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Thursday, May 07, 2009

Ind. Courts - "Grand jury indicts LaPorte judge who was shot, her husband"

Breaking news from the NWI Times:

A LaPorte Superior Court judge who was wounded by a gunshot in her home in December and her husband have been indicted by a grand jury.

Judge Jennifer Evans Koethe was charged with obstruction of justice while her husband Stephan Koethe was charged with recklessly performing an act which created a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person and knowingly providing false information in the investigation of a crime.

Evans was grazed in the head Dec. 22 by the gunshot. She wasn't seriously injured.

Her husband said at the time she was handling a gun that she did not think was loaded when it discharged. The indictment, though, says he loaded a firearm while intoxicated during an argument with another intoxicated person.

Here is a list of earlier ILB entries.

[More] Here is a link to the two indictments.

Here is a story stamped 5:50 PM from WSBT.com:

LaPORTE — A LaPorte grand jury has indicted a LaPorte County judge and her husband.

Jennifer Evans-Koethe was grazed in the head by a bullet at her home in December. She wasn't seriously hurt.

But court documents released Thursday claim she asked investigators to dispose of a a handwritten note that was evidence. She has been indicted for attempted obstruction of justice, a Class D felony.

Those documents also allege her husband, Stephan Koethe, provided false information during the investigation. He is also accused of recklessly performing an act which created a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person, and handling and loading a firearm while intoxicated and during an argument with another intoxicated person.

Stephan Koethe has been indicted for false informing, a Class A misdemeanor, and criminal recklessness, a Class B misdemeanor.

A warrant is out for their arrest.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 7, 2009 06:07 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts