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Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Ind. Courts - Judge seals records in French Lick casino dispute without hearing
Grace Schneider of the Louisville Courier Journal reports today:
The two companies that joined forces to build Indiana's 11th casino -- under construction in French Lick -- are embroiled in a lawsuit that has been sealed by a judge in Orange County.The lawsuit and a request for an injunction were filed by Cook Group Inc., a Bloomington medical-device manufacturer, against Lauth Resorts and Casinos LLC, its partner in the project.
Details about the case couldn't be learned yesterday because Orange County Circuit Judge Larry Blanton agreed to seal the documents.
State law requires a hearing before a judge seals a lawsuit. After being questioned by The Courier-Journal about his decision, Blanton said he would set a date today for a hearing on the matter. * * *
A one-page order, signed by Blanton on June 8, granted the request from Orange County Holdings LLC, a company formed by Cook Group, to file the lawsuit and the related request for injunctive relief under seal.
The law, however, requires a court to first hold a public hearing before granting a request to seal a court record so that the parties or members of the public can testify and submit written briefs.
A decision to seal all or part of the record must be based on findings that the public interest will be secured by sealing the record or that disseminating the information could be harmful to the public interest, according to the law.
Blanton declined to say during a brief interview whether a hearing on the matter had been held. But in a subsequent interview he said he would hold a hearing and cited a trial rule for his authority to keep the documents under seal until then.
The judge also held a brief conference call with Reed Osland, a Chicago lawyer representing Cook, and an Indianapolis firm acting on behalf of Lauth to notify them of questions raised by the newspaper and of his plans to hold a hearing.
Stephen Key, executive director of the Hoosier State Press Association, said he doubts Blanton can seal documents in a civil suit where there's no apparent need to do so.
"I'm kind of at a loss (to say) why that would be given the treatment to seal the entire record," Key said when told of the situation. "Obviously with the magnitude of the (casino) project, there would be great interest" in the community about the dispute.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 20, 2006 07:32 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions