New Clark County judge eager to get to work

Jan. 9—CLARK COUNTY — Newly appointed Clark Circuit Court No. 1 Judge Nick Karaffa will be hearing a murder trial on his sixth day on the bench.

Karaffa was appointed to the bench by Gov. Eric Holcomb in November and he's been hard at work preparing for his new role ever since.

"It was kind of an out-of-body experience, it was a week before the election and when the governor's office called and they said, 'Hello, this is Gov. Holcomb,' I thought it was a robocall saying, 'remember to vote,'" Karaffa said. "At first, I didn't think it was real, but then he started speaking and I was like, thank you, and he said 'congratulations.'"

Karaffa started working as an attorney in 2010 and by 2015 he'd opened up a law firm where he focused on criminal and family law.

"During that time I tried murder, robbery and high-level felony cases," Karaffa said. "I was one of the defense attorneys on the Joseph Oberhansley case."

In late 2020 Karaffa took a role as Clark County's court administrator and he was able to sit-in for judges during certain legal procedures.

"We tried to keep the docket moving during COVID, it was difficult because things were shut down," he said. "If we had an opportunity to get a case moving I'd do a lot of initial hearings, things like that."

After Judge Daniel Moore announced he'd be stepping down at the end of 2022, Karaffa applied for the role.

Former Clark County Deputy Prosecutor Tom Lowe is now the court administrator.

In Clark Circuit Court No. 1 Karaffa will be hearing high-level felony cases. He'll also be working on some civil cases, guardianship cases, mental health probate cases and family law cases.

One of his goals as judge is to make sure the court runs as efficiently as possible.

"If you want your day in court, we want to give that to you, we want that to be done in an (appropriate) time frame," he said. "I don't want people to request a court date and be set out for six months. If you want your day in court, we want to be able to give that to you."

He said he wants residents to feel they've gotten gotten equitable treatment, too.

"If you come here, (we want you to feel) you're treated fairly," he said. "You may not always get the outcome you want, but know it was done to follow the law."

Clark Circuit Court 1 has five murder trials scheduled before the end of May.

Defendants Alexandra Gales, Christian White, Jessey Andrews, Mac Lewis and James Washington are all scheduled to go trial within the next six months.

The Gales trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Karaffa said the pandemic backed up a number of cases in general.

"I want to get these cases done," he said. "For one, it keeps the case moving and it gives finality (to everyone involved.)"

He also said he wants the public to understand how much people in the court system care about Clark County residents.

"(There's a large) amount of people who come to work, every single day, to try to make our community better," he said.

Karaffa attended New Albany High School and is married with a young daughter. He and his family live in Jeffersonville.

"We love this side of the river," he said. "I've practiced in Clark County and Southern Indiana my entire career."