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Saturday, December 26, 2009
Ind. Courts - Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney "saga drags into 2010"
The ILB has had many entries on the various aspect of this story. Today Douglas Walker of the Muncie Star-Press features it is #9 in its count of "top ten" 2009 stories. Some quotes:
MUNCIE -- Supporters of Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney had hoped his Drug Task Force-related controversies would officially qualify as old news in 2010.Unfortunately for McKinney -- a Democrat who intends to seek a second four-year term as prosecutor in next year's election -- the DTF saga lives on, with a nearly two-year-old ethics complaint against him still pending before the Indiana Supreme Court.
The soon-to-be concluded 2009 was not without positive developments for McKinney.
On May 7, a special prosecutor announced that he would file no criminal charges against McKinney over his legal representation of the DTF, in civil forfeiture proceedings, while also working as a prosecutor.
"There appears to have been a good-faith effort by McKinney to comply with the Indiana legislative statutory provisions as well as to the practices and protocols of asset forfeiture as they existed in Delaware County at the time," former Monroe County Prosecutor Barry Brown wrote in a report.
A day later, however, the Indiana Supreme Court's disciplinary commission formally accused the beleaguered Delaware County prosecutor of violating four rules of professional conduct in his dual work as DTF attorney and prosecutor.
McKinney and his attorney, Kevin McGoff, negotiated a proposed settlement of the complaint that called for McKinney's law license to be suspended for 90 days. That deal was later rejected by the Indiana Supreme Court, however, with a majority of the justices apparently feeling the penalty was not harsh enough.
In recent weeks, the Supreme Court appointed a Boone County judge to conduct a trial-like hearing and then issue a recommendation on what action, if any, should be taken in the McKinney case. The ultimate decision rests with the Supreme Court.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 26, 2009 09:58 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts