Assigned court? 
D32 Major Felony Criminal Court

How long have you been a Marion Superior Court judge? 
23 years   Judicial officer?  same

Other projects, committees, or service roles you are involved in off the bench?  
Currently I have served on the State Board of Directors for the Indiana Judicial Conference for 20 years;  I am on the IJA Criminal Instructions Committee,  I have served in the past as State Chair for the Strategic Planning Committee and Probation Committee for the Indiana Judicial Conference. I am very active in my church at St. Paul’s Episcopal.

Best tip you have for lawyers appearing in your court or criminal law courts in general?  
The 5 Ps:  Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance   😊

Your mentor(s) and the greatest insight you gained from them?   
I had no single judicial mentor, but I have learned and borrowed best practices from so many judges and magistrates I appeared before when I was a trial lawyer. They have all had an influence on me.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 
I am a professional musician, so I play the piano a lot which helps relieve stress.  I also enjoy flower gardening, reading [particularly historical fiction], singing, traveling and visiting my son and his family.

If you weren’t a judge, what would you be doing?
Writing movie scores or playing keyboards for a touring performer like Mary Chapin Carpenter.

The Indianapolis Bar Association (“IndyBar”) has learned of continued public statements made by Mr. Doug Carter, Superintendent of the Indiana State Police, regarding case of Luis Leyba-Gonzalez, and publicly calling for an overhaul of the Marion County criminal justice system.

These continued criticisms unfairly single out the Marion County judicial system for following processes and procedures which were adopted in accordance with all applicable State and local laws.  These processes and procedures, in particular the bonding guidelines at issue, mimic the processes adopted by other counties throughout Indiana.

The public criticism of the Judges, Judicial Officers, and other members of the Marion County judicial system who satisfied their sworn oath of office in administering the statutorily established guidelines is simply not productive.  We believe a more constructive discussion on the issues and concerns raised by Superintendent Carter would be better facilitated through the channels already established, such as the Marion County Criminal Justice Planning Council (the CJPC), which formed to "Identify the needs and problems of the [criminal justice community] to suggest answers and help find solutions to those needs and problems.”

Note: No judicial officers who are members of the Indianapolis Bar Association participated in drafting this statement.

W. Kent Winingham of Wilson Kehoe & Winingham has been selected to lead the Indianapolis Bar Foundation in 2026.  Winingham is currently the Foundation’s Treasurer having previously chaired fundraising efforts for the organization. A personal injury attorney, Winingham focuses his practice on medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, and motor vehicle collisions. He will serve as the foundation’s First Vice President in 2024 and as President-Elect in 2025.

 On September 20th, the Indy Bar HEAL Committee (“Helping Enrich Attorneys Lives”) and JLAP (“Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program”) co-sponsored a unique, free seminar, “Depression and Lawyers:  Real Stories.”  A recording of the program is available now for online viewing at the indybar.org in the On Demand catalog.  

Member Headlines: October 6, 2023
Congratulations to these IndyBar members on their accomplishments! Have something to share? Email Robert Adams to be featured.

Melissa Hathaway has joined Banks & Brower, LLC as a plaintiffs' personal injury paralegal. Her expertise is analysis and investigation of damages in personal injury cases, including preparation of comprehensive medical chronologies, medical expense summaries, damages analysis reports, etc.


Jeselskis Brinkerhoff and Joseph, LLC recently celebrated their fourth anniversary! Congratulations to the JBJ Legal team!


Emily Storm-Smith has joined Wabash National Corporation. She focuses her practice on supporting company products, services, investments and finance teams with their goals and advising her business partners and executives on the strategic value of complex transactions.

Linked is a statement released this morning by IndyBar's Judicial Criticism Response Committee following comments recently made by Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter regarding the Marion County judiciary. It's a long standing policy of the Indianapolis Bar Association Board of Directors that it is the duty of the legal profession and all its members to:

1. Respond if the judicial systems is subjected to unjust attack; 
2. Foster and maintain confidence in the orderly processes of our courts among the citizens of this state and the nation; 
3. Explain the difference between valid, constructive criticism of the decisions of our courts and baseless charges; 
4. Assist the public in understanding the difficult burden of the courts to strike a proper balance between individual constitutional rights and the rights of the society; 
5. Assist the public in understanding the operation of courts, judicial procedures and the administration of justice; and
6. Bring to the attention of proper authorities fair and well founded criticism of the operation of the judicial system.

Should you have any questions about IndyBar’s decision to issue the statement and/or the statement itself please feel free to contact Rebecca Geyer, Indianapolis Bar Association President - rgeyer@rgeyerlaw.com. 

Judicial Criticism Committee
Rebecca Geyer, Chair, Rebecca Geyer And Associates PC
Lee Christie, Christie Farrell Lee & Bell PC
David Duncan, Scannell Properties
Katie Jackson-Lindsay, Jackson Legal Services PC 
Jim Voyles, Voyles Vaiana Lukemeyer Baldwin & Webb

Tens of thousands of laboratories. 9 billion annual test subjects. Rapidly-evolving influenzas and force-fed antibiotics. This massive experiment is U.S. factory farming.

Factory farms, where 99% of U.S. farmed animals spend most of their short, miserable lives, “are ticking time bombs,” according to Sonia Shah, author of the book Pandemic. In an interview with Vox, Shah highlighted how factory farms could cultivate “virulent avian influenza and highly drug-resistant forms of bacterial pathogens.” You’re probably wondering though, why is this discussion in the Indiana Lawyer?

             Because two legal developments this summer posed a tension: first, an effort to conceal factory farming was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court petition; second, a report from Harvard Law School and New York University, discussing the risks of zoonotic disease to humans, signaled the need for greater transparency about factory farming. This tension might not feature in the Supreme Court paper-shuffling, but it deserves attention. Factory farming causes unfathomable suffering and startling environmental degradation. Now, add in zoonotic disease risk. The public needs clarity, not concealment.

Katie Jackson-Lindsay of Jackson Legal Services has been selected to lead the Indianapolis Bar Association in 2026 by the IndyBar’s Nominating Committee. Jackson-Lindsay currently serves as Counsel to the Board. She is a member of the Marion County Judicial Selection Committee and is also the Immediate Past President of the Marion County Bar Association. A former deputy prosecutor, she focuses her practice on criminal law defense. She will serve as the association’s First Vice President in 2024 and as President-Elect in 2025. 

One of my grandmother’s favorite movies was the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy and her seemingly mismatched compadres embark on an adventure that starts at the yellow brick road, leading to lessons learned, and eventually, triumph over the Wicked Witch of the West. I’ve recently pondered a very practical question: who built the yellow brick road? The road is just there, a foundation of stone, willing and readily able to accept travelers of every ilk. The foundation of that road marked the path to freedom for the munchkins, yet, perhaps rightfully, Dorothy receives all the glory. I find myself wondering if the munchkins themselves built that foundation many years before Dorothy’s arrival, leading the way to eventually killing the Wicked Witch. What does this have to do with the bar exam? Well, my pretty, quite a lot.