Gubernatorial candidate Curtis Hill’s battery jury trial called off
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Curtis Hill will no longer stand trial next week for the controversy that cost him his last elected office. That’s after a judge on Wednesday afternoon vacated jury proceedings in the civil battery lawsuit against him.
Four women — three legislative staffers and a former state lawmaker — accused Hill of groping them at a 2018 post-session party. He was then Indiana’s attorney general.
Although Marion Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Dietrick called off the jury trial, “a settlement has not been reached,” Hill’s campaign said Thursday.
The court order said the move came “upon consultation with the parties’ respective counsel and the mediator” but provided no other details. The trial has been delayed several times in the past.
“The Marion Superior Court has vacated next week’s trial,” Hill said in written comments. “Our campaign remains focused on sharing our message with Hoosier voters and highlighting our proven conservative record.”
Kimberly Jeselskis, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, said “We hope to be able to comment in the next week or so.”
Prior to Wednesday’s abrupt order, Dietrick was moving forward with the trial. It was set to begin Monday and run five days.
He had ruled on several pretrial motions, including that the parties were not allowed to refer to Hill’s job as attorney general, his possible intoxication on the night at hand, a Supreme Court disciplinary finding or that he is running for governor. Dietrick was also deciding on jury instructions.
The lawsuit
Plaintiffs Niki DaSilva, Samantha Lozano, Gabrielle McLemore and Mara Candelaria Reardon accused Hill of unwanted touching during a bar gathering in the early hours of March 15, 2018, after lawmakers declared that year’s legislative session over.
DaSilva was then a legislative assistant for the Senate Republican caucus, while Lozano was a legislative assistant for the House Democratic caucus, according to the complaint. McLemore was the Senate Democrats’ communication director and Candelaria Reardon was a Democrat representative first elected in 2006.
The three staffers alleged that Hill non-consensually touched them around the waist, back or buttocks. Candelaria Reardon, however, alleged that he reached under her dress and grabbed her bare buttocks — an event Lozano alleged witnessing.
A special prosecutor was assigned to the case and chose not to bring criminal charges. But the Indiana Supreme Court found in 2020, after a disciplinary commission complaint, that Hill had committed criminal battery. It suspended the then-attorney general’s law license for 30 days.
Hill has consistently denied the allegations, calling them “false” and “vicious.”
The four plaintiffs originally filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Southern District in 2019, but the court dismissed it in 2020. They re-filed in state court that year.
Hill sought re-election as Attorney General in 2020 but was defeated in a convention battle by Todd Rokita.