Ind. prosecutor found to have inactive license

INDIANAPOLIS – Hundreds of criminal convictions, including that of a man found guilty of a crash that killed three people, could return to court because the Indiana prosecutor who oversaw the cases had an inactive law license for more than three years.

Newton County Prosecutor Ed Barce asked the state to change his license status in August 2005, saying he did not practice law in Indiana. Yet he continued to prosecute cases.

Barce, who has since reactivated his license, denies committing misconduct. He may have a sound defense: Indiana’s constitution requires prosecutors to have law licenses before taking office but doesn’t specify that they must keep them active.

Legal experts said they’re baffled by the case but doubt whether Barce’s inactive license could be enough to throw out the convictions.

The state Supreme Court set a disciplinary hearing Oct. 16 and Barce could be disbarred, reprimanded or suspended.

Nevertheless, even the prospect of returning to court disappoints Pam Schoonveld. Barce prosecuted the case in which a man was sentenced to 12 years for the crash that killed her parents and another person.

“I’m a registered nurse, and I’m not even allowed to work if I don’t have proof of my license the day after it expires,” Schoonveld said. “I just presumed if you were a lawyer it would be the same thing, especially if you’re the prosecutor of the whole county.”

Barce’s status became known in February when a Lake Superior Court judge learned his license was inactive and delayed a trial in which Barce was special prosecutor. Last month the judge declined to dismiss the case, saying that no harm was done.

Barce, 50, has not explained his actions and he did not return calls from The Associated Press. His attorney, Kevin McGoff, said he didn’t know of any cases that were affected by Barce’s status other than the Lake Superior Court one. He declined further comment.

The Republican prosecutor, unopposed in the past three elections, comes from a family of prosecutors and is known as fair.

Retired IU law professor Henry Karlson said the state Supreme Court can keep prosecutors to a higher standard than the constitution through the disciplinary hearing.

Strait said Barce could argue he was an elected prosecutor and wasn’t practicing law, but legal experts doubted that would fly.

“To be a prosecutor and to walk into a courtroom in any state in America, you have to A, be licensed, and B, have to have active status,” said Scott Burns, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association.

All 91 Indiana prosecutors have active law licenses, according to court records.