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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Ind. Courts - COA hears oral arguments in Hammond

Yesterday morning a panel of the Indiana Cuort of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case of Gladys E. Tobias vs. Margaret & Thomas Mannella in a courtroom in Hammond Indiana. (The case was listed in Monday's ILB "Oral arguments this Week." Both NW Indiana papers covered the event.

Marisa Kwiatkowski of the NWI Times reports today:

The Indiana Court of Appeals sought to uncloak its "aura of mystery" Monday through an on-the-road hearing in Hammond.

Appellate court judges Patricia Riley, James Kirsch and Margret Robb listened Monday to a case pitting Gladys Tobias, of Whiting, against Margaret and Thomas Mannella, of Pewaukee, Wis., over the sale of property owned by the Mannellas but occupied by Tobias. Tobias is seeking a share of the profits from the land sale, claiming she made improvements to the property.

The judges heard oral arguments from both sides before fielding questions from Munster and Hanover Central high school students, area judges and attorneys as part of its traveling program to educate the public on the court process. The court won't issue an opinion on the case for several weeks.

"It's always good to see court in action," Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell said. "There is an aura of mystery -- secrecy -- to the Court of Appeals because it's not in front of the public."

Most of the appellate court process takes place in Indianapolis.

Michelle L. Quinn writes in the Gary Post-Tribune:
Students who participate in the "We the People" constitutional law program furthered their education by sitting in on a Monday morning court case.

The case wasn't a jury trial but a genuine appeals case, which students from Munster and Hanover Central High Schools weren't expecting to observe. Instead of one judge, there are three, and there are no witnesses, for example.

Even the arguments by the attorneys were different, the students learned in Judge Diane Kavadias-Schneider's Lake Superior courtroom.

"When you first start out, you spend hours making this fabulous outline, but the truth is you get into about two minutes worth of it," said David Weigle, who argued on behalf of the defendants. "I've trained myself instead to formulate answers to the weaknesses of the case."

The case in question, Tobias vs. Mannella, had Gladys Tobias arguing she should be paid reimbursements for improvements she had made to a house that she and Matt Swierczynski had been renting from Margaret and Thomas Mannella, Swierczynski's sister and brother-in-law.

The Mannellas claim that Tobias was only renting and had her evicted from the property, which they later sold, when Tobias and Swierczynski stopped making payments.

A previous court ruled that though Tobias wasn't entitled to reimbursements nor advancement on the property's purchase price like she'd claimed, she was entitled to $9,044.54 in overpaid rent.

Kavadias-Schneider and the three judges hearing the case, James Kirsch, Pat Riley and Margaret Robb, all of Indianapolis, said they are always pleased to have students watch the process.

Indiana has 15 appellate judges who travel around the state and preside over hearings.

"I wish I had more space for the students," Kavadias-Schneider said. "It's good for them to see how the court operates."

Martha Minich and Lorien Estes, juniors at Munster High, said they were fascinated by the process. As members of the school's debate team, they have experience with briefs similar to the ones the judges use to render their decisions.

"In transcripts, you lose the tone of what is meant," Lorien said. "It wasn't boring."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 8, 2008 03:27 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions