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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Ind. Courts - Wabash Students Get Up Close Look at Appeals Court"

On Feb. 25th a Court of Appeals panel heard oral arguments in the case of Ben and Shona Erwin v. Brenda Roe (see ILB review here in the Feb. 22nd "Upcoming Oral Arguments"), at Wabash College. Here are some quotes from a Feb. 26th story by Greg Slisz on the Wabash College website:

Court was in session Thursday at Wabash College as the Indiana Court of Appeals held an oral argument in the Goodrich room of the Lilly Library. The hearing was part of Indiana’s “Appeals on Wheels” program, which presents live appellate arguments at various locations around the state.

The case, Erwin vs. Roe, concerned negligence of a child who had suffered lead poisoning. Erwin, tenants of a rented home, alleged that the lead poisoning that their child suffered was due to unsafe lead paint present in the house. Roe, the property’s landlord, had won the case at a lower level court and was the case’s appellee. The case centered on whether or not Roe had prior knowledge of whether or not the property contained lead paint, and if this knowledge was even necessary to be guilty of “negligence per se,” which is negligence that violates a safety regulation. In addition to debating the interpretation of the statute, the two parties also debated about the length of time granted for Erwin’s discovery of evidence. * * *

Rhetoric Professor Todd McDorman, who has helped bring the Appeals on Wheels program to Wabash for the past 10 years, said * * * “We have been doing it every year for pretty much the past decade,” McDorman said. “We’ve heard a variety of court cases, some are civil, some are criminal cases, and I think it gives our students a good opportunity to see the law in action. A number of times we’ve had Wabash graduates come back and argue the case, which I think the students always appreciate, because it helps them self-actualize where they can be in that position in years to come.”

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 27, 2010 10:05 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts