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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Ind. Decisions - East Chicago attorney ordered to refund legal fee"

Lonnie M. Randolph v. Larry Hunter (NFP), decided yesterday by the Court of Appeals, is the subject of a story today by Dan Carden of the NWI Times:

INDIANAPOLIS | A former East Chicago city judge, now a state senator and lawyer in private practice, has been ordered by the Indiana Court of Appeals to refund $3,500 in legal fees to a convicted cocaine dealer.

State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, was hired by Larry Hunter in 2007 to try to win a reduction in Hunter's 20-year prison sentence for dealing cocaine near a family housing complex. Hunter was convicted in 2003.

In 2008, Randolph filed a request for post-conviction relief on Hunter's behalf. However, Hunter had previously prevailed on an earlier post-conviction relief petition and cannot file a second without permission from the Indiana Supreme Court. Hunter had told Randolph of his first post-conviction relief petition, according to court records.

Randolph's actions frustrated Hunter, who told Randolph in a letter he needed his prison term shortened so he could visit his ill mother.

In a letter written to Hunter and excerpted by the appeals court in its 3-0 decision, Randolph told Hunter, "I am working my butt off for you in trying to get you a hearing date.

"Do not try to intimidate me again. I do not like it and will not stand for it," Randolph wrote. "If you or your friends in jail know more than me about helping you, then let them handle your case."

Shortly thereafter, Hunter fired Randolph.

Hunter then asked a Lake County court to order Randolph to return a $3,500 legal fee, because Randolph never completed the legal work on his behalf. The court ordered the money be returned.

Randolph asked the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn that decision. The appeals court, without even receiving a filing from Hunter, nevertheless upheld the order that Randolph return the money.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 18, 2010 10:25 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions