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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Ind. Decisions - More on: Trial court ruling could void IMPD arrests
Judge Rueben Hill has today commented on his ruling yesterday (see ILB entry from earlier today here), per this story by Jon Murray just posted on the Indianapolis Star website. It begins:
A Marion Superior Court judge said today that he reviewed a case carefully before ruling this week that an officer's arrest in a drunken driving case was illegal because he had not been sworn in after this year's police merger.
Judge Rueben Hill's ruling is a potential bombshell for thousands of cases pending in other courtrooms. But Hill said he would wait for an appeals court to review the ruling before applying it to any other cases in his courtroom.Hill plans to release a written decision by the end of today. On Tuesday, he issued a ruling from the bench after hearing arguments on defense attorneys' motion to suppress evidence.
"I made the best decision I could under the circumstances that were presented to me in this case," Hill said during an interview in his office this morning at the City-County Building. "I have no delusions the decision would stand on its own without any review from the Court of Appeals." * * *
"This is probably not a case that should be decided by a lower court because it affects every other court down the line," said Hill, 69. He is in the first year of what he said will be his last six-year term on the bench.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 8, 2007 01:05 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts