Appeals court upholds Lake court bailiff’s firing
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Lake Superior Court bailiff’s firing by a temporary judge in 2020.
Susan Mills appealed her dismissal by Judge pro tempore Jamise Perkins, who fired her for bringing “inadmissible” evidence into a jury room in a murder trial. Perkins was forced to declare a mistrial.
Perkins was appointed in June 2020 to fill in after Judge Clarence Murray announced his retirement due to health problems. He was permanently replaced by then-Magistrate Natalie Bokota.
Mills had worked there since 1999. She was appointed chief bailiff in Murray’s court in 2014 and was an “at-will” employee, according to filings.
“I have always held the judiciary in the highest regard. I am saddened that the Trial Court and Court of Appeals had to take time from legitimate cases to address this matter,” Perkins said in an email. “Their decisions represent well-settled law.”
Perkins unsuccessfully applied to replace Murray and the late Judge Diane Boswell. Mills can appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Attempted murder case upheld for brother’s shooting
The appeals court also upheld a man’s 20-year sentence for shooting his brother.
A jury convicted Michael Smith, then 66, in July 2024 for shooting his brother Alphonzo Smith in the chest, following their fraying relationship and an altercation over their elderly mother’s care.
In a 3-0 decision, Appeals Judge Stephen Scheele wrote Judge Natalie Bokota was right to admit statements a witness made to 911 and to an officer who arrived just after the shooting under a hearsay exception.
Prosecutors did not call the witness to testify.
Smith can appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court
Drug slaying conviction upheld
The appeals court also upheld a 55-year conviction in a Hammond drug slaying.
Davon Jones, then 20, was convicted at trial for killing Amarion Holmes, 20, on April 9, 2022. Documents allege Jones set up Holmes, a marijuana dealer, to rob him.
Jurors split, with a hung jury, on murder and a gun enhancement. They convicted Jones on other charges, including murder in perpetration of a robbery.
In a 3-0 decision, Appeals judge Terry Crone wrote prosecutors were allowed to introduce June 2021 bodycam footage where Jones ran into a cop at the same address where he lured Holmes.
Crone also wrote prosecutors were allowed to introduce a chat with a second man about guns and robberies the day Holmes was killed.
Jones can appeal the ruling.
