Clark Co. judge to hear lawsuit

Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard appointed Clark County Judge Cecile Blau Dec. 13 to hear the lawsuit accusing IU of violating Indiana's open meetings law.\nLawyers representing 46 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit Oct. 2 saying that meetings between IU President Myles Brand and IU's trustees violated the state's open meetings law. The meetings were the day before Brand announced he was firing basketball coach Bob Knight. \nShepard was charged with appointing a judge after Monroe County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Mann and two other judges recused themselves from the case.\nDavid Remondini, counsel to the chief justice, said Shepard wanted someone who was far enough from Bloomington not to get caught up in the atmosphere, but close enough that travel wasn't an undue burden.\n"She's going to have to drive a couple hours from where she is in Clarksville to Bloomington," he said. "We wanted someone who is experienced and well-regarded, but someone who didn't have any obvious connection to the University."\nKnight is not a party to the lawsuit, which asks for a range of sanctions against IU, including making the former coach's firing void.\nRemondini speculated that the case won't be tried before spring. \n"Typically in any trial each side is likely to file motions and ask the judge for rulings on any number of matters," he said. "There can be any number of things. A lot of judges try get as many of these things ironed out before rulings just to make things go smoothly. Blau will consult with attorneys and work all that out"