There has been more activity in the toll road case. The Indiana Law Blog is doing an excellent job of covering the litigation generally and, more specifically, providing access to the documents in the case.
In today’s news, Justice Dickson announced that he would recuse himself, raising the possibility of a 2 – 2 split at the Supreme Court level. The Plaintiffs asked (pdf) that the Supreme Court reverse its decision to take the case directly from the trial court and asked that the matter be remanded back to the Court of Appeals where the Plaintiffs originally filed the appeal. The background on this is that, if there is a tie, the trial court’s ruling stands even without any controlling appellate decision on the matter. The Plaintiffs argue that a decision of this magnitude really ought to be made by a controlling appellate level decision.
I haven’t really analyzed the procedural posture of this case, so there is probably something I’m missing, but I thought the relevant statute with respect to appeals of bond decisions in public lawsuits was IC 34-13-5-7(d). That statute seems to provide appellate relief of a trial court decision only from the Supreme Court.
Either plaintiff or defendant may appeal an order to post or deny bond to the Indiana supreme court within ten (10) days by notice of appeal and a statement of error in the same manner as is provided in a petition for mandate or prohibition.
Also, the State’s brief is here and the Indiana Finance Authority’s brief is here.
Leave a Reply