By Lacey Watt
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Supreme Court suspended the law license of Attorney General Curtis Hill Jr. for 30 days starting May 18 — which means he’ll be reinstated just before the state Republican Party convention where he is competing to run for a second term.

The unanimous 19-page opinion issued Monday concludes that, in spite of his denials, Hill committed a crime when he grabbed and groped four women at a party in March 2018 celebrating the end of the legislative session.

“In sum, we find and conclude, as did the hearing officer, that the Commission proved by clear and convincing evidence that Respondent committed the criminal act of battery,” the unsigned opinion says.

Hill, who is completing his first term as attorney general, faced a disciplinary hearing last fall where the four women—three legislative staff members, Samantha Lozano, Gabrielle McLemore and Niki DaSilva, and one lawmaker, state Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-East Chicago—testified that he was drunk when he grabbed them in the crowded downtown Indianapolis bar.

The hearing officer, former Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby, had recommended a 60-day suspension with no automatic reinstatement. But Monday’s order allows for Hill to get his license back automatically after the 30-day suspension is up.

The five justices, in their ruling, said they weighed whether Hill’s criminal acts of battery against the four women during the event at the bar have an impact his fitness as a lawyer under the court’s rules.

The justices answered yes: “(Hill’s) own testimony brings his criminal conduct directly within the ambit of the performance of his professional duties. Respondent went to the party with the purpose of discussing a bill affecting his office with key legislators and nurturing goodwill, he spent time at the party doing precisely these things, and while there he committed battery against a legislator and three legislative staffers.”

Hill has repeatedly denied that he did anything wrong and did not grope the women the way they described. He has so far has resisted calls from Republican Party leaders, including Gov. Eric Holcomb, that he resign.

Later Monday, Hill issued a press release saying, “I accept with humility and respect the Indiana Supreme Court’s ruling of a 30-day suspension of my license with automatic reinstatement.”

In his statement, Hill said that beginning next Monday, Chief Deputy Aaron Negangard will take over the operation of the office until his license is reinstated on June 17. He concluded with a thank you to his friends, family and office staff.

With Hill still refusing to step aside despite the 30-day suspension of his law license by the state’s top court, Holcomb said he is reviewing his legal options.

“As far as does the punishment fit the crime, we’ll see. Obviously this decision bolsters the case of the victims going forward on the route that they’re on,” Holcomb said, referring to the lawsuit the women have filed.

Asked by reporters Monday at his daily coronavirus briefing about his options — and whether they include him appointing a replacement for Hill — Holcomb said this is an “unprecedented time” to have the state’s top law enforcement official suspended for “ethical wrongdoing.”

“I’ll make any and all decisions that I have the authority to do so and this is … something that is in question,” Holcomb said, adding that he will seek a “quick turnaround” on his legal options.

Pressed on how he wasn’t prepared to know those options now, since Selby had recommended months ago that he be suspended, Holcomb bristled and said: “Yeah, because that question was not before the court… The answer is I’m not omnipotent.”

Neither he nor his office interfered in the Supreme Court’s deliberations nor ask any additional questions, Holcomb said. That includes not seeking clarification on what steps a governor can take to remove an attorney general that, for the next month, has no license to practice law.

During the session of the General Assembly that ended in March, the Indiana House of Representatives passed legislation aimed at potentially removing Hill. The measure, Senate Bill 178, was amended in the House to add the provisions targeting Hill and specified that if an attorney general is disbarred or suspended for at least 30 days, he forfeits the office and a vacancy exists.

However, the Senate balked at the change and the bill died in the final hours of the session.

“I said at the time it would be helpful and it would clarify this exact question, but it wasn’t addressed legislatively. I would have signed that bill into law,” Holcomb said.

Now, he said, Hill’s suspension “has led to a number of other questions that I am seeking not just guidance to but answers to… We won’t allow grass to grow underneath as we get those answers and after my discussions with my legal team we’ll be sharing those on a more public basis.”

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, Rep. Phil GiaQuinta of Fort Wayne and Sen. Tim Lanane of Anderson, as well as state Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer renewed their calls for Hill to resign.

Hill faces two challengers for the Republican Party nomination at the convention on June 20—Decatur County Prosecutor Nate Harter and Indianapolis lawyer John Westercamp. Convention delegates, not primary voters, select their party’s nominee for attorney general.

FOOTNOTE: Lacey Watt is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.