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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Ind. Courts - Wabash Valley businessman accused of falsifying federal documents will not go to trial until later this year

The Terre Haute Trib-Star reports today:

INDIANAPOLIS — A Wabash Valley businessman accused of falsifying federal documents will not go to trial until later this year, according to court documents.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Jan. 10 granted a continuance requested by defendant Derrik Hagerman, who cited the need for additional time to complete discovery. A jury trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday, after an initial trial date in November.

The new date has been set for May 21 at 1:30 p.m.

U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton will preside. Hagerman, president and owner of Wabash Environmental Technologies LLC, was indicted in September on 36 felony violations of the federal Clean Water Act for allegedly creating false reports of analytical results of wastewater discharged into the Wabash River.

Hagerman, who initially was represented by William Dazey, an attorney with the Office of the Indiana Federal Community Defender, has retained William E. Marsh and James McKinley in his defense. Marsh and McKinley also are members of the Indiana Federal Community Defenders’ office.

What is the Indiana Federal Community Defenders’ office? A U.S. Courts page has a good explanation. Some quotes:
There are two types of federal defender organizations: federal public defender organizations and community defender organizations.

Federal public defender organizations are federal entities, and their staffs are federal employees. The chief federal public defender is appointed to a four year term by the court of appeals of the circuit in which the organization is located. The Congress placed this appointment authority in the court of appeals rather than the district court in order to insulate, as best as possible, the federal public defender from the involvement of the court before which the defender principally practices.

Community defender organizations are non-profit defense counsel organizations incorporated under state laws. When designated in the CJA plan for the district in which they operate, community defender organizations receive initial and sustaining grants from the federal judiciary to fund their operations. Community defender organizations operate under the supervision of a board of directors and may be a branch or division of a parent non-profit legal services corporation that provides representation to the poor in state, county, and municipal courts.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 17, 2007 08:09 AM
Posted to Environment | Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions