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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMarion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said Tuesday afternoon that a special prosecutor will be appointed to help assist the Office of the Indiana Inspector General in an investigation of the groping allegations against Attorney General Curtis Hill.
Curry said he sought the special prosecutor from the Marion County Superior Court because he has a statutory client-attorney relationship with Hill and wants to avoid an appearance of impropriety. Marion County Superior Court Judge Lisa F. Borges granted Curry’s request on Tuesday.
Curry said he expects that the special prosecutor will be named within the next 30 days.
Hill is accused of inappropriately touching Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster; Gabrielle McLemore, communications director for the Indiana Senate Democrats; and two other women at a party at a bar in March after the General Assembly session ended.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, House Speaker Brian Bosma, Senate Pro Tem David Long and other Republican and Democratic elected officials have called for Hill to resign amid the accusations.
Hill has denied the accusations, calling them "vicious and false," and requested the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office to conduct an independent investigation of the claims.
Curry said the special prosecutor will confer with the inspector general and make the "ultimate determination if criminal charges are warranted" in the case.
"It would be inappropriate for a client to conduct a criminal investigation and a possible prosecution where his or her own attorney is the suspect," Curry said in a written statement. "This is not a hypothetical concern, but an unequivocal ethical conflict. The Office of Attorney General currently represents us in two separate civil matters, including one now before the Indiana Supreme Court."
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