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Saturday, December 25, 2010

Ind. Courts - A focus on the courts of Franklin and Ripley counties

Debbie Blank of the Batesville Herald-Tribune has a story today, Dec. 25th, that makes very good use of recent court information. She writes:

The 2009 Indiana Judicial Service Report provides a wealth of information about the inner workings of area courts – and a snapshot of how people get in trouble in Franklin and Ripley counties.

Despite the saying “The wheels of justice move slowly,” judges, prosecutors and their staffs in both counties lessened the number of cases waiting for decisions last year. Franklin County listed 5,145 cases pending Jan. 1, 2009. By Dec. 31, 2009, that number had declined to 3,835. Likewise, Ripley County showed 2,540 cases pending Jan. 1, 2009. By Dec. 31, 2009, 2,341 cases were in the system.

There were seven jury trials in two Franklin County courtrooms in 2009, including three for different levels of felonies: A (examples are kidnapping, voluntary manslaughter or arson), B (aggravated battery, rape, child molesting and armed robbery are examples) and C (involuntary manslaughter, robbery, burglary and reckless homicide). Two trials decided criminal misdemeanors and two determined civil matters.

The lone Ripley County jury trial last year was a Class D felony case (such as theft and fraud) in Superior Court.

Judges presided over 101 bench trials in Franklin County last year. A bench trial is one in which at least one witness is sworn.

Eighty-nine decisions were made by Steven Cox, Circuit Court Division 1 judge: 38, domestic relations; 20, civil plenary (not mortgage foreclosures or outstanding debts); nine, civil collections; six, civil miscellaneous; five, juvenile paternity; four, adoptions; two, small claims, one each, Class D felony, criminal misdemeanor (such as trespass, check deception and battery), infraction, juvenile delinquency and termination of parental rights.

Clay Kellerman, Circuit Court Division 2 judge, decided 12 trials: six, domestic relations; five, criminal misdemeanors; and one, infraction.

Ripley Circuit Court Judge Carl Taul determined the outcomes of 116 trials: 71, domestic relations; 17, juvenile child in need of services; 14, miscellaneous criminal; five, civil collections; four, postconviction relief petitions; three, terminations of parental rights; and two, mortgage foreclosures.

Ripley Superior Court Judge James Morris completed 73 bench trials: 40, small claims; 20, protective orders; five, mortgage foreclosures; four each, civil collections and civil miscellaneous.

Many more cases were disposed by final judicial determination with no witnesses sworn and no evidence introduced. Cox made 1,050 such decisions, with domestic relations the highest category at 399. Kellerman’s bench disposition total was 241, with one-third of those protective orders.

In Franklin County, 2,680 defendants pleaded guilty, the vast majority for infractions. Taul determined the outcomes of 480 of these cases, 152 involving domestic problems. Morris’ bench disposition total was 126, with exactly half small claims cases. The report shows 501 Ripley County defendants pleaded guilty, 54 percent for criminal misdemeanors.

Hundreds of cases were dismissed last year, either by the court, upon the motion of a party or a settlement agreement. Cox oversaw 550 dismissals, with 180 involving civil collections. Kellerman dismissed 211 cases, including 41 protective orders, 40 criminal misdemeanors and 39 infractions. At the Versailles courthouse, Taul dismissed 264 cases, 36 percent of which involved civil collections. Morris dismissed 510 with 43 percent of those small claims problems.

When a defendant fails to comply with trial rules in civil cases, a judgment of default is entered by the court. This happened 354 times in Franklin County and 512 times in Ripley County.

If a prosecutor and defendant agree to defer prosecution or for the defendant to enter a diversion program, the case is disposed in the deferred/diverted category. The total in Franklin County was 230 and in Ripley County 215, mostly for criminal misdemeanors.

At the Brookville courthouse, 404 defendants failed to appear or failed to pay in infraction cases that are typically traffic related. None were reported in Ripley County.

Some cases are closed for a variety of reasons – estate, adoption, trust termination, guardianship, if a defendant filed bankruptcy or the case is removed to federal court. In 2009, this happened 149 times in Franklin County and 86 times in Ripley County.

The ILB did see what looks to be an error in the story. In the next to last paragraph, the story reports that 404 defendants failed to appear/pay in infraction cases in Brookville (Franklin County), while "none were reported in Ripley County." However, a look at the statistics shows that in Franklin County these infractions are handled in Circuit Court 2, a court of record. In Ripley County, as also shown in the report, the Batesville City Court and Versailles Town Court handle infractions and a total of 435 failed to appear/pay in infraction cases in that county.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 25, 2010 09:06 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts