Ex-trustee's attorney again files for extension with Appeals Court
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Convicted thief and ex-trustee Jennifer Teising still has not filed her appellate brief more than six months after her convictions and nearly four months after her sentencing.
For the second time in a month, Teising's attorney, Karen Celestino-Horseman, filed for an extension to filed Teising's arguments against the former Wabash Township trustee's convictions with the Appeals Court.
Celestino-Horseman filed June 8 for an extension to file Teising's brief outlining the arguments why Teising's 21 convictions for theft — and subsequent sentence — should be overturned. The brief was due on June 16.
The Appeals Court granted that request on June 13, setting July 1 as the deadline for the filings.
On Thursday, Celestino-Horseman filed a second request for an extension — this time requesting seven additional days from the July 1 deadline.
The court has not yet published an order responding to the request.
"This case was a two-and-a-half-day bench trial with 14 witnesses and 36 exhibits," Celestino-Horseman wrote in Thursday's motion, while also citing that she is the sole practitioner. "This case also involves a question of first impression under Indiana law and raises issues under the Indiana and U.S. constitution."
Celestino-Horseman wrote that she is "diligently working to complete the brief," but she also is working on a brief for another appellate case which is due by Monday.
"This is the Ms. Teising’s second request for an extension of time in this matter and it is not being made for purposes of delay," Celestino-Horseman assured the court in her motion.
On March 11, Teising filed her intent to appeal her Jan. 5 convictions and March 7 sentence. The Appeals Court granted her request to delay her jail sentence, which was supposed to begin on March 17, pending the outcome of her appeal.
Teising was sentenced to serve 62 days of a 124-day jail sentence. This is followed by 248 days of in-county supervision. These days match the days Teising was absent from Wabash Township between June 2020 and June 2021, based on evidence at Teising's trial.
After serving 248 days of direct supervision, Teising will be on unsupervised probation for 847 days.
While Teising is on probation, she is expected to pay $500 a month in restitution to Wabash Township taxpayers until it totals $27,897.72 — the amount she stole by illegally accepting her paycheck while living outside of the township.
The origins of the case started after Teising sold her West Lafayette house in June 2020 and resided outside of the township after the sale, according to the verdict.
Indiana law requires trustees to reside inside the township, and Teising's claim that she resided at Greg Michalski's house at 132 Knox Drive in West Lafayette did not fit the requirements in the state law.
The verdict was that Teising resided in her travel trailer which she parked at friends' houses in Anderson, Indiana., at Democratic Tippecanoe County Councilwoman Lisa Dullum's rural Sheffield Township house or at a trailer park in Panama City Beach, Florida, where she rented a lot from the end of October 2020 through February 2021.
Because Teising did not reside in Wabash Township, she forfeited her office in June 2020, according to the verdict. Yet Teising continued to collect her township paycheck, which she was not entitled to after she moved. This is the basis for the 21 charges of theft.
Teising claimed she was working remotely from her travel trailer parked across the state or across the country, and she claimed that 132 Knox Drive was her legal residence.
In closing arguments during Teising's December bench trial, Deputy Prosecutor Natasha Corbett called the Knox Drive "residence" merely a post office box for Teising.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: West Lafayette ex-trustee's attorney again files for extension
