Several Allen Sharp high profile cases

May, 2005

Judge Sharp ruled in favor of the West Lafayette Community School Board and dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Superintendent Stella Batagiannis. Batagiannis had claimed the school board acted unconstitutionally in firing her and alleged WLCSC did not provide enough explanation for her firing. The school board cited insubordination and neglect of duty in its decision to terminate Batagiannis’ employment. In his ruling, Judge Sharp said the school corporation’s procedure was adequate. The judge denied Batagiannis’ request for damages.

 

 

Judge Sharp ruled the city of Lafayette had the right to ban a convicted child molester from city parks. The man called “John Doe” filed suit after the city notified him he was prohibited from visiting parks. Lafayette Police learned the child molester reported he had thoughts of sexual contact after going to a park so he could watch children. “John Doe” appealed Judge Sharp’s decision and, initially, he won at a first hearing. But, a subsequent review by the full panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ended in a decision that the city ban did not violate “John Doe’s” rights.

 

 

August, 2001

Judge Sharp reversed the death sentence of convicted murderer Joseph Trueblood, of Lafayette. Trueblood pled guilty to the 1988 murders of Susan Bowsher and her two children. Prosecutors said Trueblood shot Bowsher and the children after learning she wanted to get back together with her ex-husband. Judge Sharp ruled the former Tippecanoe County public defender provided ineffective counsel. The ruling meant Trueblood would be re-sentenced for the deaths of the two children and it opened up the possibility of a new trial on the charge of murdering Susan Bowsher. The prosecutor appealed and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago reinstated the murder convictions and death sentence. In June, 2003 Trueblood was executed by lethal injection.

 

 

January, 2000

Judge Sharp ordered a Sacramento, CA company to pay $ 200,000 in damages to Micro Data Base Systems, of West Lafayette, for breach of contract copyright infringement. Hansen Information Technologies distributed software for public utility management. The judge ruled Hansen Information Technologies included M-D-B-S software in its products and distributed it without adequately compensating M-D-B-S.

 

August, 1998

Judge Sharp issued a ruling that ended the long court battle over the closure of the Tippecanoe Sanitary Landfill on N. 9th Street Road. The judge ruled that Tippecanoe County leaders, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could move forward with the closure plan they proposed for the site. The abandoned landfill was put on the E.P.A. National Priority list because of concerns about high levels of metals in the ground water. Some county residents filed suit disputing the constitutionality of the income tax that was established to finance the closure and ongoing monitoring of the capped landfill.

 

 

August, 1988

Judge Sharp ruled the Tippecanoe School Corporation had the right to establish and implement a policy to test athletes and cheerleaders for illegal drug use.

Two Harrison High School Students and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed suit claiming the random drug tests violate a person’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure and the right to due process. Judge Sharp ruled the plan was legal. His decision was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.