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Thursday, April 13, 2006
Ind. Decisions - Ex-FSSA caseworker's conviction overturned
Much more today in the Indianapolis Star on yesterday's Court of Appeals decision in Denise Moore v. State of Indiana. (See yesterday's ILB entry here.) Some quotes from the lengthy story by Kevin Corcoran and Tim Evans:
An Indiana appellate court Wednesday set aside a child welfare caseworker's felony conviction for obstructing justice in the death of a 4-year-old boy placed for adoption.The unanimous panel found criminal charges were filed too late against Denise C. Moore, 44, Indianapolis. Judges said Moore was negligent and "at least partially" responsible for the death of young Anthony Bars in early 2002. But the court ruled her actions on the job were not criminal. * * *
A high-ranking aide to Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi disagreed and pledged to appeal Wednesday's ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court. * * *
"She was made a scapegoat for a deficient child-placement system," [her attorney, Jack] Crawford said. "Now she can get on with her life."
James W. Payne, director of Indiana's Department of Child Services, which oversees child welfare, said he knew Moore from when he was Marion County's juvenile court judge.
He declined to talk specifically about her work but said she was like many other caseworkers who had far more children in their care than they could handle. Moore said she had about 120 cases.
"What they were being asked to do was almost an impossible job," Payne said. "Denise, like a lot of other caseworkers, simply was not able to perform her job like we, as Hoosiers, expected."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 13, 2006 08:50 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions