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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Ind. Law - Bill would prevent those convicted of killing their child's other parent from receiving benefits in the event of the child's death

A long story today by Rick Yencer of the Muncie Star-Press begins:

MUNCIE -- Thirteen years ago last October, Tommy Ross fatally shot his ex-wife, Paula, outside Gaston Elementary School, where she had just dropped off their six-year-old daughter, Cassandra.

Convicted of murder in April 1995, Ross received a maximum 60-year prison term. In June 1999, a Blackford County jury awarded Paula Ross' survivors -- her two daughters and her parents -- $1.75 million in damages from the town of Gaston, ruling that the town's police force had done little to protect the murder victim as she was stalked, and eventually slain, by Tommy Ross.

In a recent bizarre turn of events, Tommy Ross succeeded in winning a portion of that judgment for himself when the convicted killer was awarded a third of daughter Cassandra's estate following her January 2005 suicide at age 16.

A bill before the Indiana General Assembly filed by State Rep. Dennis Tyler -- at the urging of Paula Ross' survivors -- would prevent such scenarios from playing out again. * * *

"A number of people came to me about this," said State Rep. Tyler, who said the consensus was it was "just not right" for Tommy Ross to benefit from his child's tragic death.

The bill filed by Tyler this month would change the state's estate law to prohibit a parent convicted of murder or voluntary manslaughter of a parent or adult child from receiving any share of the child's estate or insurance premiums resulting from the child's death.

"A number of other states have similar laws that are much broader in sanctioning parents who have abandoned their children," said Tyler.

While the estate bill won't receive a separate hearing, Tyler said it would be attached to a domestic violence bill that will be heard and is expected to pass out of the House.

The introduced bill is HB 1155, but as noted in the story, Tyler's plan is to amend it into another bill with a different bill number.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 22, 2008 12:55 PM
Posted to Indiana Law