A grievance against Wayne County’s prosecutor had no merit, according to the Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission.
Prosecutor Mike Shipman received a letter dated Feb. 14 from Adrienne Meiring, executive director of the disciplinary commission. It said the grievance filed by Richmond Police Department Major Adam Blanton was dismissed “as not raising a substantial question of misconduct” according to the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct.
Shipman last October placed Blanton on the local Brady-Giglio list of law enforcement officers whose testimony in court is potentially problematic. U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Brady and Giglio cases require prosecutors to disclose to defendants anything that could impeach law enforcement witnesses. That information could include dishonesty, criminal conduct, bias, misuse of force or mishandling of evidence. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office maintains a Brady-Giglio list of law enforcement officers subject to evidence that could discredit their testimony in court.
Shipman cited statements Blanton, who is an RPD assistant chief and the public information officer, released on RPD’s Facebook page about two murder victims not being RPD informants and attributed to Blanton in a Palladium-Item newspaper article that the “prosecutor’s office did not elect to pick up any charges” against a YouTube prankster.
On Jan. 8, Blanton filed a lawsuit against Shipman and the prosecutor’s office, claiming Shipman “exceeded and abused his authority” by placing Blanton on the list and the placement was a “baseless and retaliatory act.”
The lawsuit, which the city of Richmond later joined, requests the court declare Blanton’s inclusion on the Brady-Giglio list “improper and unlawful” and remove Blanton from the list. It also asks that Blanton be awarded compensatory damages, punitive damages from Shipman and legal fees.
Blanton’s lawsuit was filed by two attorneys for Bose McKinney & Evans, an Indianapolis legal firm. RPD is paying the firm. On Jan. 21, Richmond Common Council conducted a symbolic vote that it does not support taxpayer money financing the suit.
Shipman and the prosecutor’s office are represented by attorneys from Eichhorn & Eichhorn in Hammond.
The case is assigned to Circuit Court. Judge April Drake recused herself from the case, and Judge Bob Witham of Henry County Circuit Court has accepted jurisdiction as a special judge.
A version of this article appeared in the February 26 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.