Treasurer from mailing out tax bills based on reassessments conducted pursuant to those statutes. The Attorney General has initiated an appeal to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has issued a stay of the trial court's judgment.

                Attorneys for State of Indiana
                Steve Carter
                Gary Secrest
                Joby Jerrells
                Indianapolis, IN

                Attorneys for Millers Citizens Corporation, et al.
                Kenneth Reed
                Harold Abrahamson
                John Reed
                Joseph Allegretti
                Hammond, IN




Wednesday, June 23, 2004

10:05 a.m.     Patricia Gribben v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana certified to the Indiana Supreme Court certain questions of Indiana state law pursuant to Appellate Rule 64. The questions concern whether Indiana law recognizes a claim for “spoliation of evidence” as an independent tort. The Supreme Court has accepted the certified questions and assumed jurisdiction over the case.

                    Attorneys for Gribben
                    Morris Klapper
                    G. R. Parish, Jr.
                    Indianapolis, IN

                    Attorneys for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
                    Thomas Davis
                    Julia Blackwell Gelinas
                    Lucy Dollens
                    Indianapolis, IN
                    
                    Attorney for Amicus Curiae
                    Thomas Schultz
                    Donald Kite
                    Carmel, IN

                    James Johnson
                    Evansville, IN

                    


Wednesday, June 23, 2004

10:50 a.m.      Chester Borsuk, et al. v. Town of St. John

The Lake Superior Court entered summary judgment to the Town of St. John on property owners’ complaint about the Town’s refusal to rezone a portion of their land. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded with an instruction to grant the owners’ request to rezone. Borsuk v. Town of St. John, 800 N.E.2d 217 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), vacated. The Supreme Court has granted a petition to transfer the case, thus vacating the opinion of the Court of Appeals, and has assumed jurisdiction over the appeal.


         Attorneys for Borsuk
        Michael L. Muenich
        Highland, IN

         Attorneys for Town of St. John
        David M. Austgen
        Michael J. Phillips
        Carri N. Crider
        Crown Point, IN

Attorneys for Amici Curiae, the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association
Robert W. Eherenman
Fort Wayne, IN