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 Post subject: Transcript Released in State of Indiana v. Kimmel
PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:54 pm 
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Transcript Released in State of Indiana v. Kimmel

To download the court transcript, go here http://www.laportesucks.com/docs/trans.pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.

Dismissed! District Attorney Steve Fenton Violates Court Order,
Traffic Case Pitched Out of Court for Discovery Violation.
.
Victories in traffic court are rare in La Porte, Indiana. But on August 4, 2004 at 9:30 AM, a victory was recorded in the case of State of Indiana vs. Keith W. Kimmel, which was heard before La Porte County Superior Court No. 4 in Michigan City, Indiana.

Kimmel, who is a former resident of La Porte, Indiana that recently relocated to Columbus, Ohio - made the 700 mile round trip back home to make sure that justice was served. "They charged me with driving 51 miles an hour down Michigan Blvd., and I didn't do it and I fully intended to exonerate myself by proving that the officer's radar unit malfunctioned", said Kimmel.

Filing a legal document called a Motion for Discovery, Kimmel requested that the Court order the State to disclose documents concerning the radar unit like maintenance and repair records, among other things. "Discovery motions make the state show you their hand, and you can see what cards they have. If the Court orders Discovery, they have to comply even if the evidence isn't in their favor", explained Kimmel. The Court ordered the State to release the documents within 30 days on April 26, 2004. But nearly six months later, the State still hadn't complied.

So Kimmel filed a request with the court asking that Fenton, the prosecuting attorney in the case, be held in contempt for violating the Court's order. The court declined to rule on that, and set a hearing for August 4th. When Kimmel arrived, he brought with him a motion for dismissal, claiming that the state's refusal to comply with Court orders had robbed him of the ability to present a defense and allowing the state more time would be unreasonable and would be likely to create additional hardships for the defendant in the form of travel expenses.

The Court sided with Kimmel and the case was dismissed just moments before the trial was to begin, despite objections from another prosecutor who was present in Fenton's absence, who wanted an additional ten days to find out why the state hadn't complied. The defense argued that the State has had more than enough time to comply.

"Mr. Fenton chose to ignore the court's order to provide the defense with evidence and he lost his case because of it. The court has delivered a clear message that this unlawful conduct will not be tolerated. Justice was served", said Kimmel.

The court declined to find Fenton in Contempt of Court. The case docket number for this action was 46D04-0403-IF-1553, the case may be examined at the clerks office for The La Porte County Superior Court No. 4, which is located at 300 Washington Street in Michigan City and by requesting the file.


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 Post subject: Re: Transcript Released in State of Indiana v. Kimmel
PostPosted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:45 am 
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Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:27 pm
Posts: 1079
NeoRayden wrote:
Transcript Released in State of Indiana v. Kimmel

To download the court transcript, go here http://www.laportesucks.com/docs/trans.pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.

Dismissed! District Attorney Steve Fenton Violates Court Order,
Traffic Case Pitched Out of Court for Discovery Violation.
.
Victories in traffic court are rare in La Porte, Indiana. But on August 4, 2004 at 9:30 AM, a victory was recorded in the case of State of Indiana vs. Keith W. Kimmel, which was heard before La Porte County Superior Court No. 4 in Michigan City, Indiana.

Kimmel, who is a former resident of La Porte, Indiana that recently relocated to Columbus, Ohio - made the 700 mile round trip back home to make sure that justice was served. "They charged me with driving 51 miles an hour down Michigan Blvd., and I didn't do it and I fully intended to exonerate myself by proving that the officer's radar unit malfunctioned", said Kimmel.

Filing a legal document called a Motion for Discovery, Kimmel requested that the Court order the State to disclose documents concerning the radar unit like maintenance and repair records, among other things. "Discovery motions make the state show you their hand, and you can see what cards they have. If the Court orders Discovery, they have to comply even if the evidence isn't in their favor", explained Kimmel. The Court ordered the State to release the documents within 30 days on April 26, 2004. But nearly six months later, the State still hadn't complied.

So Kimmel filed a request with the court asking that Fenton, the prosecuting attorney in the case, be held in contempt for violating the Court's order. The court declined to rule on that, and set a hearing for August 4th. When Kimmel arrived, he brought with him a motion for dismissal, claiming that the state's refusal to comply with Court orders had robbed him of the ability to present a defense and allowing the state more time would be unreasonable and would be likely to create additional hardships for the defendant in the form of travel expenses.

The Court sided with Kimmel and the case was dismissed just moments before the trial was to begin, despite objections from another prosecutor who was present in Fenton's absence, who wanted an additional ten days to find out why the state hadn't complied. The defense argued that the State has had more than enough time to comply.

"Mr. Fenton chose to ignore the court's order to provide the defense with evidence and he lost his case because of it. The court has delivered a clear message that this unlawful conduct will not be tolerated. Justice was served", said Kimmel.

The court declined to find Fenton in Contempt of Court. The case docket number for this action was 46D04-0403-IF-1553, the case may be examined at the clerks office for The La Porte County Superior Court No. 4, which is located at 300 Washington Street in Michigan City and by requesting the file.
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