According to this story, headlined "State Supreme Court agrees to hear case; mayor's office hangs in balance," published Saturday, Jan. 10 in the Munster NW Indiana Times:
EAST CHICAGO -- George Pabey's voter fraud case against Mayor Robert Pastrick will be heard by the Indiana Supreme Court. The announcement came as a surprise Friday afternoon, when Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard issued the order for oral arguments to commence sometime in early March. * * *An earlier Indiana Law Blog entry is here. See also this AP story via the Indianapolis Star. Here is the Supreme Court's 1/9/2004 order (Case Number: 45 S 04 - 0401 - CV - 00014, PABEY, GEORGE -V- PASTRICK, ROBERT A., ET AL.):Pabey's last hope of contesting the election was having the case heard before the Supreme Court, although the November election passed without a decision from the court in Indianapolis. [Carmen Fernandez, attorney for Pabey] said she had nearly given up hope that the Supreme Court would opt to hear the case.
In agreeing to hear the case, the court overruled the appellate court's ruling on the basis of procedural matters and will therefore allow arguments on substantive issues.
ORDER:Posted by Marcia Oddi at January 11, 2004 10:08 AM
ACCORDINGLY, THE COURT GRANTS TRANSFER PURSUANT TO INDIANA APPELLATE RULE 58 AND ASSUMES JURISDICTION OVER THE APPEAL. THE COURT NOW DIRECTS FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AS FOLLOWS. THE APPELLANT HAVING ALREADY FILED HIS OPENING BRIEF, THE COURT ESTABLISHES FEBRUARY 9, 2004, AS THE DUE DATE FOR ANY BRIEFS OF THE APPELLEES. ANY APPELLANT'S REPLY BRIEF WILL BE DUE PURSUANT TO THE TIME LIMIT IN INDIANA APPELLATE RULE 45(B)(3). NO EXTENSIONS OF TIME TO FILE BRIEFS WILL BE GRANTED. BY A SEPARATE ORDER, THE COURT WILL SCHEDULE AN ORAL ARGUMENT, WHICH WILL BE HELD IN EARLY MARCH, 2004.
RANDALL T. SHEPARD, CHIEF JUSTICE MS