« Ind. Decisions - More on: Supreme Court revises a defendant's sentence | Main | Ind. Gov't. - Phone company oversight to stay, rules IURC »

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Ind. Decisions - Blown appeal deadline costs City of Gary (or its attorney) $30,000

A story in the Gary Post-Tribune today, by Lori Caldwell, titled "Blown appeal deadline costs city," reports:

GARY — Councilman Chuck Hughes should have $30,000 in his pocket soon, the result of this week’s court ruling in his seven-year legal battle with the city.

Whether the money will come from city coffers or from the lawyer who failed to meet court deadlines in the case is undecided.

“I practiced law for 20 years, mistakes happen. But you have to take responsibility for those mistakes,’’ Mayor Scott King said Friday. “The taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay this.”

The person who should pay, the mayor said, is attorney Darnail Lyles, who was representing the city.

A ruling this week from the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a local decision that the councilman was entitled to salary he lost after King discharged him as the fire department’s public information officer in 1998. * * *

Lyles did not file an appeal in the required time, forcing Judge Lorenzo Arredondo to rule in the councilman’s favor. Arredondo ordered the city to pay $27,998 in lost income through July 31, 2004. The city must pay interest accrued since the ruling.

“The sooner the better for all parties,” Hughes’ attorney, Macarthur Drake, said, referring to the final payment to his client.

Hughes was transferred from his appointed job to a fire station in 1998 after he joined in a lawsuit against the mayor, hoping to stop the privatization of the Gary Sanitary District.

King said Hughes couldn’t be a spokesman for the administration while involved in the suit and gave Hughes a choice. When Hughes didn’t withdraw from either, the mayor had him moved from the administrative job.

The name of the Court of Appeals opinion is Scott L. King, Mayor, City of Gary, In. v. Gary Fire Civil Service Commission and Charles Hughes (12/6/05). However, like the paint crew fire case written up here in the ILB yesterday, the Gary councilman decision was classified "not for publication" by the panel writing the opinion, and it is not available online.

So how do I even know the name of the case? Because, from the description given in today's Tribune story, I looked through this week's list of NFP opinions, prepared by the Clerk of the Court and posted by the ILB, until on page 2, row 2, I found what has to be the right case. (And the paint crew fire case is at the bottom of page 4.)

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 10, 2005 10:52 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions