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Indiana courts push ahead with shift to e-filing
Court and Trial |
2015/12/28 16:54
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Indiana's top courts are pushing ahead with adopting an electronic-filing system that state officials say will eventually give the public free access to online court records statewide.
The Indiana Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals began offering e-filing in November, and the Indiana Tax Court, will follow in January. The goal is for trial courts in all 92 counties to offer e-filing by the end of 2018; one county has already instituted it and six others will follow in the first half of 2016.
Attorneys can still file paper versions of briefs and other legal documents for the two top state courts, but they're already starting to embrace e-filing because it eliminates the costs of photocopying, binding, mailing and hand-delivering voluminous amounts of documents, high court spokeswoman Kathryn Dolan said.
It's a "modernization of how we do business," she said, noting it will lessen the state's need to store reams of legal documents. Dolan said the Supreme Court alone is asked to consider about 1,000 cases each year and each can generate multiple banker boxes' worth of documents, all of which must be stored in Indiana's downtown Indianapolis government complex and other locations.
"Sometimes we have to request the old documents from storage, or offer attorneys the ability to look at things on microfilm, so this is certainly modernizing the process to just accept the electronic document in the first place," Dolan said. |
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Court turns down appeal for Harvey family killer
Court and Trial |
2015/12/28 16:53
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A federal appeals court won't rehear the case of a man sentenced to death in the New Year's Day 2006 slaying of a Richmond family.
Lawyers for Ricky Jovan Gray had asked the 15-member U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear claims that were rejected by a three-judge panel two weeks ago. The court rejected Gray's request on Tuesday.
Rob Lee, an attorney for Gray, says he now intends to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
Gray was convicted in the slayings of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their daughters, 9-year-old Stella and 4-year-old Ruby.
The 38-year-old claims his trial attorneys failed to present evidence that might have cast doubts on his confession and by not telling jurors that he was high on PCP during the murders.
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Court turns down appeal for Harvey family killer
Court and Trial |
2015/12/25 16:57
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A federal appeals court won't rehear the case of a man sentenced to death in the New Year's Day 2006 slaying of a Richmond family.
Lawyers for Ricky Jovan Gray had asked the 15-member U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear claims that were rejected by a three-judge panel two weeks ago. The court rejected Gray's request on Tuesday.
Rob Lee, an attorney for Gray, says he now intends to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
Gray was convicted in the slayings of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their daughters, 9-year-old Stella and 4-year-old Ruby.
The 38-year-old claims his trial attorneys failed to present evidence that might have cast doubts on his confession and by not telling jurors that he was high on PCP during the murders.
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Florida Supreme Court denies stay of execution
Court and Trial |
2015/12/24 16:56
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The Florida Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution for a 53-year-old convicted killer from the Tampa Bay area. The court's late Wednesday decision regarding the case of Oscar Ray Bolin was posted on its website Thursday morning. The court did not offer any explanation or discussion for its ruling.
Oscar Ray Bolin is scheduled for execution on Jan. 7. He and his lawyers filed a motion Tuesday with the state's highest court, saying that he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Dec. 17, the state court denied Bolin's appeal based on alleged new evidence. The court ruled Bolin should be put to death for the December 1986 murder of Teri Lynn Matthews. Matthews was abducted in Pasco County, raped and then beaten and fatally stabbed.
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Alabama Supreme Court sets Jan. 21 execution for Brooks
Court and Trial |
2015/11/24 12:05
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The Alabama Supreme Court has set a Jan. 21 execution date for a man convicted of raping and murdering a woman more than 20 years ago.
If carried out, the death sentence against Christopher Brooks would mark Alabama's first execution in more than two years.
Justices handed down the order Monday setting the execution date. A federal judge on Monday also allowed Brooks to join a lawsuit filed by death row inmates challenging the state's new lethal injection drug combination as cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins said that Brooks has until Dec. 4 to file for a stay of execution.
Brooks was convicted for the 1993 murder and rape of Deann Campbell of Homewood. |
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