Governor Pence to Join Executives from Haier America for Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Will Also Present Governor’s Awards for Achievement at 2015 Indiana Black Expo Governor’s Reception
Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence and Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann will join Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and executives from Haier America, a division of the multinational home appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer Haier Group, for a ribbon cutting ceremony of the company’s new Technology and Design Center of Excellence. Both Governor Pence and Lt. Governor Ellspermann met with executives from Haier Group in China recently during their respective economic development and agricultural trade missions.
Later in the afternoon, Governor Pence will offer remarks at the 2015 Indiana Black Expo Governor’s Reception and present the Governor’s Awards for Achievement to Hoosiers who have devoted their time to community service. Details below.
Tuesday, July 14:
10:30 a.m. CDT – Governor Pence, Lt. Governor Ellspermann to join executives from Haier America for ribbon cutting ceremony
2:30 p.m. EDT – Governor Pence to present Governor’s Awards for Achievement at 2015 Indiana Black Expo Governor’s Reception
Incomplete continuity slip gets conviction vacated
Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com
A Fort Wayne man’s argument that his defense strategy was upended when the government waited until mid-trial to produce a complete chain of custody document convinced the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction.
Joshua Mackin was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm after Fort Wayne police found a loaded silver handgun in his pants pocket while arresting him for an outstanding warrant. One of the arresting officers secured the firearm in the evidence locker and filled out a continuity slip, which tracks the movement of a piece of evidence.
Prior to trial, the government gave a copy of the continuity slip, which was incomplete, to Mackin. It was missing signatures of the officers who had been in possession of the gun and it had the wrong serial number for the firearm.
At trial, the defense argued the half-done continuity slip showed the government would not establish the gun’s chain of custody. The government countered by producing a complete continuity slip and conceded it had not given the form to Mackin’s counsel.
Moving for a mistrial, the defense argued the government violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 by failing to disclose the correct continuity slip. Mackin’s team said the issue of chain of custody was the primary trial strategy and if the correct slip had been provided, Mackin may had pled.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division, denied the motion and Mackin was found guilty.
On appeal, Mackin contended that he would have known his chain-of-custody defense strategy was implausible had the government disclosed the correct continuity form. But because the prosecution’s own error raised the potential for that defense, he was deprived of the opportunity to prepare a plausible defense.
The government asserted it did not violate Rule 16 because it had no reason to suspect that Mackin would contest the gun’s chain of custody or that the continuity slip would be material to his defense.
A unanimous 7th Circuit panel disagreed with the government and ordered Mackin’s conviction be vacated in United States of American v. Joshua R. Mackin, 14-3602.
“Mackin does not argue that he had an absolute right to disclosure of the continuity slip, or that continuity slips are mandatory discovery material in the mine-run of cases,†Judge Michael Kanne wrote for the court. “Instead, he argues that in this particular case, once the government chose to disclose the incomplete continuity slip, he was entitled to the complete and correct one. We agree, and we hold as much today.â€
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Governor Pence to Ceremonially Sign Bills Aimed at Protecting Children
Will Also Offer Remarks, Participate in Cops Cycling for Survivors Event
Indianapolis – Tomorrow, Governor Mike Pence will offer remarks at the opening ceremony for the Cops Cycling for Survivors event. He will then participate in the first leg of the bike ride. Later in the afternoon, Governor Pence will ceremonially sign HEA 1161, which grants immunity for damage caused rescuing a child, and HEA 1216, which aims to reduce human trafficking in Indiana. In the evening, the Governor will visit with Hoosiers at the Bartholomew County Fair. Details below.
Monday, July 13:
8:30 a.m. EDT – Governor Pence to offer remarks at the opening ceremony for the Cops Cycling for Survivors event
*Media are welcome to attend.
Law Enforcement and Firefighters Memorial, Robert Orr & Senate Avenue, Northwest Corner, Indianapolis, IN
**In the event of rain, the ceremony will be moved inside to a Statehouse Atrium. Location confirmation will be sent tomorrow morning.
1:30 p.m. EDT – Governor Pence to ceremonially sign bills aimed at protecting children – HEA 1161 and HEA 1216
*Media are welcome to attend. Governor Pence will be available for on-topic questions immediately following the remarks and signing.
Statehouse – Room 206, 200 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN
5:00 p.m. EDT – Governor Pence to visit with Hoosiers at the Bartholomew County Fair
IS IT TRUE JULY 13, 2015
IS IT TRUE when Mayor Winnecke took office the Downtown TIF account had $7.7 million dollars?  …the Downtown TIF account now has about $900,000?
IS IT TRUE public record states that public funding for the Downtown Hotel is increased because the City agreed to be responsible for all the infrastructure improvements along Walnut Street between 6th and 7th streets?
IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke is now saying that Deaconess Clinic will have access to the parking garage but he failed to mention who will be paying for those parking privileges?
IS IT TRUE DMD DIRECTOR Kelly Coures made a statement that this is the first time we have had construction drawings to bid is simply not true? …so far the Mayor has spent will over $2 million dollars to find out we could not afford a plush 10 story Downtown Convention Hotel with an indoor swimming pool and luxury apartments? Â …we wonder where the $2 million dollars to pay for these drawings came from?
IS IT TRUE that a well known pizza establishment located on North Main had already purchased the old Integra Bank branch located right across from them for additional parking? …DMD Director Kelley Coures then stepped in and purchased the property from them at inflated price? …the initial reason why Course wanted the property was to use it for additional opportunity for parking on North Main street? …we now hear that Coures now wants to use this property to re-locate the not-for-profit ECHO HOUSING CORP. Â business offices there? Â …what was the real reason Course bought the property?
IS IT TRUE we hear from extremely reliable sources the original plans for DMD were to re-locate ECHO Housing Corp. administrative offices to the vacant and dilapidated CVS Pharmacy building on North Main and Columbia? …the DMD purchased the CVS land and the vacant dilapidated building for a whooping $535,000? …the Director of ECHO decided at the last minute she didn’t want to move her Corporate office there because the operating cost would be too high? …can you tell us would any for profit tax paying business buy a $535,000 vacant and dilapidated building without solid plans how to use it? …this transaction alone should be consider a major “FLEECING” of the local taxpayers dollars? …why did Coures pay over a half million dollars for an abandoned building (valued at less than $150,000) with no plans for it’s use?  …It now has a “For Rent†sign on it?
IS IT TRUE we now hear that DMD Director Coures may have his sights on making an offer to purchase the vacant DAVCO building located just across from the the CVS building? …God only know what Courses has up his sleeves to use this building for?
IS IT TRUEÂ City Council hasn’t approved the $15 million dollar North Main project as of yet?….we also wonder if the Economic Redevelopment Commission approved all the building and land purchases located on North Main?
IS IT TRUE we wonder if any past owners of the North Main street buildings or land made any political donations to Winnecke re-election campaign? …we wonder why the Evansville Courier and Press has never looked into any possible connections between these purchases and political donations?
Please take time and vote in today’s “Readers Poll”. Don’t miss reading today’s Feature article because it’s always an interesting read. New addition to the CCO is the Cause of Death reports generated by the Vanderburgh County Health Department.
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Setting the Record Straight Why Public Contribution Goes Up While Value of Hotel Goes DownÂ
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT CONCERNING PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION GOES UP AND WHILE VALUE OF HOTEL GOES DOWNÂ BY 3RD WARD CITY COUNCIL MEMBER STEPHANIE BRINKERHOFF-RILEY
In August of 2013, the Mayor’s office filed loan documents with City Council to borrow 38.5 million for a downtown hotel and conference center. The project at that time included an approximately 37 million hotel, of which the City would subsidize 20 million. It also included the City paying for ancillary components consisting of a retail space behind the Ford Center, a 336 space parking garage, 2 sky bridges, the hotel foundation footers and infrastructure improvements to MLK, Jr. Blvd., 6th St. and Walnut St. at a cost of approximately 17 million. In return, the developer would add to the project a conference center and 78 high end apartments. The total cost of the project was more than 70 million.
City Council reviewed other similarly subsidized projects in the United States and balked at the level of subsidy on the hotel as outside the norm of under 25%, and negotiations led to an agreement within two weeks to reduce the 38.5 million bond to 20 million and bring in other stakeholders in the community. The cost of the hotel itself was reduced to approximately 31.5 million primarily by the elimination of some rooms and without any changes to the outward appearance of the structure. However, the retail space was eliminated. Old National Bank came forward with a plan to form a partnership with the developer and invest approximately 11 million. The Vanderburgh County Council and Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) pledged a combined 3.5 million in payments to the City over ten years. At the time neither body had the ability to contribute lump sums. The process led to a cap on all public monies of 20 million.
The architectural design of the hotel with 12,000 square feet of conference space was presented as a 10 story urban design with curved glass, a rooftop bar, central heating and air conditioning and an indoor pool. The project was costed out by architects and engineers and presented to the City Council with images of how the block at Walnut and MLK, Jr. Blvd. would be transformed. The loan of 20 million was approved unanimously.
The City Council Finance Committee meeting minutes from September 23, 2014 record an exchange between Chairman Conor O’Daniel and Administration officials confirming that the City’s 20 million contribution will be offset by the County and CVB’s funds at 350,000 a year over 10 years.
The First Amended and Restated Project Development Agreement confirms the County and CVB contributions are within the City’s contribution in at least two places. Page 2, Item 10 states, “…which TIF Bonds will be issued along with other funds will generate Twenty Million Dollars for the Public Funding of the Project…†Page 9 under the section of “Maximum City Contribution†states, “…shall mean Twenty Million Dollars representing the maximum amount of Public Funding to be provided by the Cities Parties toward the costs of the Hotel and Ancillary Project Components…â€
Additionally, the First Amended and Restated Project Development Agreement makes the City responsible for paying all costs related to public funds. This was written initially because the City was fronting the County and CVB contributions to be paid back by those entities over time. This language carried over to the Second Amended and Restated Project Development Agreement and is now problematic, as the City does not have and should not have to generate the CVB’s 2 million contribution up front in addition to its 20 million to be paid on the project.
Over the course of the nearly two years since the City Council agreed to a loan and maximum public subsidy of 20 million on the downtown hotel and conference center project, a lot has changed. The cost to the public has increased and the corresponding value of the product purchased has decreased.
The Mayor’s office and developer failed to accurately determine the cost of giving the public the structure sold to it in August and September of 2013. After the ceremonial groundbreaking in March of 2014 that cost taxpayers at least $7,000, it was acknowledged that the construction cost of the hotel and conference center was off by approximately 14 million. Thereafter Old National Bank acknowledged it had failed to accurately estimate the value of the naming rights to the Centre. Over the course of 2014, the public was repeatedly disappointed by press conferences that ultimately revealed mistakes that could have been avoided.
The hotel although increased in cost to 44 million is 13 rooms smaller (253 to 240), reduced to five stories and a suburban design, has room heating and air conditioning units, no rooftop bar, no high end apartments and no indoor pool. While the parking garage has increased from 336 to 552 spaces, the price has nearly doubled and there are less spaces for hotel use (252). The direct subsidy on the hotel has gone from 7.5 million to 9.9 million.
The Second Amended and Restated Development Agreement for the first time list the County and CVBs’ contributions at 3.6 million and as additional to the City’s 20 million. The public financing is further increased with infrastructure improvements to 6th and Walnut Streets which are estimated to be at least 1 million. The public is also contributing an additional 4.65 million to the parking garage, which is widely regarded by outside experts as overpriced. Depending on one’s view of the parking garage, the public contribution to the hotel and conference center sits at anywhere from 24.6 million to 29.25 million. Additionally, the City is held responsible for any cost overruns related to the ancillary components.
The increased public contribution and decrease in value in the final product should give us all pause in evaluating this project. We should at the very least be honest with ourselves as to what has happened in the drive over the last 3.5 years to bring a convention hotel to downtown Evansville.