May 12 (UPI) — The Indiana Supreme Court decided Monday to suspend Attorney General Curtis Hill’s law license for a month over violating professional conduct rules after groping allegations.
The 30-day suspension will take effect on May 18, according to the Indiana Supreme Court opinion.
Hill said in a statement Monday he accepts the court’s suspension “with humility and respect,” which will allow him after the suspension period to be automatically reinstated to practice law.
On May 18, Chief Deputy Aaron Negangard will take over his responsibilities through June 17, his statement added.
The court found that Hill committed battery against four women who accused him of groping them at a party at a downtown bar to celebrate the end of the legislative session in March 2018. A special prosecutor declined in October of the same year to pursue criminal charges because he said that he did not believe he could prove Hill’s intent to prove a crime happened. The next year four women testified at a disciplinary hearing that Hill’s actions made them feel uncomfortable and violated.
Hill has repeatedly denied any inappropriate touching.
Myra Selby, a former Indiana Supreme Court justice, and the hearing officer for the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission’s disciplinary complaint filed against Hill, had recommended a 60-day suspension.
Selby similarly found that Hill’s actions amounted to battery and violated professional conduct rules, according to a brief filed in February.
“In sum, we find and conclude, as did the hearing officer, that the Commission proved by clear and convincing evidence that Respondent [Hill] committed the criminal act of battery,” justices wrote in the Indiana Supreme Court opinion filed Monday.
